Santa Rosa flight aficionados get peek inside ‘Top Gun’ fighter jet

Dozens of fighter pilot wannabes on Saturday flocked to the Pacific Coast Air Museum’s Open Cockpit Weekend, just days ahead of the debut of the long-awaited, oft-delayed “Top Gun” sequel.

The star attraction of the event, which continues 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, was a peek inside an F/A-18 “Legacy” Hornet that the Santa Rosa museum recently acquired, moved and restored. The plane is on loan from the National Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, via Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

“It was cool,” said Travis Young, 12, of Windsor, who said he’d like to become a pilot one day. “I’ve been in (planes) before, but their cockpits weren’t open.”

The attraction of fighter jets appeared to transcend age as Young was accompanied by his grandfather, Will Young, also of Windsor, who likes planes, cars — “anything that runs,” he said.

Volunteers sanded down and painted the F/A-18, including the wings, which now sported black and yellow hornet stripes. The plane is the original version of the Super Hornet F/A-18 models E and F stealth fighter planes that are used in “Top Gun: Maverick,” which are 25% larger and much more modern, said Mark Fajardin Sr., director of the Santa Rosa museum’s aircraft acquisitions.

“This airplane served in the Iraq War from 1990 to 1991 to liberate Kuwait,” said the former Marine. “The Legacy Hornet is alive and well and still being flown by the Marine Corps and our allies.”

In the cockpit of the F/A-18 Hornet was a helmeted prop of Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Tom Cruise in 1986’s “Top Gun,” courtesy of Don Ricci, a Santa Rosa fire captain. Many climbed up the ladder to check out the prop and have their picture taken with it.

“We like the ‘Top Gun’ stuff,” said Mary Petrini, who attended with family members Bob and Alex Petrini.

“I didn’t realize they had so many planes out here,” Bob Petrini said of the museum, which is located at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

The museum displays a varied collection of over 30 American military, propeller and jet aircraft, including an F-5 Tiger, an F-16 Viper and an A-4 Skyhawk. To further set Saturday’s theme, the original “Top Gun” movie was playing in a hangar.

The F/A-18 is named for Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen, who became the first African American Marine Corps pilot in 1952. Petersen was inspired by the first African American to complete flight training in 1948, U.S. Navy pilot Jesse Brown, who was shot down in Korea, Fajardin said.

“The plane tells a nice story of the past,” he said. “It tells the story of Frank Petersen and the adversity he overcame.”

The museum decided to hold the event around the time “Top Gun: Maverick” debuted in theaters, “because it’s been 36 years since the original,” said Gary Greenough**, who handles public information for the museum.

“There has been so much interest shown in the ‘Top Gun’ movie,” Fajardin added.

The increased attendance will help the museum, which is staffed by volunteers, stay open, Fajardin and Greenough said.

The event is scheduled to return for Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30.

**Correction: This story has been updated to correct the misspelling of Gary Greenough’s last name.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.