‘Top Gun’ studio paid $11k an hour for fighter jets but Tom Cruise wasn’t allowed to fly

Tom Cruise has once again impressed the audience with his charm on the big screen in his iconic role of Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell in the sequel of 1986’s classic Top Gun: Maverick.

However, it has been recently revealed that the U.S. Navy forbade the Mission: Impossible actor from piloting the F-18 Super Hornet.

As per the latest reports, the U.S. Navy allowed the Top Gun: Maverick studio to use F/A-18 Super Hornets for more than $11,000 an hour for the upcoming film, but Cruise and his fellow actors were not allowed to touch the planes' controls.

The Edge of Tomorrow star, who is known for performing his own stunts, wanted all the actors portraying pilots in the movie to fly in one of the fighter jets, so they could understand what it feels like to operate an aircraft under the pressure of immense gravitational forces.

Cruise, who flew a jet for the original Top Gun, was able to fly in several sorties for the new movie, but the Pentagon prohibits non-military personnel from controlling Defense Department equipment other than small arms in training scenarios, Pentagon entertainment media office chief Glen Roberts said, according to Bloomberg News.

The actors were, however able to ride behind pilots after completing required training on how to eject from the jets in the event of an emergency and how to survive in the sea.