Over the past two years, Seattle-area artist Myron Curry has created larger-than-life images that pay homage to local airline connections. The latest mural to appear on the airside of the Municipal Hangar depicts an image of a fictional naval aviator, Junior Lt. Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, a character from the original. Top Gun movie.

Top Gunreleased in 1986, tells the story of Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise, who is also a pilot in real life) and his radar intercept officer, Bradshaw, who are given the opportunity to train to the US Navy Fighter Weapons. School, known as Top Gun.

The film, with its 1980s rock soundtrack, is filled with dogfight scenes, the requisite love interest and a memorable beach volleyball match that helped make it one of the highest-grossing films of the decade. He is also credited with increasing enlistment in the U.S. Navy by 300 percent and inspiring a generation of pilots.

One of these aspiring pilots was Doug Wilson, who today runs FBO Partners. Wilson took his first flying lesson at age 10 in April 1986 on a Cessna 152.

“A month later of course, Top Gun I went out and got hooked, like the rest of the country,” Wilson said. “I saw Top Gun easily over 150 times and can recite it virtually word for word.

Wilson, based at S50, holds airplane and helicopter ratings. He was intrigued by the airport renovation undertaken a few years ago, which included installing runway-view benches and murals.

Scobee was born in Washington state and in 1957 graduated from nearby Auburn High School. He became a US Air Force test pilot, engineer and astronaut. He was the pilot of the space shuttle Challenger during its last flight in 1986. The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff, killing all seven crew members.

In 2004, the crew was appointed to the American Astronaut Hall of Fameand the airport was renamed Auburn Municipal Airport-Dick Scobee Field.

Scobee’s mural and commemorative bench, inscribed with the airport’s opening date, were so well received that airport officials invited people to suggest and sponsor additional benches and wall designs. The main rule was that they had to be related to aviation.

For Wilson, this meant something Top Gun. It began, he says, when he offered to sponsor a bench, then after seeing Top Gun: Maverick with his daughter Eve, who is also learning to fly, the discussion turned into one about finding a way to honor “Goose.”

According to Wilson, the cost of sponsoring a bench is about $500, a mural is about $3,000 and the design must be approved by Auburn Airport Director Tim Mensonides. It wasn’t a challenge, according to Wilson, because Mensonides is also a driver and a huge Top Gun fan.

“The confluence of these stories gave us the idea, and after a few rounds of layout with artist Myron Curry, the mural was designed,” Wilson said.

The mural is done as a memorial because (spoiler alert) “Goose” died in the film during a failed attempt to eject from a Grumman F-14 Tomcat. The mural pays tribute to the character “Goose” as if he were a real person, so much so that people who are unfamiliar with the film stop in front of the film and wonder, did he train at the S50?

No, but it certainly inspired many pilots who trained there and those who still do.

Other airport murals include: U.S. Air Force Col. Joe Jackson, a career soldier who received the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson for his efforts to save three airmen during an evacuation during the Vietnam War; recognition of Valley Fliers, a local aviation club that has launched hundreds of aviation careers since its founding in 1986; And Fly babythe experimental aircraft designed by Seattle resident Peter Bowers who won the Experimental Aircraft Association design competition in 1962.