When many people hear “Top Gun,” their minds go straight to the 1986 film. But aviation fans know that Top Gun is more than just a film — it’s a highly competitive, high speed aerial combat school within the Navy that has trained the best of the best.

Join us for a special event featuring a new Smithsonian Channel program about the training program that fascinates Hollywood and aviation fans alike. The Real Top Gun is the story of real mavericks in the Navy’s Top Gun aerial combat school. Action sequences from Hollywood and actual footage from Navy fighters in combat will help explore the history of the school and the impact of naval aviation on the world.

See special scenes from the program and hear from Smithsonian Channel Executive Producer, Dan Wolf, writer/director of The Real Top Gun, and Christopher Browne, Top Gun graduate and the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Air and Space Museum, about the making of the program and what Top Gun is really like.

This program is for members of the National Air and Space Society. Join us in person at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Airbus IMAX Theater or watch online. Registration is required for both the in-person event and the virtual live stream of the program.

On Site: At the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Seating is limited. Parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center is complimentary for the event. Light refreshments provided.

Online: The program will be streamed live. Registration is required for online viewing.

For more information email NASMmembership@si.edu.