saber964 wrote:Jonathan_S wrote:According to wiki it looks like the US Navy still operates some F-5s for training. (AKA the Mig-29s from the movie) - so on a technicality it doesn't look like all the aircraft have been retired.
My first suspect for still in service actually would have been the carrier's rescue helicopter from the very end. But, while I can't quickly find shots with it, I think it probably was a SH-3 Sea King; which has been retired.
I know the F-14s, A-4s used by Top Gun, and A-6s seen parked on deck, have all been retired.
I'd have to skim through the movie again to see if any other carrier planes were caught in a background shot; and then see if they might be around. Certainly variants of the E-2 Hawkeye are still in service; ditto for the C-2 Greyhound (but I don't recall if we ever saw either in the movie).
With the retirement of the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder, the USN has no combat aircraft being built by Grumman Aircraft Co. this is the first time since 1933 when the FF-1 entered service.
Of course it's been 20 years since there really
was a Grumman Aircraft Co. (But yeah, even Northrup Grumman doesn't have any combat aircraft in the USN. AWACS, EW, Transport; yes. Combat; no)
Oh, and because I'm that kind of obsessive I ran back through Top Gun and verified that the final chopper was a Sea King.
There was a E-2 Hawkeye hiding in a couple of the wide shots of the carrier; so that's a second still in service military aircraft from the movie.
And there were some A-7 Corsair IIs
(since retired), and USCG HH-3F Pelican
(since retired), and S-3 Viking
(since retired), and hiding in the background at Miramar what appeared to be a couple T-37s
(since retired).
Oh and a DC-9 in USN markings
(retired), and a DC-10 in American Airline colors
(basically retired)
Yeah, a surprising amount of time passed since that movie. (Kind of depressing in a way)