13 More Cringeworthy Errors in the Movie TOP GUN
Ward Carroll Ward Carroll
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 Published On Jun 21, 2021

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Paramount had a huge challenge when they decided to make 'Top Gun.' Real-life air-to-air combat doesn't lend itself to the silver screen in that it's super technical, very chaotic, and generally takes place at ranges that would prevent two jets from being in the frame at the same time.
So, of course, writers Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. and the late-great director Tony Scott had to take some liberties to make the dynamic world of fighter aviation into something that might entertain moviegoers.
But, even allowing for that, 'Top Gun' has a bunch of cringe-worthy technical errors that cause it to be as much cartoon as tribute. Here are 13 more errors - in addition to the 21 highighted in a previous episode - annotated by the exact time they occur. As I warned before, after seeing them, you may never look at the movie the same way again.

(4:23) CATCC controller is sweating, which is off because those spaces on the ship are kept uncomfortably cold to protect the electronics.

(10:58) Maverick crosses the ramp with his hook down and then a second later he has the hook up. (It takes several seconds to cycle between fully up and fully down.) Then he pulls the throttles aft to go around, which would reduce engine power, as somebody randomly screams "Cougar!" over the radio.

(14:19) Ship's captain/CAG/squadron skipper says, "With a history of high-speed passes over five air-controlled towers." Not sure what those are but they must be different than ground- or water-controlled towers.

(16:59) There is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny, and there's no such thing as the Top Gun Trophy.

(17:46) Slider is a lieutenant (junior grade). That's too junior for a Top Gun slot.

(26:37) Charlie briefs, "The MiG-28 does have a problem with its inverted flight tanks." Those must be different than upright flight tanks, and that seems like a very complicated fuel system for an airplane to have.

(26:54) Anybody who showed up to a flight brief wearing a cowboy hat would have their wings pulled on the spot.

(30:51) Goose says "Watch the mountains!," words never spoken during an air combat maneuvering event with a hard deck of 10,000 feet.

(31:49) Jester's evasive maneuver in the A-4 is an aileron roll – not exactly an effective move in terms of creating the sort of lateral displacement that might defeat an enemy's weapons solution.

(32:08) Goose says, "We're going ballistic, Mav. Go get him," which makes no sense because a pilot has no control over a ballistic airplane.

(1:32:10) Tomcat does an aileron roll right off the cat, which it wouldn't have the speed to do -- not to mention that maneuver would be a serious violation of Case I departure procedures.

(1:33:08) Random lieutenant reports, "Both catapults are broken. We can't launch any aircraft right now," which ignores the fact that modern aircraft carriers have FOUR catapults.

(1:36:54 and 1:38:02) In both of these cases, the missile magically transforms from an AIM-7 Sparrow into an AIM-9 Sidewinder in flight

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