20 Things You Somehow Missed In Top Gun
15. Tom Cruise Didn't Perform Any Stunt Flying
Tom Cruise is renowned for performing his own stunts in movies, no matter how dangerous they are. Throughout his career, he has hung on the outside of planes, climbed skyscrapers, and nearly killed himself on at least a dozen stunts.
But that hasn't always been the case. For Top Gun, there was no way in hell the military were going to allow anyone but a professional pilot fly their aircraft.
Even though it looks like Tom is sailing through the skies in many key scenes, all his stunt flying was performed by Navy captain and test pilot, Scott Altman (who went on to become an astronaut). Due to masterful editing, the viewer would never doubt Tom Cruise was in the cockpit during all of Maverick's scenes.