The 1986 film Top Gun opens with US Naval Aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and his partner Nick
“Goose” Bradshaw aboard the USS Enterprise. While out on a flight, Maverick and Goose and
their wingmen Cougar and Merlin are intercepted by hostile aircraft. Maverick manages to run
the hostiles away using an inverted maneuver, but Cougar is shaken by the experience and is
only able to land his jet after a pep talk from Maverick. Cougar quits, and so Commander Stinger
sends Maverick and Goose in his place to join Topgun, an elite Naval Fighter Weapons School.
Before starting at Topgun, Maverick meets a woman named Charlie at a bar and unsuccessfully tries
to flirt with her. Upon starting TOPGUN school, Maverick discovers that Charlie was actually an
astrophysicist and civilian Topgun instructor. Despite her early reservations toward Maverick,
Charlie becomes impressed with his skills and charms, and the two enter into a romance.
Maverick also enters into a rivalry with fellow student and top of their class Tom “Iceman”
Kazansky. Iceman viewed Maverick as foolish and dangerous, and saw him as a selfish pilot
who would abandon the squad to pursue reckless objectives. Maverick and Iceman’s rivalry saw
them going back and forth to become top of their class and win the coveted TOPGUN trophy.
During a training mission, Maverick breaks away from his wingman to chase down his instructor,
Viper. Despite his impressive piloting skills, Maverick is led into a trap,
where he is defeated by Viper’s wingman and fellow instructor,
Jester. This exercise further drove home the importance of sticking with your wingman.
Maverick also begins learning how to not be such a lone wolf personally,
as his relationship with Charlie grows deeper. When Goose’s wife, Carole,
and their young son, Bradley, come to visit, this only further drives home the importance of unity.
During a training mission, Maverick and Iceman are chasing an A-4 jet,
but Iceman won’t get out of the way to allow Maverick to take a clear shot. Maverick
realizes that Iceman is wasting time and blocking Maverick out in order to secure a better score
and remain top of the class. Maverick pressures Iceman into breaking off from the engagement,
but then gets caught in Iceman’s jet wash, causing both of his engines to flame out. As Maverick and
Goose’s jet goes into an unrecoverable flat spin, the two pilots are forced to eject. Unfortunately,
upon ejection, Goose crashes headfirst into the jet’s canopy, killing him on impact.
Maverick is distraught and guilt-ridden over his best friend’s death,
and contemplates retiring. Maverick’s instructor, Viper, reveals that he
served alongside Maverick’s father in battle and witnessed him heroically sacrifice himself to save
countless others. With this information, he encourages Maverick to continue flying.
Maverick ultimately decides to graduate with his class, although Iceman wins the TOPGUN trophy.
Following their graduation, Maverick and his classmates are immediately deployed to
the Enterprise for a crisis situation. Maverick teams up with Merlin to act as Iceman’s wingmen
to take down six enemy MiG aircrafts. During the encounter, Maverick pilots through jet wash,
reminding him of Goose’s death. Maverick manages to recover and stick by Iceman’s side.
Together, they defeat the MiGs and return to the Enterprise triumphantly. Maverick
and Iceman finally put aside their differences and develop a newfound respect in each other. Maverick
is also finally able to find peace with Goose’s death, tossing his friend's dog tags overboard.
Following the successful mission, Maverick is offered any assignment of his
choosing. He decides to return to TOPGUN as an instructor where he is reunited with Charlie.