I know that all of my pilot chums reading this over their toast and marmalade are already spluttering, why have they asked a former RAF Tornado navigator, a mere back-seat driver, to write about Top Gun? I guess it’s because we navigators clearly have better communication skills than the “stick-monkeys” I used to sit behind in a jet fighter and order around the skies.
Moreover, I’ve been lucky enough to have a blast — just once — around California in the star of the new film, the F/A-18 Hornet, flown by an actual US Navy pilot. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve been to Friday afternoon happy hour a couple of times at the Officers’ Club at Naval Air Station Miramar, the home of the original Top Gun school. So I’ve spent time drinking with the crews and singing all the old songs. I can still belt out a decent rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” if the need arises.
