A ‘Maverick’ night for the F/A-18 Super Hornet
Former U.S. Navy TOPGUN commander honors the jet — and the Boeing people behind it.
Hollywood came to St. Louis recently and the stars were the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and a former commander of the prestigious U.S. Navy’s TOPGUN Fighter Weapons School, now a Boeing Air Dominance business development leader.
F/A-18 Super Hornet E1, in front of the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri, near St. Louis on an early October morning. The aircraft was the first Super Hornet manufactured and flown in St. Louis and led the way for the successful program. (© Boeing)
Kevin “Proton” McLaughlin, speaking to an audience at the National Museum of Transportation to help mark the Super Hornet’s 30th anniversary, recounted experiences from his time in the cockpit of the F/A-18 and as consultant on the popular movie, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“There really is no other fighter like the F/A-18 and no other actor that could have pulled off demonstrating the capabilities of this jet in film,” McLaughlin said. “Tom Cruise has an affinity for aviation and a respect for the men and women behind the Super Hornet.
“When I climbed into the cockpit of the Super Hornet, I knew the care and precision that went into building them — I always felt safe like the airplane was protecting me,” said the former naval aviator.
In the audience was Randy Jergensen, who once taught McLaughlin on the operation of the F/A-18’s sophisticated weapons systems as a Boeing simulation engineer. Now retired, he remembered the mission.
“I do take what we did seriously,” said Jergensen, who today works at the museum. “The Super Hornet has brought a lot of U.S. Navy pilots back to the carrier safe from harm, after successfully completing countless complex and dangerous missions in the name of freedom — that’s a legacy I never get tired of hearing about.”
Aviation and “Top Gun” movie enthusiasts at a recent event at St. Louis’ National Museum of Transportation learn more about the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and how it was featured in the popular movie, “Top Gun: Maverick.” (© Boeing)
Also drawn to the event, Jennifer Snyder, a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet strength engineer, who has worked on the fighter platform for 30 years and who is currently involved with the program’s life extension program.
“I always knew the F/A-18 Super Hornet was a special airplane and I knew the quality craftsmanship our teams put into it,” Snyder said. “It’s an honor to still support its mission even today, and to listen to pilots like “Proton” share what it means to them.”
Sporting a polo short with the crest of the famous Fighter Weapons School, McLaughlin also shared “back-stories” from working with the cast and crew of the movie that portrayed the iconic character, Pete Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise.
“As exciting as it was working with the cast, we all know who the star of the show was — and I got to fly it while in the U.S. Navy!”