Revealing mistake: Near the end of the movie, when Maverick's plane is about to be launched, there is a quick closeup of an F14's nose gear, which is quite obviously not hooked up to a catapult or anything else.
Revealing mistake: In the last dogfight, we see four MIGs circling around Iceman, trying to get him down. A few moments after, Maverick gets to the scene, and the same shot is being used.
Revealing mistake: In every in-flight cockpit scene a brass hand wheel is visible on the right side of the headbox of the seat. The only time this hand-wheel is installed on the seat is to disconnect the seat from the aircraft and to disarm the seat. Therefore, the plane and actors in those scenes were on the ground with a moving camera because there is no way that an F-14 would be allowed to fly with "dry" seats.
Revealing mistake: Maverick and the others are supposedly on the Enterprise (CVN-65), which is a one-of-a-kind ship with a distinctive silhouette, but the movie repeatedly shows the Carl Vinson (CVN-70), a Nimitz-class carrier.
Revealing mistake: The aircraft the American pilots are fighting against at the end are described as being "MiGs", but they are American F-5 jets, called Tigers, which the Navy is still using for the training of young pilots.
Chosen answer: The term "Ghostrider" refers to the squadron name. There used to be a Tomcat squadron called the Ghostriders. Usually in a radio call, the squadron name is followed by a number. For instance, in the first fight where we see Cougar get into a spot of trouble with the Mig on his tail, he radios "This is Ghostrider 117 this bogey's all over me, he's got missile lock on me, do I have permission to fire?" That is normally the correct term as to who is on the radio.