FLYING WING from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981) Directed by Steven Spielberg and Written and Produced by George Lucas
Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest films ever made. It is full of exciting fight scenes, chases and propelled by Harrison Ford (never better) as Indiana Jones racing against all odds to find the Ark thatr contains the ‘actual Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from Mount Horeb’.
Among the highlights is fist fight around the Flying Wing that is destined to carry the ‘lost’ Ark of the Covenant to Nazi Germany. This picture imagines the unique aircraft flying in to the Egyptian excavation site early in the morning.
The plane was designed by Ron Cobb to meet the requirements of the story and the action. The fixed undercarriage was a budgetary consideration. This works as a nice nod to the reality of 1930s aircraft design, a juxtaposition with the futuristic flying concept. ‘Raiders’, and all of the Indiana Jones films exist in a heightened and stylized ‘larger than life’ reality. Great fun.
The kit would have a wing span of about 10 or 11”. I imagine the two colour kit would come in light green and sand, or light grey, coloured plastic.
designed by Ron Cobb
You can see more in the video ‘What If Model Kits #10’