Originally Posted by
Tycho
Bikerscout, I so much loved Top Gun.
The El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was operational when I grew up there (the aliens destroyed it in Independence Day).
I used to watch the fighter pilots train daily and roar overhead when I was at Wild Rivers Water Park where I'd spend every summer trying to catch waves and women. That was my life dude!
I loved those days growing up wanting to be a fighter pilot. I think I saw Top Gun in the movie theater every week while it was out and always begged my mom to take me.
In my first business venture, I used to mow the lawn and wash the car for a fighter pilot who made Top Gun (when it was the Navy base in San Diego - it is currently open here and I go to the air show there every October - and it's now officially designated Miramar MCAS).
But the fighter pilot and his wife took me on base and I got to sit in a real F-18 and go in the real F-18 flight simulator while he had an instructor friend guide me on a simulated mission. It was so cool!
Don - that was the pilot's name, bought me the Top Gun hat and the Top Spud (remember the Budweiser dog?) T-shirt, plus a Navy Fighter Weapons hoodie.
My health complications prevented me from every being in the military though I tried to get into the Marines, Navy, and the Air Force and my father was a decorated officer in the Navy.