Wednesday 18 May 2022 02:31 AM Tom Cruise did NOT pilot the $70 million fighter plane he is seen 'flying' in ... trends now
The Top Gun hype machine may have taken a highway to the danger zone - as it has emerged that star Tom Cruise did not actually pilot the $70 million F-18 Super Hornet which he is seen 'flying' in the film.
Cruise, 59, famously insists that he does his own stunts and has been banging the drum for the authenticity of Top Gun: Maverick.
The film, released on May 27th, shows his character Maverick flying supersonic jets on a dangerous secret mission – at 'Mach 2 with his hair on fire,' as Cruise puts it.
No fly zone: The Top Gun hype machine may have taken a highway to the danger zone - as it has emerged that star Tom Cruise did not actually pilot the $70 million F-18 Super Hornet which he is seen 'flying' in the film
Cruise and others have spoken in numerous interviews about how they went through months of training to be able to handle G-Forces and say their lines in the film without passing out or vomiting.
However, veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer has come clean and admitted that although they had clearance to put Cruise and other actors in the F-18s, they were merely passengers in the cockpit.
Bruckheimer said that Cruise had filed a request to be allowed to fly the plane, but was denied clearance by the Navy – presumably on the grounds that the $70 million plane was simply too expensive to be entrusted someone who is not actually a fighter pilot.
Keen pilot: Cruise, 59, famously insists that he does his own stunts and has been banging the drum for the authenticity of Top Gun: Maverick
In Top Gun: Maverick he flies other planes and is seen apparently flying the Super Hornet via cameras installed – but experience Navy pilots are holding the stick.
Cruise is an experienced pilot and is seen genuinely flying other planes in the movie, which comes out later this month.
He said: 'I've always been a physical actor, have always been developing a physical language, but now I'm also an aerobatic pilot. I fly warbirds. The P-51 in this movie is mine, the Red Tail [the period silver plane Cruise flies on screen love interest Jennifer Connelly in].
'I have done more aerial sequences than any other actor, from Top Gun to American Made to Mission Impossible Fallout [that saw him put that helicopter into a controlled spin and perform the first ever on-screen High Altitude Low Open, or HALO, skydive out the back of that C-17].
Flying high: The film, released on May 27th, shows his character Maverick flying supersonic jets on a dangerous secret mission – at 'Mach 2 with his hair on fire,' as Cruise puts it
Oh dear: Jerry Bruckheimer said that Cruise had filed a request to be allowed to fly the plane, but was denied clearance by the Navy
'I was always looking
