How did they film the flat spin in Top Gun?

Question

Did they really throw an F-14 into a flat spin and then have to recover it? Or is that a model shot? It seems (to a complete layperson) like an unthinkably-dangerous thing to do, but the shot looks just as authentic as all of the other real F-14 flight scenes.

Answer 1

The flat spin was done with models. Here's a documentary about the making of Top Gun: (I've skipped to the part about the flat spin.) https://youtu.be/Knz5LM_FzEE?t=5766