This World War II Boeing bomber inspired the iconic cockpit of the Millenium Falcon: Jalopnik

“Star Wars” is pretty much World War II in space. Not just because of the overarching plot involving an evil empire and dogfights between planes and spacecraft, but because much of the first film – ‘Episode IV – A New Hope’ – was lifted straight from WWII films. George Lucas created “Star Wars” to be reminiscent of old shows like “Flash Gordon” while evoking the feel of the war heroes of his time. The battles consist of exciting ship-on-ship firefights and turrets taking down single-person fighters, with the stakes seemingly everywhere. Lucas even threw the film into space as “The Dirty Dozen”.

But there’s another way “Star Wars” has worked hard to capture the feeling of World War II, and it’s not just because the Empire is a stand-in for wartime Germany (watch the film in German, speeches from Imperial characters take on a new dimension). The extra WWII-ness is also reflected in the design of the ships, especially the Millennium Falcon. Although some call it the Lockheed P-38 Lightning of “Star Wars” due to its speed, the ship’s cockpit is more reminiscent of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Well, that’s not entirely correct. It’s actually almost identical to the greenhouse cockpit of a B-29, and that was at the request of George Lucas himself.

Inside the Falcon’s cockpit are lights, switches, switches and other parts taken from real aircraft. Production photos show Harry Lange creating the cockpit control panels, and his drawings of the ship’s interior show that he had the design in mind from the start. Somehow he found the materials that matched his vision of an alien ship that felt beat up yet lived in.

However, that is not the end of the similarities. The Falcon is equipped with gun turrets on the top and bottom of the fuselage, just like a B-29 bomber. The difference is that the Millennium Falcon appears to reorient its artificial gravity for the gunners to avoid feelings of disorientation; such a feature was somewhat beyond the scope of the B-29 engineers. That said, the B-29’s turrets were remotely controllable, making the gunners safer if the enemy tried to destroy the turrets.

X-Wings, Tie Fighters, and The Millennium Falcon all behave as if they’re rolling through the air instead of the vacuum of space. One reason is that Lucas obviously didn’t go for realism. Starship battles are more exciting when they’re diving around instead of reorienting with a series of thrusters. But the specific dogfights in “Star Wars” were often lifted directly from other films, like “The Bridges at Toko-Ri” and “The Dam Busters,” which were more than placeholders in the rough cut Lucas showed to his filmmaker friends, including Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg. Those scenes essentially acted as storyboards for the final product:

The WWII feeling also permeates other ships. X-Wings are replacements for Spitfires, Y-Wings are analogues for Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, and the closest real-world counterpart to TIE Fighters is probably the Messershmitt Bf 109. Even “Star Wars” blasters are based on our weapons. Look at those, not only are they based on real weapons, they’re actually made from real weapons. For example, the stormtroopers’ E-11 blaster rifles are Sterling Mk.4 submachine guns, decorated with extra parts to make them look more sci-fi. So, the next time you watch “Star Wars,” remember that you’re not just watching a science fiction fantasy that uses Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” concept; you’re watching a World War II epic with lasers.