Top Gun F-35 Patch Coaster

Highway To, apparently, The Danger Zone.

Let's be honest, Vietnam was a bit of an eye-opener for just about every branch of the US military. Arguably the most powerful and technologically advanced armed forces in the world, the design vision for the US Navy's latest generation of fighters (including the iconic and much beloved F-4 Phantom) was that missile technology was so advanced that a fighter would have eliminated its opposition before they even got close, and therefore not only would they not be designed with close-combat in mind, they also lacked essential close-range weaponry like a cannon. Unfortunately, the Vietnamese MiGs (technologically not even close to the US level of sophistication) came in such numbers that when a US fighter had fired off their missiles, they had literally nothing with which to defend themselves. A panicked programme of retrofitting sorted out that problem, but the fact was that US Navy fighter pilots had not even received proper training in Air-Combat Manoeuvres (ACM, or 'dogfighting' to use the popular term). That, of course, quickly had to change. On March 3rd 1969, the US Navy Fighter Weapons School, popularly known as Top Gun, was established at USMC Naval Air Station Miramar in California, with the express purpose of making US Navy pilots as deadly at close quarters as they were at long range.

Then, of course, THAT movie happened. One of arguably the greatest and most popular movies of the 80s (when, let's be honest, it had some bloody stiff competition), Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards et all, forever cemented in the eyes of cinema-goers the world over the image of the US Navy fighter pilot, with his Aviator sunglasses and flying the ever-gorgeous Grumman F-14 Tomcat, and the arctic levels of coolness they enjoy. And yes, the soundtrack was very much of the age; huge hair, huge synths, huge guitars, huge amounts of 'America, F**K YEAH'. My favourite still remains the Top Gun Anthem, written by the legendary 80s composer Harold Faltermayer, and featuring Billy Idol's guitarist Steve Stevens (and his YUUUUUGE Van Halen influences).

This coaster, therefore, is dedicated to that '80s style of Top Gun. Top Gun itself has now been renamed the US Navy Strike Fighter Instructor Program and moved to NAS Fallon in Nevada, flying the McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18. But sorry, the Hornet may be a better fighter, but the F-14 Tomcat will always be much more sexy. I've therefore made two versions, one with the deeply sexy F-14 (already uploaded here) and one with the less sexy but obviously MUCH more advanced F-35 Lightning II. I should really do one with the F/A-18 too, but I'll see if everyone is happy with this version first. Print yours today to park your pint of straight-up testosterone on ;)

I've uploaded the individual parts and a complete assembled version, in case you're using a multicolour printer.