When I was in the US NAVY, I was in a F14A and F14B Tomcat squadron that was based at NAS Miramar. The name of my old squadron was called VF24 Fighting Renegades, and while I was at NAS Miramar, one of the training squadrons I went to was VF124 before I went to VF24 , and I was deployed on the USS Nimitz as part of Carrier Air Wing 9 as one of my squadron's Plane Captains (basically it's a US Navy version of what the US Air Force calls a "crew chief"), and it is a very dirty and stinky job, but it is required to make sure that the final checks are in place before the pilot and the RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) take off in the aircraft.

25 square meter radar cross section for the F-15 was done on purpose, to give the enemy time to run away.

Admiral Iceman wanted the Ghost of kyiv but couldn't find him and ended up choosing Maverick as a second option

Tomcat Hornets Super Hornets Su-57 Mustang SR-72 All beauties but the F-14 will always be The One for me.

How willl the F35 feature? F35 pilot enters the mess. "Welcome to the 21st century Hornet pukes" (Maverick goes to war, shoots down 5 Su57s and becomes an Ace) Maverick: "Looks like we just seperated the men from the boys" (cue Top Gun guitar riff and Mav flys off into the distance)

you are definitely the most informative and unbiased creator on this platform hope to buy your book some day

Love the narration, comments and understanding of these incredible machines.!!

Great video. I'm so excited. Thanks for mentioning the speed that the F-35 RAM starts to get damaged at, that's interesting stuff! We like details :)

This is turning into my favourite channel so fast, great work, ...and hard work it must be, good job

I got so much from this video! So much, that if I wanted to remember it, I'll have to watch it a few times. So many statistics and great watching this before the actual movie, which we have been looking forward to seeing for years. I look forward to your next video after the release off the movie. We know how it is being filmed, but worked love your take on it post 27th of May.

Ghost of Kyiv stole an SU-57 and goes for Maverilk's ass. There can be only one

Great analysis. I love how thorough your videos are. I saw the film a few days ago and - despite a lot of really unrealistic scenarios - loved every minute of it. Keep up the great work. :-)

The Tomcat just took longer to maintain and the Super Hornet was more agile and smaller than the Tomcat. It was sad to see the Navy retire the Tomcat but it had to go and eventually the F-35 is going to be used along side the Super Hornet. Still blows my mind that the F-35 only has one engine compared to where the Navy wants 2 engines in case one goes out and you can fly yourself back on one engine.

Alex, so glad I found your channel recently. Have enjoyed going back thru your videos. The information and visuals are top shelf. Audio could use a more professional setup for doing your voice over narration and music.

Yes please do more content like this i love anything with fighter jets and history. You do great teaching while entertaining. Thanks for the content really helps with my 3rd shift desk job lol.

Wow that sarcastic "maybe Iran?" for the F14 ended up being spot on

Thanks for the analysis! I appreciate understanding the aircraft better since I watched the movie last night.

I feel like the SR72 thing is just where we find maverick in the beginning, doing test pilot or secret squirrel stuff which is where Ed Harris finds him, and it won’t be that big a plot line. It seems like a natural progression for senior pilots to go for. But for whatever plot reason like “we’re about to start something and we need the best of the best to teach our best,” Admiral Iceman pulls him out and has him go back to teaching, which is where we get the main plot. I’m just wondering about the F14, like if they’ll steal one from Iran or it’s a Super Tomcat prototype or something.

Hell ya, I've been waiting for this movie to come out. I actually watched Top Gun 73 times not to mention all the times I watched it on DVD 😁😁. Great analysis of the AC also. Would love to see more videos of this type.

I'm very excited too that was the movie that make me begin to love Fighter Jets and aviation over all. one of my all time favorites!!

The Block 3 version of the F/A Super Hornet is supposedly capable of being on par with the SU-57 cocerning stealth. It even has the ability to carry weapons internally.

It would be a good idea for Sandboxx to read up on the experience of the Iranian Air Force pilot success using the Phoenix AAM in close combat against the Iraqis. While the Phoenix was designed for long range engagement, it has proven to be a very good missile for close in air combat. It's near hypersonic speed at launch is certainly a factor in this leaving opponents with little time to respond.

I Love air planes like all Americans So when I watch your films and you coordinate the Visuals & vocals I am able to absorb a great deal more information and I am also able to keep up. As always Great Work & thank you for always being here with new content !

Great video Alex! I am psyched for this movie finally landing next month.

The f35 DAS itself can detect all air, ground and sea targets all at once from immense distances, while its radar is off. It can cue all target simultaneously and guide missiles from other assets towards enemies via datalink, and the missile only turns on its terminal radar guidance in the last leg. If the enemy only knows about a missile lock when the aim120 is only 4 miles out, That is a death sentance. Even thought the f35 is very manueverable, i'm not so certain it will be using it much.

I love how Hollywood puts lights inside pilot's (and astronauts) helmets... Like your car at night, it would glare and blackout your vision... But the camera can see the actors face!

