Captain Lloyd “Bozo” Abel, the same US Naval Aviator who buzzed the tower in one of Top Gun’s most famous scenes, vomited inside an F-14 Tomcat flown by Tom Cruise.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the legendary motion picture “Top Gun,” Tom Cruise, who played “Maverick” in the film, has revealed some previously unknown details about the film.
He appeared on ABC’s “Jimmi Kimmel Live!” show on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, to promote his new action picture, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” Kenny Loggins, a special musical guest for the show, performed “Danger Zone” when Tom Cruise was introduced.
When asked if hearing the song makes him want to hop in his F-14 Tomcat fighter plane with his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Anthony “Goose” Edwards, Cruise said that Tuesday was his first time meeting Loggins.
Then, when Jimmy Kimmel asked about a possible “Top Gun 2,” Tom Cruise said he and Jerry Bruckheimer (the film’s producer) are talking about it, but the Hollywood star added that the film “had to be perfect.”
In addition, Cruise revealed some fascinating details regarding the flights he had to do for the film on the historic Grumman F-14 Tomcat. He admitted that during one of these missions, he puked inside a plane piloted by Captain Lloyd “Bozo” Abel, the same US Naval Aviator who buzzed the tower in one of Top Gun’s most famous scenes.
“For our first flight in the morning, we were going really hard, moving around. We did 9.5 gs, very hard on my body. I had a vomit bag right here, so in between takes I leaned down to quickly empty my guts in the bag. The second I did that, he pulls up,” Cruise revealed. “My head was literally on the ground from the pressure. I was pressed on the floor, holding my vomit. I kept going ‘Bozo! Bozo!’ I was choking, and he just kept pulling up and up. Finally, he realized, and we were going straight ahead. I was like, ‘Bozo, what’s the matter with you, man? Didn’t you see my head was on the floor?’ He was like, ‘Well I told you, they don’t call me Bozo for nothing.’”
Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain / U.S. Navy