70 Top Gun Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Mach 10

"Top Gun: Maverick" opens in the Mojave Desert in California. Maverick works as a test pilot for a Naval project that is about to be scrapped because it did not reach its intended goal of having a human reach Mach 10 in the stealth plane. Maverick reaches a speed of Mach 10.4 before the plane catches fire and Maverick has to eject. Admiral Kane reprimands Maverick for not stopping at Mach 10 as he was supposed to.

Mach is equal to the speed of sound which varies with altitude and temperature. At sea level Mach 1 is equal to 760 miles per hour whereas at 30,000 feet it is 677 miles per hour. At the time of the release of the film "Top Gun: Maverick", the fastest speed reached by a manned aircraft in Earth's atmosphere was around Mach 6.7, well below the Mach 10.4 reached by Maverick in the film.

Answer: Cougar

Cougar is slang for an older woman who dates younger men. The male equivalent is Manther, a combination of man and panther.

Cougar the pilot gets spooked thinking about his family and tells the CAG he lost the edge because he almost orphaned his child and widowed his wife. By turning in his wings he gives Maverick the chance to go to Top Gun.

Cougar is played by John Stockwell, who as well as being an actor has gone on to direct.

Answer: Truck driver

Goose asks Maverick if he still had the number for Truckmasters Truck Driving School.

Answer: USS Enterprise

The USS Alabama and USS Missouri were both Battleships in WWII. The original USS Enterprise was an Aircraft Carrier in WWII and was decomissioned in the 50's.

Answer: Ladies' room

As the first meeting breaks up Iceman decides to put Maverick and Goose in their place. Note Val Kilmer's superb smile after the gag.

Answer: July

You hear the answer when Maverick is at his hearing. They find Maverick not at fault for the death of Goose.

Answer: the pattern is full

The quote occurred at the end of the mock dog-fighting scene in which Maverick and Goose flew below the hard-deck with Jester. Maverick and Goose soon found themselves in trouble not only for going below the hard-deck, but also for the fly-by. "Two of your snot-nosed jockeys did a fly-by of my tower at over 400 knots!"

Answer: For not landing when fuel was low

Out on maneuvers, Maverick and Goose are low on fuel and ordered to land. They disregard this because their wing man, Cougar, is confused and needs to be led into land.

Answer: Captain

In the 1986 film "Top Gun", Maverick has a rank of lieutenant and more than 30 years later in "Top Gun: Maverick" he has the rank of Captain. Maverick's girlfriend Penny, Admiral Simpson and Admiral Kane all comment that Maverick should have been ranked an Admiral with his stellar record and abilities. However, his lack of attention to protocol has caused him to not move up the ladder as he should have.

Answer: Merlin

Merlin is the wizard of Arthurian legend and a worker of magic.

In the movie, the RIO Merlin loses his chance to go to Top Gun when Cougar resigns from active flight status. But this is not the last we see of him. After Goose is killed, Merlin becomes Maverick's RIO for the final engagement of the movie.

Merlin is played by Tim Robbins in a small role for the soon to be famous actor. He would break out in the movie "Bull Durham" two years later.

Answer: Charlotte Blackwood

This was revealed when she was introduced to the class the day after Mav and Goose sang to her. She is a civilian advisor to the military.

Answer: Tony Scott

Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson are the producers of "Top Gun". Ron Shelton didn't start directing major motion pictures until 1988. Although his first film did have one of the actors from "Top Gun" as one of its stars. "Top Gun" was Tony Scott's second film. He has since gone on to direct a number of top films.

Answer: Rolling reversal

Charlie starts the conversation with Maverick by advising him on his flying. I don't know what a rolling reversal is but I imagine it involves rolling then reversing.

Answer: Jamie

You hear her name when Maverick was waiting to talk to Viper.

Answer: I might need that

Goose was worried that he and Maverick might need to pursue other career paths after being reamed for the aforementioned fly-by.

Answer: "She's lost that lovin' feelin'"

He says 'She's lost that lovin' feelin' and Goose goes, 'No. No Mav, she didn't. Oh man, I hate it when she does that!'

Answer: Goose

In "Top Gun" (1986) Maverick and Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw are best friends and are on the same team/plane while they are at the Top Gun facility in 'Fightertown' San Diego. Goose dies in an aerial training session and Maverick is devastated. Goose's son, Bradley, is a young kid at the time of his father's death.

Fast forward 36 years later to the film "Top Gun: Maverick" and Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw is a Top Gun graduate who resents Maverick because of how his father died. His father, call sign Goose, is mentioned numerous times in "Top Gun: Maverick" and both Maverick and Rooster struggle to move on from his death decades earlier.

Answer: Hollywood and Wolfman

Movie stars = Hollywood, monsters = Wolfman.

Hollywood and Wolfman figure prominently in the movie, both at Top Gun and in the final dog fight where they are shot down.

Hollywood is played by Whip Hubley. This role is the one he is most noted for, although he has quite an extensive list of movie credits.

Wolfman is played by Barry Tubb who has gone on to act in TV and films. He gave away Julia Roberts when she married Lyle Lovett.

Answer: Viper

When Viper is introduced to the Top Gun class, they refer to him as the first man to ever win the Top Gun trophy.

Answer: F-14

The F-5 and A-4 are used as Mig simulators.

Answer: Goose

Said at the beginning of the second Top Gun dogfight, where we learn about wing men.

Answer: Great Balls of Fire

Goose and Maverick sing this song when Goose's wife (played by Meg Ryan) comes to visit. Goose and Maverick said "Great Balls of Fire" all through the appearance of Goose. Does anyone really know why they say this?

Answer: Slider

Slider said this to Maverick right before the infamous volleyball scene. It was in regards to Maverick's apparent failure to impress Charlie. If you'll recall, Maverick's reply was, "Slider... you stink." Hehe.

Answer: Berlin

'Take My Breath Away' and 'Danger Zone' made Top Gun one of the best soundtracks of that time.

Answer: Uranium

In a mission brief it is explained that there is a uranium enrichment facility that will be operational in less than a month. The facility is breaking international sanctions and it puts allies of the United States in danger as nuclear weapons can be made through this enrichment. It is never explained in the film where, exactly, on Earth this uranium enrichment facility is located.