@AlexHollings Love your channel! And I like most of your subs (Im betting,) crave as much of this type of subject matter as you care to put out! Plus as 1 of your Subs already mentioned, you give lots of data in an unbiased manner which is appreciated! Oh, we know and can tell planes you like etc, but you still give unbiased data on things like avionics and refits and upgrades etc. Which we or I certainly enjoy! More please Alex! Peace, ~"Nic"

Thanks for this. Great info and some fun facts to know before enjoying the movie release.

Great video! Not sure if you did one, but maybe a video about possible 6th gen fighters that countries are developing?

love this stuff man keep it coming!!!

Your opening comment is a perfect summary of why we want this film to be fun even at the expense of being realistic or believable. I just want to shut my brain off for a while and enjoy the pretty planes.

The P51 was cheaper, you could have 2 of them for the price of one P47 Thunderbolt or P39 Lightning. But those two planes were able to fly just as far as the P51 Mustang.

Great rundown Alex! Stoked foe this film!

Yes, please, do more of it!

Hell yeah!! I loved this movie as a kid it was my favorite it still is it's one of those that if it's on TV I can't help but watch it! I still get hyperactive thinking about it

Great video! Very informative, thank you for sharing it. Very much a long shot here, but do you think you might be able to do similar analytical videos for the MiG-31 Firefox (from the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie) and the F-37 Talon (from 2005's "Stealth"), please? 2 very fictional aircraft, but those 2 are firm favourites, so would love to hear your thoughts on them 🙂

Best movie I've seen in long time. Love the flares detonating radar guided missles!!!

Couldn't have hit the like and subscribe button any faster if I wanted to! Love the video great work!

FANTASTIC VID!!! Pls do more. (Iron Eagle 2 maybe, one of the most underrated aviation films in history??) 🤔

I'm stoked this movie is finally getting released. Assuming they don't delay it again. I really liked this video, you did a great job on the analysis and comparisons. Would love to see more like it

The Soviets were not the only one's flying MiG's with a red star

Awesome video!!!! Keep them coming!!!👍🔥🔥🔥

Excellent analysis of Top Gun Maverick! Love the new movie Top Gun Maverick! I watched this analysis before I saw the movie!

I’m totally stoked to be going to see this Movie already bought tickets I was in the navy when top gun originally came out AMH aviation mech hydraulics I worked on just about every aircraft the navy had at that time. Yeah I’m pumped to see the new top gun maverick.

Love it bro. Keep it coming... 😄👍

The biggest problem with the F14 in an dogfight probably would be it's avioniks meaning the pilot won't only have to fight his enemy but also his controls

It was a great movie the planes were awesome but the parts where he's working on the mustang were hilarious. The bikes were great too. I was great seeing Val Kilmer too. I had no idea that was doing to happen

Great video! So excited to see the movie tonight!

Great video. Cant wait to see the movie this week!

You did a better breakdown than the others did. Nice

I cannot wait to see it!!

Good video - I liked this movie aviation analysis. The movie was great too - definitley not realistic but it was at least respectful and reflective of real fighters to an extent.

Great topic!

Of course the aircraft you did not mention was the A-4 Skyhawk 'Aggressor' flown by 'Viper' in the original Top Gun movie...

Also the cool scene when the Russians 5th gen fighters role up on rooster and maverick the sound reminds me of the scene in Independence Day when the alien fighters fly

Another enjoyable edition of Sandboxx News! With the news of the RCAF adopting the F-35 I would love to see what you have to share on the news and the selection process/politics that went into choosing an aircraft that was chosen, dropped and chosen again? Will Canada modify them for duty in the True North (thinking not) and how will it change Canada's role in NATO now that they will be flying stealth platforms? The CF-104 was a tactical nuclear strike bomber in Europe -- could the F-35 become the same? Seems lots of possibilities for the future...

Another awesome video!

Saw Top Gun: Maverick tonight and enjoyed it.

Being a true Navy pilot, I would think Maverick in choosing a WWII fighter he would choose a F4U Corsair

Cant wait.

Awonderful video about Tope gun Maverick training and technologies capability and super capability of US Airforce dog fighting ...video focused on weakness of SU 57 ...as 5th generation... thanks ( Sand boxx ) channel for sharing

CooL vid chap !

Oof, I'm glad you fixed some of the technical errors, but you made some yourself here. - First and foremost radar cross sections numbers are complete bogus. They have never been released the public. The "all aspect" and "front aspect" stuff is also purely conjecture. My advice would be not to dip your foot in the arena. For the SU-57, it suffers from being Russia's first stealth attempt, and being Russian. Russian stuff always turns out to be vapor wear when combat comes. - Speed/Heat can degrade radar absorbant material more quickly over the life of the coating, but flying at high speeds for more than 60 seconds will not have a noticeable effect during a mission. The specific point mentioned here was a restriction applied early in the F-35's test program to avoid potential damage over the coatings lifetime; not necesarily a real problem. This problem may have already been fixed, or simply removed the restriction. The F-35 actually features a far more robust and durable RAM coating than older stealth aircraft like the F-22, B-2, or F-117. - Aerial combat is a lot more complicated than the numbers on a paper, especialy because those numbers are generally just conjecture made up on the internet. The best way to judge these things is to talk to pilots of the specific platform and just avoid making definitive statements that lack proof. And again, I remind of the "LazerPig Loop" which describes why the west constantly fanboys over Russian equipement, but consistently turns it into scrap metal any time it's seen on the battle field. www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDefense/comments/t2yoi9/the_lazerpig_loop/

Very well done

I’m a bit biased, but why did you leave out the A-4 Skyhawks? Granted they’re not “fighter” aircraft, but still a formidable foe in a dogfight.

