Top Gun Intake

Like so many American teens in the mid-1980s, Scott Kartvedt saw the movie “Top Gun” and decided: “I want to do that!” Unlike most of them though – he actually pursued it. After graduating from college with a business degree he decided that a career in accounting didn’t offer the thrills he was seeking – so he joined the Navy, flying F/A-18s. He also joined the Blue Angels and ended up on giant posters in museums and saw an action figure made in his likeness. Kartvedt, whose call sign was “Intake,” commanded a couple squadrons, amassed thousands of flight hours and flew 91 combat missions. When he retired from the Navy, he became a motivational speaker and started flying at airshows. That’s what led him to help train the actors - and eventually - to fly, in some of the critical mission scenes filmed in the Top Gun sequel: Top Gun Maverick. Cover Stories Co-host Bill Harlow talks with Kartvedt about the twists and turns of a highly successful career.