Bravo and Echo are F/A-18F Super Hornets, numbers 113 and 210 respectively and referred to as "The Jolly Wrenches" in this movie. VFA-103 In the real-life Top Gun academy is known as "The Jolly Rogers"; Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards were cast to voice them based on them both appearing in the movie Top Gun (1986). In addition, Bravo and Echo's flight helmets are the same design/colors as 'Goose' and 'Ice Man', the characters Edwards and Kilmer played in Top Gun (1986).
The film was originally set to be a direct-to-video feature in North America, but Disney was impressed with some of the completed sequences so much, they decided to release it theatrically instead.
El Chupacabra is a Gee Bee R1 racer. The Gee Bee was nicknamed "The Widowmaker" and "The Flying Coffin" since it was incredibly difficult to fly and was prone to crashing. It was also very fast and maneuverable so many pilots used in the 1930s air races in spite of the danger.
Skipper is wearing a paint scheme similar to the one used by VF-17, the original "Jolly Roger" squadron in World War 2. VF-17 was originally attached to the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), which used the Walt Disney character Donald Duck in its official ship's logo.
Disney cast the Turbine Toucan (aircraft designed and built by David Kervinen) to provide all the aircraft sounds for lead character "Dusty." The Turbine Toucan is the highest performance aerobatic aircraft in existence and, like the lead character, is turboprop powered.