Stunts › Sequences › Top Gun: Maverick (2022) ›
Darkstar Mach-10 hypersonic test
Maverick test-flies the Darkstar prototype past Mach 10 against shutdown orders. The Darkstar mock-up — a full-scale practical airframe built at Plant 42 with consultation from the Lockheed Skunk Works — was static, but Scott Fisher's SFX team gimballed it on a hydraulic pivot to sell the buffeting. The flight footage cuts to plate photography of the actual Skunk-Works-derived A-12 airframe at Edwards.
Rigging
Equipment + technique
aerial-cockpit-mockup
Plant 42 full-scale Darkstar mock-up on a hydraulic gimbal. Six Sony VENICE Rialto cameras inside the cockpit; cockpit pressurisation sound supplied by an SR-71 audio tape played through the pilot's headset.
Safety
Officer + bulletins
Bulletins observed
- SAG-AFTRA Bulletin #14 (Stunts)↗
- SAG-AFTRA Bulletin #20 (Aerial)
Rigging glossary
4 rigs used in this sequence
Each entry explains how the rig works mechanically and the safety bulletin that governs it. Click through for the full glossary detail.
descender
Fan descender
A controlled vertical descent rig where a centrifugal fan brake regulates rope payout. The reference rig for the Burj Khalifa work in Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.
fall
Breakaway glass / candy glass
The sugar-resin glass substitute that shatters dramatically without lacerating, used for window-breach falls and bottle-strike fights.
aerial
Helicopter mount (external stunt platform)
External hard-mount platform on a stunt-rated helicopter, used for sustained aerial performance work — Tom Cruise's helicopter chase in Fallout, every modern airbase boarding sequence.
aerial
Wingsuit BASE
High-altitude wingsuit performance — Mission: Impossible has used it; almost no other narrative production has.
References
Further reading
- Darkstar BTS — Lockheed Skunk Works consultationLockheed Martinarticle
- Taking Flight with Top Gun: MaverickAmerican Cinematographerinterview