Tom Cruise gifted flying lessons to Glenn Powell, his opponent in the movie Top Gun: Maverick . Powell shared an Instagram video on Wednesday in which the flight instructor tears open Powell’s shirt according to the aviator tradition after his first solo flight.
“The wings were much cooler than the wheels,” Powell referred to at the end of each shooting day for the 1986 sequel to Top Gun . Cruise then flew to his berth, while Powell had to board a crew bus.
Powell received the flying lessons as a Christmas present from Cruise. “Tom bought me a tablet with my flight school lessons on it, paid in advance”, the 31-year-old actor explained the present of the 57-year-old protagonist from Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick . “And yesterday, after months of flying, studying and testing, I also belong to the aviation club.”