Aviation 12

of hard-won knowledge
to colleagues.
It’s true that the name
Topgun (or Top Gun) had
been used in aviation
circles before. The
combat success of early
graduates, who returned
to Vietnam, had proved
the value such training
but the Miramar-based
programme became the
most famous of the breed.

HOLLYWOOD
Military aviation circles
knew and respected the NFWS, but the
outside world knew little. That began to
change when the May 1983 issue of the
glossy California magazine hit newsstands
with an article by author Ehud Yonay. He
expertly described the experience of a real-
life F-14 Tomcat crew – ‘Yogi’ Hnarakis and
‘Possum’ Cully – going through the class.
The article included dramatic photos by F-
pilot and former instructor ‘Heater’ Heatley.
Film producers Jerry Bruckheimer
and Don Simpson read the feature at
Paramount Pictures in Hollywood, 120 miles
(193km) north of Miramar. Their  rst big
hit, Flashdance, was in cinemas and they
foresaw a real blockbuster in the pages of the
magazine. Bruckheimer was quoted in the
July 1986 issue of Air Classics magazine in
an article by Jim Farmer called ‘The Making
of Top Gun’: “The pilots that attended the
Topgun school are a combination of Olympic
athletes in the sky and rock and roll heroes.
We immediately saw a movie.”
Bruckheimer and Simpson aimed for
the stratosphere, planning a major motion
picture that would include plenty of  ying
action. In the mid-1980s, there were
few options to achieve the high quality
necessary for the  lm. Computer-generated
animation was too new and expensive. Scale
models just wouldn’t look right.
They needed real aircraft,  ying from real
carriers and air elds and  ghting each other.

This would require extensive support from

the Navy. It took two years for everything

to fall into place.

By the time Paramount

arrived at Miramar in

the spring of 1985,

the team had been

formed: top-level

technical personnel,

dynamic young

stars who were

roughly the same

age as typical

students, a few

more well-known

faces to play the

instructors, and a

rough script that had

been developed by several

screenwriters working with

Navy aircrews.

All they had to do was set up the

cameras and start  lming? Well, not really.

F-14 IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The  lm may have consisted of 90 minutes

of  ying and  ghting, if aircrews and aviation

enthusiasts had been in charge. The

producers knew elements such as romance

and tragedy are essential for a successful

 lm. We will leave those aspects to one side.

Flying scenes were integral and

necessary to demonstrate character traits

and plot devices. To

support this, screenwriters

and actors attended

unclassi ed brie ngs,

watched dog ghts on

the big-screen Tactical

Aircrew Combat Training

System display, and

chatted with pilots and

Tomcat backseaters,

radar intercept officers

(RIOs), to get a sense of

the environment. Since

the story was set in the

mid-1980s, the F-

Tomcat would be the

primary aircraft, as it comprised the majority

of Topgun class  ghters at the time.

The F-4 was on its way out and the F/A-

18 was too new. The two-person crew of the

Tomcat also provided the basis for a ‘buddy’

relationship that works in  lms.

Events in the real world added

plausibility for some of the major

plot elements. US Navy jets

regularly intercepted

 ghters from hostile

countries at this

time, especially

Libya. One such

intercept resulted

in the Tomcat’s

 rst kills in August

1981 in response

to an out-of-the-

envelope missile

shot by Libyan Su-

Fitters. The incident

showed how quickly these

intercepts could escalate

into deadly dog ghts.

Instructors (and others) were given

early versions of the script. I recall sitting

as part of a group reading various scenes,

usually with the aim of brainstorming ways

to develop something exciting for the screen.

For example, it was obvious that the F-

aircrews would face two different types of

foes: aircraft  own by a hostile nation and

aircraft  own by tutors. Someone asked if

there was any chance of using actual MiGs,

but in 1985 this wasn’t possible.

We looked at the two types of aircraft

then  own by NFWS: A-4 Skyhawks and

F-5E/F Tiger IIs. Everyone agreed the F-

looked more sinister, so it was chosen to play

the enemy aircraft, which would have the

 ctitious designation ‘MiG-28’ to prevent

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 17

Events in the real world added

plausibility for some of the major

plot elements. US Navy jets

regularly intercepted

 ghters from hostile

countries at this

time, especially

Libya. One such

intercept resulted

in the Tomcat’s

 rst kills in August

1981 in response

to an out-of-the-

envelope missile

shot by Libyan Su-

Fitters

showed how quickly these

intercepts could escalate

into deadly dog ghts.

Instructors (and others) were given

Above: The F-14 Tomcat of Tom Cruise’s

character, Lt Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, behind

the Clay Lacy Learjet used in  lming.

Below: The Navy Fighter Weapons School

(Topgun) badge. US Navy

From left to right a two-seat F-5F
Tiger II, single-seat F-5E Tiger II and
an A-4E Skyhawk heading out for a
typical mission against aircrew on
a Topgun course. From the mid-
1970s until 1987, this trio comprised
Topgun’s adversary  eet.