Fighter pilot describes moment he flew at the edge of space

A real life Top Gun graduate has described what he experienced as he flew at the edge of space in a Navy fighter jet.

Matthew 'Whiz' Buckley is known for being a decorated former Navy fighter pilot who, like Tom Cruise in his beloved film series, is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School also known as Top Gun.

He entered the military to serve his fellow Americans following the death of one of his sisters while he was in high school, and went on to become the Founder and CEO of Strike Fighter Financial and Top Gun Options, teaching traders of all experience levels how to trade equity options.

Buckley took on some record-setting flights while on the job, and during an appearance on the Team Never Quit podcast he described flying an F-18 hornet to the very edge of our atmosphere.

"The book says 50,000 feet is the service ceiling, and I'm like, 'let's go test that out, man'... [I] go supersonic and I'm hauling a**, and I'm accelerating going up, the altimeter is like Bugs Bunny, it's just spinning," he recalled.

Buckley described taking the plane up to 30,000, 40,000 and 50,000 feet, and after recognising he didn't 'hit [his] head' at the 'service ceiling', he decided to see how much further he could go.

@official_whizbuckley/Instagram

"I get up to about 60,000-61,000 feet and it's black and blue. Curvature of the Earth and black, and I'm like... you know, you can hear angels."

While hovering about at the edge of space isn't something many people get to experience in their lifetimes, Buckley said he didn't have much time to enjoy the experience because all of a sudden his engine started 'coughing'.

Knowing that he had to make a move, Buckley decided to try and tick off his speed record off after having just achieved his altitude record.

"I'm hauling a** but there's no air up there, so it's sluggish," he explained.

The pilot turned the jet so he was looking 'straight down at the Pacific', and described himself as going at 'the speed of everything'.

He estimated he was going at about 1300 miles per hour, which, for reference, would allow you to travel the distance between New York and England in less than three hours.

Obviously Buckley lived to tell the tale of the impressive experience, but I can't imagine it's a flight you'd want to risk trying twice.