Did you know that real dogfighting is done in formation at speeds under 300kts, and not at distances of .5-1-2 miles apart, and that once you get a lock, dammit, thats it, the sucker is going down?
Did you know that if your section leader flakes out, it means that YOU, former notorious flake, earn a ticket to TopGun?
Did you know that Tomcat engines (TF-30's) only flamed out in turbulent jet wash air, and not calm, cool, NORMAL air?
Did you know that if you paint an F-5 black, it will pull sustained G-loads better than an F-14?
I could go on forever, but I didnt know any of these things until I saw TopGun the movie.
Did you know that you could buzz the tower without clearance and not get an instant FNAEB?
True story: I was on wheels-watch at El Toro when the CO of VMA-311 planted an A-4M on the runway, having missed only one teensy-weensy item on the checklist...
"Gear down and locked."
I had hit the waveoff lights, shouted, "GEAR! GEAR! GEAR! POWER POWER!" on the radio, and fired the flares.
He pancaked the sucker down onto the runway.
At the FNAEB and the Board of Inquiry, he insisted that he hadn't heard my warning because of the horn going off in the cockpit. (It was, of course, the "Gear Up" warning horn.)
Three years later, I was boarding a Delta flight to go home on leave. The pilot was none other than our hero...
I asked him, in front of God and everyone in first class, "Yo, sport, you going to remember to lower the landing gear this time?"
Why was everyone staring at me as I went back to my seat?