Continuity mistake: In the first scene when Maverick enters the airbase on his motorcycle it is mid-morning based on the sun and shadows. When he takes off in the test jet it is pre-dawn.
Suggested correction: The movie sequencing/reveal is shoddy for this. Prior to him uncovering the motorcycle and heading out he slaps the calendar on the wall where it says, If I recall, "Mach 8." the day before on the calendar says something like "training" or "physical test" or something (I honestly forgot). That happens the first day ("afternoon") as shown with him on the treadmill; he sleeps on-base to get up "pre-dawn" and that's when the admiral arrives and he takes off.
This shot is likely referring to the fact that at Mach 10 he's travelling so fast towards the west that the sun (which only just set) appears to be rising again, as he outraces the darkness.
Travelling that far west would bring aircraft and pilot well over the pacific. No chance to find a lift back there.
I've watched this movie many more times since my comment. The runway assigned is "21", which has a heading of 210°, roughly southwest. This puts him facing the setting sun, but at his speed he's covering such a distance that he's actually seeing it "set" again. Even with the turn, the POV of the breakup appears still heading west. Somehow he ends up in rural (Northern?) California, walking all night to arrive at the diner for breakfast.
Continuity mistake: When testing the Darkstar, Rear Admiral Cain is talking to Hondo, first his hand is touching his face, then next shot down, then next shot back on his face.
Continuity mistake: In the first dogfight lessons, Maverick flies an F/A-18 with a characteristic black color scheme with light blue lines on the rudders and the plane's back. When Maverick is shown in the cockpit, you can see the rudders behind him are light grey.
Continuity mistake: When Maverick and the team are heading into enemy territory after leaving the carrier, they start dropping below enemy radar. Watch how close they are to the ocean. They've already reached lower altitude. In one shot, Maverick is higher above the ocean. In the next shot, he's lower again as before.
Continuity mistake: The second time Penny is riding on Maverick's motorcycle after the beach scene she is wearing the navy blue sweater that she wore during the first ride, but when she and Maverick get to her house she is wearing a green button down shirt.
Continuity mistake: In the bar scene when the other aviators meet BOB, Phoenix says: "Nine ball, Bob. Rack 'em." In the subsequent shots, you can see they are playing 8 Ball. Especially after Hangman says: "That don't confront me" you can see the 14 ball. (00:26:05 - 00:27:00)
Continuity mistake: Before the first training scene, in the ready room Hangman has a model of an F-18 Hornet in his hand, a few seconds later, he has an F-14 tomcat.
Continuity mistake: In the first training session, Maverick eliminates both Hangman and Rooster, meaning they should return and do their push-ups and we are shown this, meaning once you have done your PT, that is it for you. However, later in the sequence, both Hangman and Rooster are shown still in the air where Hangman is talking to Rooster about his relationship to Maverick, who has been observing them the whole time.
Suggested correction: Rooster does his pushups after the first sortie, flying with Payback and Fanboy (who made up the rules). Next up are Fritz, Harvard, and Yale, followed by Hangman, Phoenix, and Bob. Omaha, Halo, and Coyote lose next. Then Rooster goes out again but this time with Hangman. Because of their beef, that sortie ends when Maverick tells them to knock it off. Hangman technically didn't get shot down, so Rooster does the last set of pushups by himself. Nowhere is it said the day ends with one set.
Speaking as someone who has worked on pre and post-production on over five hundred films, I must respectfully disagree with this. My point is that the editing has been screwed up, as all the people who were shot down by Maverick stayed down and did not go back up again. We do not see Rooster go up again, so I have to take issue with this.
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the final dogfight, when the 5th gen fighter releases its first missile after achieving missile lock, a second missile is in flight for two seconds, missing the F-14. This missile must have been released first and is missing the F-14 to the left by a long shot. (01:51:18)
Continuity mistake: When Maverick and Rooster steal the F-14 Tomcat, Maverick adjusts the throttle to move the aircraft out of the hangar. When he does, the wing sweep lever (marked by black/yellow diagonal lines) is all the way forward: wings fully extended. When Rooster says both runways are destroyed, Maverick flips the cover up and pushes the lever forward to extend the wings, but it already was. Back means the wings are stowed, forward means the wings are extended.
Continuity mistake: After Maverick and Rooster are shot down, they go to steal an F14 from the enemy. After the crash Rooster has a wound on the right side of his neck - in several scenes afterwards the wound moves back and forth, from right to left.
Continuity mistake: At the end Hondo is getting the harness out to catch Maverick when he lands, Hondo is wearing his flight deck uniform helmet, flak jacket etc but when he greets Maverick seconds later when he lands his helmet and flak jacket are gone, and he's wearing his camouflage uniform he had on underneath.
Continuity mistake: The scene in the hanger where Maverick is introduced. When Admiral says "be seated" there are only 2 rows of chairs. When Hangman looks over to Rooster he is in a new 3rd row.
Continuity mistake: When Maverick calls Comanche, the sun is behind the Daggers. When they descend below radar a few seconds later, the sun is ahead of them. (01:31:16)
