"Top Gun" may be super quotable, but don't get caught quoting the movies at the real TOPGUN academy! Former fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor Cmdr. Guy "Bus" Snodgrass revealed in his book, "TOPGUN's Top 10: Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit," that quoting the movie's iconic lines will cost you — literally.
"When you get to TOPGUN, because it is such a professional organization and you want to emphasize that you are at the top of your game, that it's about professionalism, about good leadership, you don't turn TOPGUN into a joke by referencing the movie," he explains.
So what's the cost?
"If someone overtly references the movie — it could be a direct quote, it could be something that is really close to a direct quote — that's an automatic $5 fine. And it's enforced. And you are expected to pay right then. You pull out your wallet and pay the $5. I think at some point we were all fined because it's so ingrained in our aviation culture," Snodgrass told Insider.
