quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I like them sticking with Kawasaki. He's on the H2.

Isn't it the same bike that he had in the original movie? Like, his character had always kept it?

GPZ 900R

I could only afford the GPZ750r ...

Now they've gone all Ninja.

... still a fun flick.

Where's KennyL?

FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR: PETE "MAVERICK" MITCHELL
TOP GUN SCHOOL COMMANDER: TOM "ICEMAN" KAZANSKY, REPRISED BY VAL KILMER
ADD'L CAST: JENNIFER CONNELLY, ED HARRIS, AND MILES TELLER AS THE SON OF "GOOSE"
THE NEW ENEMY: DRONES

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I like them sticking with Kawasaki. He's on the H2.

Isn't it the same bike that he had in the original movie? Like, his character had always kept it?

It is definitely the original bike that is under the cover he lifts. It is the 1984 GPZ 900R. When they show him riding one though, it sure looked like the H2 to me as well.

I had the 84 GPZ 900 in a different color and it was, and still is one of my all time favorite bikes. I had so much fun on it. I was not aware of it being in the movie at the time I bought mine.

1st gear was good for 50 MPH, 2nd got you to 80 MPH, 3rd saw 130 on the dial. I maxed it one time and did see 154, stuck there even though the dial went to 160. I got a slight shimmy at top speed, eased off the throttle and it came back in line, tires were only W rated. I always thought the tires caused the shimmy on that pull.

I had a chance at one in museum quality about 6 years ago, but I passed on it after I could not justify his asking price and he would not budge. If I were to come across that same bike again in the future, I would not be surprised to see that the asking price had doubled. I don't think I could pass on it a second time.

Here’s the story of how they actually buzzed the tower. The pilot who flew it tells the story. Really a good video. Enjoy.




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/ZxvqLfI0ukM

.

quote:

Originally posted by redstone:
I really love the new camera shots that look like they are in a real cockpit and really flying. It just looks amazing.

I am rarely jealous, but if he really did get to launch off of a carrier I have serious envy.

Looked legit to me, from the rear seat. He is known to do explicit shit in his films himself so I’d bet on him really launching off a carrier. It didn’t look like CGI either.

quote:

Originally posted by redstone:
There are stories that circulated a while back that they resurrected one just for the movie. And it is seen in the final shot . . .
Iconic F-14

I can confirm that. They filmed a lot of the movie on North Island and driving to lunch one day I saw a F14 sitting on the CVN at the pier. I had to turn around and go back to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: navyshooter,

Time to dust off my USS Flagg. I was too young to enlist in the Navy when the first one came out, now I'm too old. Since the F-16 is still around, maybe it's time for an actually good Iron Eagle sequel.

My Dad was a carrier pilot. A4s and A7s mostly. He gave me is flight jacket in high school. I wore it throughout college at VA Tech as an Army ROTC cadet from 1985 to 1989. Top Gun came out my freshman year. Faux flight jackets came out EVERYWHERE. Mine was real and the best, with my Dad's first squadron patch on it.

I had it refurbished with new cuffs, zipper, and waistband. Gave it to my son. Unfortunately, he almost never wears it as he's a gym rat and it is rather snug.

In the trailer, briefly is a scene that looks like aviator wings are being pounded into a coffin. I know this is a Navy Seal tradition with the Trident, do pilots also do this?

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

A Captain in the Navy is an O6. He should probably be at least a Rear Admiral by then, but it's still a fairly high rank.

Yes, I know that.

Still, an O-6 at 30 years? I don't think so.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I like them sticking with Kawasaki. He's on the H2.

Isn't it the same bike that he had in the original movie? Like, his character had always kept it?

Not sure about the bike but it looks like he's riding it beside runway 29 here at NAS North Island.

quote:

Originally posted by navyshooter:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Very nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I like them sticking with Kawasaki. He's on the H2.

Isn't it the same bike that he had in the original movie? Like, his character had always kept it?

Not sure about the bike but it looks like he's riding it beside runway 29 here at NAS North Island.

I could give a wet fart about reality in a movie such as this, and Tom Cruise if off his rocker.

I will enjoy the hell out of this movie just as I have almost every other Cruise film I've seen.

And the nostalgia factor is off the charts.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

A Captain in the Navy is an O6. He should probably be at least a Rear Admiral by then, but it's still a fairly high rank.

Yes, I know that.

Still, an O-6 at 30 years? I don't think so.

Its more then possible, I've know 0-5's with 30. Now whether he'd sill be flying.......

