Top Gun Day: How the Tom Cruise film inspired former Indian Air Force pilots

While Top Gun was officially released in cinemas on May 16 1986 lsquoTop Gun Dayrsquo is observed on May 13 as an unofficial fanled celebration that was later embraced by Paramount Pictures The date is tied more to the filmrsquos enduring pop culture legacy and fan tradition than to its actual release anniversaryTo mark the occasion we spoke to fighter pilots from the MiG21 Mirage and Jaguar squadrons of the Indian Air Force to relive those formative years and their Top Gun momentsPure fauji lingoI recently watched Top Gun again and it brought back several memories Safe to say the title track alone fuelled plenty of adrenaline within us I also remember a few of my coursemates proudly putting up iconic Tom Cruise posters in their rooms We definitely had our own lingo which sounded extremely cool at the timeWing Commander Vivek Kumar top left poses with 5 Squadron wearing RayBan aviators Pic courtesyVivek KumarlsquoHog of the Monthrsquo referred to the person with the highest flying hours during that month Similarly we maintained a logbook and if someone forgot to sign or write their name in it we would note their name down and add lsquoone beerrsquo By the end of the month the person used to pay their dues over multiple bottles of beerThe coolest inside joke revolved around pilots who flew Jaguars People used to say the aircraft could only get airborne because the earth was round as it was designed for highspeed lowaltitude flying and not as an airsuperiority fighter with high thrusttoweight ratiosrdquoWing Commander Vivek Kumar RetdThrough the danger zoneI remember we were in our prime and everyone was influenced by the film During my academy days at Air Force Academy Dundigal I completed my first solo sortie successfully in the first attempt The moment I landed everyone around me joked saying lsquoHey you think yoursquore MaverickrsquoGroup Captain Sanjit Singh Kaila in front of a MiG21 Pic courtesySanjit Singh KailaMy lone regret is that when the film was released we young cadets had planned to watch it together at the NDA National Defence Academy Unfortunately my wrist was broken and I was the only one who could not join the rest That day I promised myself I would only watch the film on the big screen and Top Gun Maverick 2022 eventually helped me fulfil that dreamGroup Captain Sanjit Singh Kaila RetdOG aviation geeksWe were full of josh and most of us carried the lsquoSergeant toh nahi pakdegarsquo attitude I vividly remember how RayBans became the unofficial aviator sunglasses By all I mean absolutely everyone in the course owned a pair Even though call signs sounded cool our surnames were shortened and that became the way we addressed one anotherGroup Captain Shreepad Tokekar beside a Mirage aircraft Pic courtesyShreepad TokekarFor example lsquoPondirsquo was short for Deshpande We also had Gaby Kaju and Toks which happened to be mine for Tokekar Another incident from my flying days involved one of my coursemates who was often described by an instructor as someone with a lsquocouldnrsquot care lessrsquo attitudeDuring a sortie the instructor asked him about the attitude of the aircraft He completely misunderstood the question and thought the instructor was referring to his personality He replied lsquoSir I couldnrsquot care lessrsquo which resulted in rolling on concrete as a punishment as soon as he landedGroup Captain Shreepad Tokekar RetdThe wonder years early daysrsquo banterIf someone was not flying well instructors would nickname them ldquoDodordquo after the birdAlmost all young officers owned 100cc bikes in their quest to ape Tom Cruise Popular choices included the Yamaha RX100 Hero Honda CD100 and Kawasaki Bajaj usually paired with leather jackets and RayBansThe MiG21 cockpit canopy had to be sealed shut while the Jaguar canopy could be opened slightly for ventilation which eventually became part of a lighthearted rivalry between both sets of fighter pilots