Top Gun: Encyclopedia II - Top Gun - Trivia

Top Gun - Trivia

Top Gun - Film

• Throughout the film 'enemy' fighters are identified as 'MiG-28s'. This designation was never used for a Soviet fighter aircraft in real life; the hostile jets were actually repainted Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs for the single-seat jets, and T-38 Talons for the two-seater jets. Training adversary aircraft were Douglas A-4 Skyhawks.
• Although not identified in the film, according to the 2004 DVD audio commentary, the enemy fighters are North Korean in origin.
• Goose's full, real name, Nick Bradshaw, is never spoken in the film (even by his wife and son); it can only be seen (briefly) on his and Maverick's fighter jet, on his flight suit's name badge, and on his dog tags as Maverick throws them into the ocean. Meg Ryan (playing Goose's wife) does refer to him as Nick when talking to Tom Cruise's Maverick, however.
• Aerial cameraman and pilot Art Scholl was killed during filming when his Pitts S-2 failed to recover from an inverted spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The movie is dedicated to him.
• Several aerial stunts were performed by Scott Altman, who would later become a NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander.
• In 1996, Miramar NAS was transferred to the Marine Corps MCAS Miramar and TOPGUN was moved into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at NAS Fallon, Nevada.
• The romantic comedy Sleep With Me (1994) includes a sequence in which a character, played by Quentin Tarantino, describes in detail his theory that Top Gun has a gay subtext. The sequence was written by Roger Avary.
• Christopher Blair's call sign in the computer game Wing Commander III was originally intended to be "Falcon" but was later changed to "Maverick" as in homage to Top Gun. In addition, a character in the first Wing Commander game had the call sign of "Iceman".
• Tom Skerritt's character in the movie has the call sign "Viper." In the closing credits, a technical advisor is also listed as Peter "Viper" Pettigrew.
• 2 Uncredited actors: Adam & Aaron Weis (Twins) alternated performing as Goose's son.

Top Gun - References in popular culture

• In an episode of The Simpsons, the family goes to an air show and a geeky teenager tells them where to park. Bart yells, "Way to guard the parking lot, Top Gun!"
• In an episode of JAG, main character Harmon Rabb Jr. is being held at gunpoint by gang members, one of whom keeps addressing him as "Top Gun." Harm is a Navy F-14 pilot like Maverick.
• In an episode of the Canadian comedy "Corner Gas", one Snowbird pilot says to another, "Let it go, Iceman."
• The satirical newspaper The Onion listed inaccuracies from the movie "Pearl Harbor", one of which was, "Maverick, Goose and Iceman were not actually at Pearl Harbor." Jerry Bruckheimer was a producer for both movies.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Trivia", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki