"Top Gun: Maverick" Call Signs Quiz

Answer: Maverick

Tom Cruise played Lieutenant Pete Mitchell in "Top Gun" (1986) and Captain Pete Mitchell in "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022), call sign Maverick. The 1986 movie ended with Maverick becoming an instructor at the Top Gun school. The 2022 movie started with Maverick as a test pilot who, as always, was pushing the envelope. He was quickly reassigned to Top Gun to train graduates from the school for a top-secret mission.

In the 1986 movie Maverick was the pilot of an F-14 Tomcat. That movie focused almost exclusively on the role of dogfighting in establishing air superiority. The F-14 was the premiere jet for this role at that time. The F-14 Tomcat only came in a two-seater version with a main pilot, Maverick in this case, along with his RIO, Goose. RIO stands for radar intercept officer and indicates his role in detecting enemy aircraft.

In the 2022 movie, the F/A-18 has a single seat version, the F/A-18E, and a two-seater version, the F/A-18F. The F/A-18 fighter is a dual role fighter that can dogfight with enemy aircraft as well as make attacks on ground targets. In the 2022 movie, Maverick flew the F/A-18E, the single seat variant.

Answer: Rooster

Miles Teller played Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw call sign Rooster. He was the son of Maverick's RIO Goose who died in the first "Top Gun" movie. Teller's character had the call sign Rascal when he auditioned for the role but once he got the part, he was allowed to pick his own call sign. He chose Rooster in honor of Goose.

Rooster also piloted the F/A-18E just like Maverick. In the movie we learned that Maverick had scuttled his application to the Naval Academy because it was Rooster's mother's dying wish and because Maverick did not think he was ready. But Rooster persevered and graduated from the Academy, became a pilot, and graduated from Top Gun. As a pilot he was too cautious and by the book, a habit he had to overcome in order to succeed in the mission.

Answer: Hangman

Glen Powell played Lieutenant Jake Seresin call sign Hangman. Hangman was another F/A-18E pilot. He got the call sign hangman because, as Phoenix explained to Bob, he would always leave his wingman hanging out to dry. This was not a trait that was looked on favorably by the other pilots for obvious reasons. He was a hotshot pilot who, like Maverick, tended to push the envelope but even he could not beat Maverick in a dogfight.

At the end of the movie, he comes to the rescue of Maverick and Rooster as they return to carrier in the stolen F-14 and are chased by enemy fighters. He shoots down an unsuspecting enemy just as he is about to take down the F-14.

Answer: Bob

Lewis Pullman played Lieutenant Robert Floyd, call sign Bob. We never learned why Bob had such a lackluster call sign, but it does seem to fit his personality. Hangman jokingly said his call sign stands for baby on board. As the movie progressed, we learned there was more to Bob than his mild-mannered call sign would suggest. There was a grit behind the calmness.

Bob was the WSO in an F/A-18F piloted by Phoenix. WSO stands for weapon systems officer and was similar to the RIO from the F-14 Tomcat in the first "Top Gun" movie. But because the F/A-18 is a dual role aircraft, the role of the WSO has expanded from merely radar monitoring to also acquiring targets on the ground to attack.

Answer: Phoenix

Monica Barbaro played Lieutenant Natasha Trace, call sign Phoenix. Phoenix was one of two female pilots called back for the top-secret mission and was the pilot of an F/A-18F. She was a close friend of Rooster's. During training for the mission, the fighter that Phoenix pilots was involved in a bird strike and lost its engines. She and Bob were forced to eject but survived the incident.

Phoenix and Bob were selected by Maverick to go on the final mission. They flew the lazing role for Maverick as he led the mission. It was their job to paint the target with a laser so Maverick's bombs knew where to hit.

Answer: Payback

Jay Ellis played Lieutenant Reuben Fitch, call sign Payback. Payback was the pilot of the second F/A-18F chosen to go on the final mission with Maverick. Fanboy was his WSO. They flew the lazing role for Rooster. Maverick and Phoenix/Bob were to open the facility with the first hit allowing Rooster and Payback/Fanboy to destroy it with the second hit.

During training it was Payback and Fanboy who challenged Maverick to make a bet on who won in the first dog fight. Whoever lost had to do 200 pushups. Rooster was their wingman during the initial duel and saved them from being shot down by Maverick but at the cost of getting shot down himself.

Answer: Fanboy

Danny Ramirez played Lieutenant Mickey Garcia, call sign Fanboy. Fanboy was the WSO for the F/A-18F piloted by Payback and went on the final mission with him. For the final mission there were two teams, each made up of an F/A-18E and an F/A- 18F. Payback and Fanboy were in the F/A-18F teamed up with Rooster.

They were tasked with lazing the site so Rooster could drop the bombs to blow up the nuclear facility, after Maverick opened the target with the initial strike.

Answer: Iceman

Val Kilmer played Lieutenant Tom Kazansky in "Top Gun" and Admiral Kazansky in "Top Gun: Maverick", call sign Iceman. In the original, Iceman was the main rival of Maverick. He was a cocky but extremely gifted pilot who graduated first in his class. In "Top Gun: Maverick", Iceman was now an admiral and commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet. Iceman has clearly matured and taken on much more responsibility than Maverick, but he also knew what Maverick offered the Navy.

It was Iceman who had Maverick assigned back to Top Gun to train the pilots for the mission. In effect he was Maverick's champion and protector. But there was one problem, Iceman was dying. When he passed away, Maverick's days were numbered.

Answer: Coyote

Greg Tarzan Davis played Lieutenant Javy Machado, call sign Coyote. Coyote was a pilot of an F/A-18E. During the training for the mission, he blacked out during the simulated climb out of the valley where the bombing raid took place because of the G-forces involved. Maverick chased him down yelling at him and trying to get him to wake up before he crashed into the ground. Maverick was successful just in the nick of time.

Coyote was also the one in the room when Hangman discovered the picture of Maverick and Goose's class at Top Gun. The two of them realized that Goose was Rooster's father, a fact Hangman brought up when he got the chance.

Answer: Hondo

Bashir Salahuddin played Chief Warrant Officer Bernie Coleman, call sign Hondo. Interestingly, in the credits Hondo was listed as a warrant officer 1 (WO-1) but his uniform insignias were for a chief warrant officer 4 (CWO-4).

Hondo was a non-commissioned officer, like a sergeant in the army, and was Maverick's right-hand man. He was with Maverick in the test pilot program and followed him when he returned to Top Gun. He helped with training the pilots for the mission. Hondo controlled the flight line and oversaw the pushups the pilots had to do after losing to Maverick.

Answer: Omaha

Jack Schumacher played Lieutenant Neil Vikander, call sign Omaha. Omaha was an F/A-18F pilot. Lieutenant Callie Bassett, call sign Halo was his WSO. She was played by Kara Wang. Omaha and Halo were the sixth victims of Maverick during the dog fight part of the training.

Prior to being recalled to Top Gun, Omaha was with the VFA-136 Knighthawks squadron and Halo was with the VFA-22 Fighting Redcocks squadron.

Answer: Warlock

Charles Parnell played Rear Admiral Solomon Bates, call sign Warlock. Warlock was the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC) commander. He and Cyclone oversaw the training of the teams for the mission. Warlock was more forgiving and supportive of Maverick, even telling him this was where he belonged right before the mission.

Answer: Yale

Raymond Lee played Lieutenant Logan Lee, call sign Yale. Yale was an F/A-18F pilot and Lieutenant Brigham Lennox, call sign Harvard was his WSO. Harvard was played by Jack Picking. The pair were the third crew shot down by Maverick during the dog fighting. They had made fun of Rooster when he was doing his pushups, taking a selfie with him. Then when they had to do their pushups, Hondo made sure to remind them of their stunt.

Answer: Fritz

Manny Jacinto played Lieutenant Billy Avalone, call sign Fritz. Fritz was an F/A-18E pilot and part of the second team to take on Maverick in the dogfighting. He joined Yale and Harvard in giving Rooster grief for being the first one shot down by Maverick. Unfortunately for him, he became Maverick's second victim, followed closely by Yale and Harvard.

Answer: Cyclone

John Hamm of "Mad Men" fame played Vice Admiral Beau Simpson, call sign Cyclone. Cyclone was not happy to have Maverick back and training the teams for the mission. Cyclone was far more by the book and far more cautious than Maverick. Cyclone's only goal was to accomplish the mission even if it was a suicide mission. Maverick's goal was to bring everyone home alive or at least give them a fighting chance.

When Iceman died, Cyclone benched Maverick and changed the parameters of the mission, basically guaranteeing no one would come home alive. Maverick decided to fly the mission anyway and show that it could be done if it was done his way. Cyclone was not happy that Maverick did this but when he saw the results, he knew he had no choice. He picked Maverick to lead the mission and basically risked his career on the outcome. If it failed, his career would be over, but if it succeeded, no one would care why.