1. The Verdict: Yes, But There’s a Catch

The short answer is: Tom Cruise was in the cockpit, flying for real, but he was not piloting the F/A-18 Super Hornets during the combat maneuvers.

In every shot where you see Tom Cruise or the other actors (like Miles Teller and Glen Powell) in the F-18s, they are physically in the jet, flying through the air. However, they are sitting in the back seat (the WSO or Weapon Systems Officer seat) of a two-seater F/A-18F Super Hornet. The front seat was occupied by a highly trained U.S. Navy fighter pilot who was actually controlling the aircraft.

This distinction is crucial. While Cruise didn’t have his hands on the stick doing the dogfighting, he was subjecting his body to the actual G-forces, turbulence, and speed of the jet. There was no studio simulation. The vomit was real.

To understand the sheer dedication required for this, it helps to look at Tom Cruise’s biography and career history, where pushing the envelope has always been his trademark.

2. Why Couldn’t He Pilot the F-18?

Tom Cruise is a licensed pilot. He flies jets, helicopters, and propeller planes. So why did the Navy forbid him from touching the controls of the Hornet?

1. The Price Tag

An F/A-18 Super Hornet costs approximately $70 million. It is a piece of classified military hardware. The U.S. Navy simply does not allow civilians to pilot active combat aircraft, regardless of how famous they are. The liability is astronomical.

2. The Complexity

Flying a fighter jet is not like flying a Cessna. It requires years of specialized training to handle the avionics, weapons systems, and high-G maneuvers without passing out or crashing. Even for an experienced pilot like Cruise, mastering the Hornet for cinematic combat would take years he didn’t have.

This contrasts with other big-budget productions where costs are high but safety risks are managed differently, such as the massive productions detailed in Dwayne Johnson’s salary and movie budgets.

3. The P-51 Mustang: Tom’s Own Plane

There is one scene where Tom Cruise is 100% piloting the aircraft. In the final act of the film (and the scene where he takes Jennifer Connelly for a flight), the vintage P-51 Mustang seen on screen belongs to Tom Cruise personally.

Cruise bought the 1946 P-51 Mustang years ago. He is fully qualified to fly it, and the production used his actual aircraft for those sequences. This adds a layer of authenticity that no other film can match—the hero isn’t just flying a prop; he’s flying his own property.

4. The “Cruise Boot Camp”

Because the Navy pilots were doing the flying, the actors had to learn how to survive it. Tom Cruise designed a 3-month training curriculum for the cast (Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, etc.) to prepare them for the F-18s.

The Progression:

1. Cessna 172: Basic flight mechanics and getting comfortable in the air.
2. Extra 300: An aerobatic stunt plane to introduce high G-forces and spins.
3. L-39 Albatros: A small jet to get used to jet engine speeds and sensations.
4. F/A-18 Super Hornet: The graduation—flying off an actual aircraft carrier.

This physical preparation rivals the intensity seen in superhero transformations, much like the Henry Cavill Superman workout, but with the added danger of hypoxia and G-LOC (G-force induced loss of consciousness).

5. The Physical Toll of G-Force

In the movie, when you see the actors grunting, their facial skin sagging, and their breathing becoming labored—that is real. They were pulling up to 7.5 Gs. That means their bodies weighed 7.5 times their normal weight.

For a 180lb man, that is over 1,300lbs of force crushing them into the seat. Blood drains from the brain to the legs, risking a blackout. The actors had to learn the “Hick Maneuver,” a breathing technique to keep blood in the brain. This dedication is what separates Cruise from the younger generation of stars, though many, like those discussed in Tom Holland’s latest updates, are starting to embrace more physical roles.

6. How They Filmed It (Sony Venice)

To capture the footage inside the cockpit, the production team couldn’t fit a standard IMAX camera. Instead, they worked with Sony to develop the Sony Venice Rialto camera system.

They placed six of these IMAX-quality cameras inside the cockpit of the F-18s. Four faced the actor, and two faced forward/over the shoulder. This allowed the audience to see the G-force distortion on the actor’s face while simultaneously seeing the horizon spin outside the canopy. It was a revolutionary setup that changed action cinema forever.