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Looks terrible. Why not make a new movie?

Seriously? It looks bad-ass to me and I usually hate sequels done years after the original. I'd say you're in the minority here on that.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
What I'm wondering about is why he was wearing a pressurized suit helmet in one shot, as if he was a Blackbird or U-2 pilot?

I'm sure it's some super secret-squirrel stuff that is part of the plot line. Like a hypersonic space plane or something

A friend of one of my colleagues was a retired Chief Petty Officer. I got to visit the Top Gun school when it was still at Miramar and they were still flying Tomcats. They were using F-16s for the OpFor planes. Had red stars painted on the tails, if memory serves. (Annoyed the hell out of some of the guys at my customer, General Dynamics .)

Approaching the base it looked like a beehive, there was so much in the air around it.

Got a coffee mug from the CPO Club there, as a souvenir.

Re: Buzzing the tower: Perhaps so, but, as we were leaving, I watched a Tomcat do, I guess a touch-and-go?, couldn't have been more than a hundred feet or so off the deck--from our perspective he didn't appear to be much above the roof of the building just behind the flight line--turning so hard on the way out there was vapour all along the trailing edges of the wings.

The Tomcat has always been my favourite aircraft. (The Warthog is a close second.)

This film will definitely be in our library.

As an aside: I've a friend who's an audio professional. Has done mixing for some pretty big names. He once told me the sound track for Top Gun was one of the best made ever, from a quality perspective.

quote:

Originally posted by navyshooter:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

A Captain in the Navy is an O6. He should probably be at least a Rear Admiral by then, but it's still a fairly high rank.

Yes, I know that.

Still, an O-6 at 30 years? I don't think so.

Its more then possible, I've know 0-5's with 30. Now whether he'd sill be flying.......

Line-officer with majority of time in the Reserves, or, one of the restricted fields: JAG, Engineering, Medical, etc..

Wasn't there a Hornet pilot who recently retired who was in his early 50's? Usually those guys have a quark or, two in their career progression.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

In real life, wouldn't a Navy Captain who hadn't progressed in rank be forced to retire long before he hit 30 years in service?

A Captain in the Navy is an O6. He should probably be at least a Rear Admiral by then, but it's still a fairly high rank.

Interesting question...I'm curious. I wonder if a 55-60 year old can even handle the physical demands of flying a fighter.

I'm guessing he couldn't be an Admiral and still be out flying unless it was to keep up certication.

Here is the Navy rank structure
Navy Rank Structure

The U.S. Navy's commissioned officers eligible for training as naval aviators must have a four-year college degree. When a naval aviator first enters the Navy, he is commissioned as an ensign, the lowest-commissioned rank. After ensign, an officer is promoted to lieutenant junior grade. The next rank up is lieutenant. The rank above lieutenant is lieutenant commander. After lieutenant commander comes commander. The next highest ranks are captain, two levels of rear admiral, vice admiral and admiral, the highest.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:...
Interesting question...I'm curious. I wonder if a 55-60 year old can even handle the physical demands of flying a fighter.
...

Chuck Yeager did it quite a bit of test flying for more than 20 years after retiring from the USAF, well into his 70s at Edwards.

He maintained fitness required to fly safely and pushed the corners.

(love him or hate him, he's the real deal)

Film overlooks mandatory retirement ages mandated by Federal Law.

Plot guesses -

Maverick is now a test pilot, doing 'outdated' techniques like low level ingresses. Since he has so much fame for shooting down enemy planes, he's sorta untouchable.

Insert Standard young / old fighter pilot drama / volleyball / etc.

Admiral thinks he and his tactics are obsolete, but they are needed for a low level attack on Iran (the only operator of the F-14). Of course Maverick leads them into combat and succeeds. He may live or die in a dramatic dogfight vs the Iranian F-14 (which a modern F-18E/F Super Hornet would eat for lunch).

Hopefully it's fun and entertaining, and not too serious (socially).

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin101:
I wonder if a 55-60 year old can even handle the physical demands of flying a fighter.

There aren't many of them, but they can do it from what I've seen.

However it is a young person's game. Starting off you can fly 2-3 times a day, going all out, day in and day out. You feel invincible and can drink / party, then do it all again the next day.

The older you get, it's more like 1-2 times a day and you are smoked.

Here's to hoping this film has strike fighter mentality instead of just ACM. Nice to see bombs on the Hornets. What did Jake Grafton say in Flight of the intruder... "Fighter pilots make movies. Bomber pilots make history."