Character mistake: In the scene where the pilots and their wives are barbecuing, a jet flies overhead. One of the pilots says, "Hey look at that" and another says, "Yeah that's the D558 phase II, Scott Crossfield". In fact it is not the D558 phase II. The D558 phase II is the Douglas Skyrocket. Only three Skyrockets were built, in both jet power and rocket power, and they do not have wing air intakes like the jet shown flying by. Only the jet powered Skyrocket had air intakes and they were located on the lower side of the fuselage just above the front landing gear. (00:35:35)
The Right Stuff (1983)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn
Factual error: Chuck Yeager's sidekick, Jack Ridley, appears in many key events which occurred after 1957, including the climactic 1963 test flight of the NF-104 plane that Yeager ejects from and is picked up by Ridley. Jack Ridley actually died in 1957, when the aircraft he was co-piloting crashed into a mountain in Japan.
Liaison Man: You mean for this "space race", you don't want our best pilots?
Recruiter: I didn't say that. We want the best pilots that we can get.
Trivia: The bar man in Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club called Fed is in fact Chuck Yeager. He was on set as an adviser and was given a cameo role.