Tom Cruise honoured with French aviation medal

Tom Cruise has been recognised for his achievements in aviation by the Aero-Club de France.

Bosses at the prestigious French society, founded in 1898, chose Tom as the recipient of their Grande Medaille, with the Mission: Impossible star receiving the honour from the organisation's president Catherine Maunoury on Saturday.

The award was given for the Top Gun actor's "significant contribution to the history of aviation and inspiring future pilots," according to Deadline.com.

In addition to starring in Top Gun and taking part in epic airborne stunts while making the Mission: Impossible films, Cruise also took part in the closing ceremony at last year's Paris Olympics. The finale of the games featured him rappelling from the roof of the Stade de France, before motorcycling out of the stadium and, in a pre-recorded segment, skydiving into the Hollywood Hills to mark 2028's Los Angeles games.

The star recently revealed that one of the stunts in the upcoming Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning would feature him dangling off of the wing of a 1930s Boeing Stearman biplane at an altitude of 10,000 feet.

Tom is also a qualified pilot, having got his licence in 1994.