Alex, I found your channel through Ward Carroll's, and have enjoyed all the videos I've watched to date. Here's my pressing question: does anyone know what aircraft they used to stand in for the SU-57?

THIS VIDEO WAS AWESOME!!! FILLED WITH INTERESTING AVIATION TIDBITS!!!

I think the reasons why Top Gun Maverick was select F/A-18E/F rather than F-35C were 1) F-18 also has two seats on the' F' model that easy to create the flight scene for actor/actress simulating they are flying the jet themselves but F-35 has only single seat config. 2) At the early period of filming the Top Gun 2, F-35 just in service, I think US Navy don't like any outsiders getting too cĺose to their new jets.

I have been dying to see this movie since the first trailer was released. Hopefully I will be seeing it in IMAX. The F-14 appearance is very intriguing, I am really wondering how they will work the old Tomcat into the movie.

Just saw the movie on IMAX and I’m ready to go see it again!

I can’t even remember the first time I saw Top Gun. It came out when I was 4. But I’ve loved airplanes ever since!

Great video!!

Great commentary on the aircraft, but never underestimate the older aircraft in. F-14 in an air to air engagement. All the avionics upgrades are great in newer airframe, but you forgot the most important component. The Pilots. A great pilot in an older aircraft...F-14....can amaze a lesser pilot with the newest aircraft. All the new equipment is only as lethal/capable as the pilot flying it.

Good balanced and fair video. Very curious as to how the F-14 gets into the film… maybe some fictitious tribute flight?

Awesome

Great video! 😃

Looking forward to seeing this movie!

Have been waiting for this MOVIE. Since I heard they announced maybe making another top gun movie, about three or so years ago! Needless to say the movie is finally going to be released and not delayed again!

Can you cover the newest F16 Viper

The original Top Gun was my Star Wars, so definitely looking forward to Maverick.

Great video

Do more of these kinds of videos, please. :)

well done

Paused the video just to comment this. Tom’s ‘p51’ is actually, I believe, is a TF-51 or a TP-51 The original version, as far as I am aware, was never a two seater. Tom’s is. He gave a ride to James Corden which sat in the back, or should I say stuffed in the back.

Good video! 👊🏻💥👊🏻

The F14 Tomcat in the new movie was on loan from the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.

Maybe Cruise is flying a 21 Super Tomcat, who knows. Super excited to see the movie no matter what!

They may not specify the foreign enemy in the movie, but I think that Iran was the only place to find an F-14 in country, so it's pretty well implied. Unless the average punter is the sort you find watching your impressive content, they may miss that though. Hope you're feeling better soonest mate. 👍🤕🇭🇲

I thought several of the F14s were simply mothballed and not sliced and diced, sad if they are as that is still my favorite aircraft. F22 and Mig21 would be my next favs.

a extensively upgraded naval carrier borne F-14 Tomcat maritime multi role fighter is still more than a match to the carrier borne F/A-18E Super Hornet (Block III) maritime multi role fighter interceptor . . . or the French carrier borne Dassault Rafale M4-R maritime multi role fighter for that matter . . . the naval carrier borne F-35C Lightning II maritime multi role fighter seriously needs a proper internal gun, as in the F-35A air force variant . . . under fuselage gun pods ain't a viable alternative to the internal cannon . . .

Like visiting the uss Alabama as a kid got me into ww2 warships, seeing the f14 at an airshow got me interested in aviation. Still to this day the coolest and loudest jet I've ever seen fly was a f14d

Thanks from an old Navy Shoe🇺🇸

Correction about the "mig 28's". In 1986, we didn't assume they were soviet. We assumed they were north Korean... that's what the red star was supposed to symbolize. Just correcting that minor error in this very good video

this is going to be awesome at IMAX

The super hornet tops out at mach 1.8, not sure where you got that number?

I thought this was going to be an April fools video.. but I clicked immediately anyways just to hear you say "air power"

Back in 05 when I worked at Lockheed in Colorado we had a server named darkstar

7:30 TBH it should be F/A-18F (that is the 2-seater version) you can clearly see the firearm control guy is sitting behind

I'll politely disagree on the premise that the first movie would have started a war. The 'enemy' country is not named, but just because they flew MiGs does not mean they were the Soviet Union. I always felt that the screenwriters based it upon the first Gulf of Sidra incident involving F-14s shooting down a pair of Libyan Su-22s. (The second Gulf of Sidra incident happened in March 1986, too late to have influenced the script) During the early 80s, the USSR did indeed export relatively new (and mostly unseen by the West) aircraft to various countries around the world, including MiG-25s to Libya.

The Tomcat will always be my #1, in my ❤️ and in my installation of..............DCS World!