Darkstar Top Gun: Maverick aircraft in collaboration with Lockheed Martin engineers

Fort Worth, Texas. Engineers Brian Hershberger and Jim Walton of Lockheed Martin remember well how Paramount and the filmmakers approached them with Top Gun: Maverick.

Five years ago, Hershberger recalls being excited about the idea of ​​working on the film.

Lockheed Martin has advised on a number of films over the years, but nothing beats the hands-on approach it takes to build the futuristic Darkstar fighter.

“They wanted something that could go to Mach 10 and look like it could go to Mach 10,” Walton said.

“They wanted it to be impressive and believable,” Hershberger said.

Mach 10 is ten times the speed of sound, or over 7,000 miles per hour.

Walton told WFAA that the studio gave them a 15-week timeline to have a mock-up aircraft on set. Engineers recall that they had about five weeks to collect ideas and sketch a sketch, and ten weeks for workers from Lockheed Martin to build it.

Designing and building a full-scale mock-up of the aircraft required daily meetings with Hollywood concept designer Daniel Simon.

“We were able to have some open conversations about why these things look the way they do,” Walton said.

The WFAA asked if Darkstar could fly. “The coolest thing about it is that it sets the point of view for the next generation,” said Hershberger.

It’s a project they called Ghost Rider 2, which is a reference to the first Top Gun movie in 1986.

There are a ton of Easter eggs in the movie that only the engineers in the newest Top Gun: Maverick know about. Engineers told WFAA that the studio had borrowed props from Lockheed Martin that were used in the film.

“There are a couple of scenes where I can tell you which wall it came off,” Hershberger said with a laugh.

Top Gun: Maverick was nominated for Oscars in several categories: Best Picture, Editing, Original Song, Adapted Screenplay, Sound and Visual Effects.

“We haven’t talked about it for five years and we’re used to it. It’s pretty fun to talk about it now,” Hershberger said.