Real fighter pilot who flew in Top Gun: Maverick landed and immediately told Tom Cruise he'd 'never do' extreme maneuver again
Published on Feb 11, 2026 at 4:30 PM (UTC+4)
by Grace Donohoe
Last updated on Feb 11, 2026 at 4:31 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most adrenaline-fueled films of the last decade, thanks to the real-life use of fighter jets and brave actors taking to the skies.
With Tom Cruise taking center stage, all eyes were on the actor, who placed himself in a real-life fighter jet across both movies.
As you can imagine, the stunts took some intense training to prepare for, with Cruise first getting to grips with the basics over three decades ago.
One fighter pilot has revealed, though, that after one stunt was carried out, it would be a clear one-off.
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Top Gun: Maverick included some incredible stunts
Top Gun: Maverick topped the charts upon its release in 2022 thanks to the realistic stunts pulled off by the cast.
Stars who played key roles included Tom Cruise, Glen Powell, and the late Val Kilmer, but the actors really did embody their roles to the absolute max.
In fact, Tom Cruise had to train hard and fast to get to grips with fighter jets before filming the original Top Gun movie, with his initial test flight causing his body to react in an extreme way.
As time passed, Cruise got used to flying with extreme force and learned techniques to cope with the strain of high-speed flying, and now has all kinds of pilot’s licenses for both jets and helicopters.
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One real fighter pilot had a lot to say about one in particular
Cruise, who played Maverick in the biopic, had a stand-out stunt in the film where he flew just 50 feet above the desert.
We should note here that every actor was paired with an experienced pilot when filming daredevil scenes.
As a result, it looked impressive on screen, but it was a super risky stunt to master.
The fighter pilot on board deemed it so intense that he spoke with Tom Cruise and said:
“I’ll never do that again.”
So it really was a high-risk but high-reward situation, and one thing is for certain – Tom Cruise is one of the toughest actors in Hollywood thanks to the Top Gun movies.
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Beginning her career as a lifestyle reporter and social-media manager, Grace joined Supercar Blondie in February 2025. Since coming on board, she has thrown herself into the busy daily writing schedule. Her editorial sweet spots include writing about luxury properties and the quirky features inside them that the one percent are investing in, as well as groundbreaking advancements in space exploration.
