Editing Iron Eagle (section)

==Production==
According to writer/director [[Sidney J. Furie]], the film's working title was ''Junior Eagle''. Furie and co-writer [[Kevin Alyn Elders]] were inspired by the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name="AFI"/> The script was turned down by every studio before it was picked up by Joe Wizan, former head of [[20th Century Fox]]. Wizan then handed the script to producer [[Ron Samuels]], who likened it to the old [[John Wayne]] westerns.<ref name="L.A. Times"/> Pre-production work began in late 1984.<ref>Orris 2018, p. 180.</ref>

Although F-16s are featured in the movie poster, the [[United States Air Force]] has a long-standing policy about not cooperating on any film involving the theft of an aircraft.<ref>Powell, Larry. "The Making of Iron Eagle." ''Air Classics'', Volume 22, No. 2, February 1986, p. 72.</ref> Consequently, the filmmakers turned to the [[Israeli Air Force]] for the necessary aerial sequences. The filming in [[Israel]] took six weeks, with the flight sequences choreographed by Jim Gavin, whose earlier works include ''[[Blue Thunder]]''.<ref name="L.A. Times"/>

Filming took place at both California and Israeli locales. To simulate the above-ground facilities of a typical USAF base, a combination of hangars and barracks at [[Camarillo, California|Camarillo]] and the [[Planes of Fame Air Museum]] at [[Chino, California]] were employed. Most Israeli airbases are situated in underground hangars, maintenance shops and crew quarters.<ref>Powell, Larry. "The Making of Iron Eagle." ''Air Classics'', Volume 22, No. 2, February 1986, p. 73.</ref> Filming in Israel took six weeks in and around "regular Israeli training missions".<ref name="AFI"/>

The aircraft used for both the American and the Bilyan air forces were Israeli jets: single-seat F-16As, two-seat F-16Bs, and [[IAI Kfir|F-21/C-2 Kfir]]s simulating MiG-23s, painted with fictional national markings.<ref>Beck 2016, p. 122.</ref>