Tom Cruise is learning to fly World War II plane for Mission: Impossible 8

Tom Cruise is learning to fly a World War II military plane for stunt scenes in ‘Mission: Impossible 8’.

The 59-year-old star – who is renowned for performing his own stunts in his action blockbusters – has been spotted flying a 1943 Boeing Stearman Model 75 at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom.

The aircraft – which had two movie rigs on its wings – will be filmed in a chase with another wartime plane.

Tom has already begun his work as agent Ethan Hunt for ‘Mission: Impossible 8’, which is not slated for release until 2023, even though filming has only recently wrapped on the upcoming ‘Mission: Impossible 7’.

A source told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column: “Tom had started to learn to fly a Boeing Stearman biplane earlier this year for a major stunt scene in ‘Mission: Impossible 8’.

“It’s obviously a highly skilled task but as usual he has no plans to cut any corners or bring in a stuntman.

“Filming has only just wrapped on ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ but Tom has not given himself a break.

“And trying to film jaw-dropping scenes with an 80-year-old plane is particularly dangerous.”

Tom is also set to fly planes in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and previously promised fans that there has “never been” an aerial scene quite like the one that will be featured in the movie – the sequel to the 1986 hit ‘Top Gun’.

Cruise, who will reprise the part of Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, recalled: “I said to the studio, ‘You don’t know how hard this movie’s going to be. No-one’s ever done this before.’

“There’s never been an aerial sequence shot this way. I don’t know if there ever will be again, to be honest.”