# Was the sea-gull winged plane in Raiders of the Lost Ark a real plane?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 31, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789 "2016-03-31T23:09:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789/1 "2016-03-31T23:09:06Z")
Inspired by the movie, but a factual question, so here we are in GQ.
When Indy and Marion are trying to escape from the archaeological dig there’s an extended sequence with them fooling around with a Nazi plane.
As far as I can tell, the wings aren’t straight. They’re long and bent up like a seagull’s wings. Also, there’s no real fuselage. It’s more like a flying wing type design.
So, was this a real German plane, or something just made up for the movie?
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789/2 "2016-03-31T23:14:45Z")
The Nazis did experiment with flying wing designs, but the plane in the movie is fake.
> [@](#):
>
> The Nazi Flying Wing seen in the film was not a real plane. Raiders production designer Norman Reynolds designed the plane for the film, based on historical Northrop Corporation designs and drawings by Ron Cobb of the Horten Ho-2-29. It also resembles the Lippisch Li-P.04-106, a concept fighter studied by Germany toward the end of World War II.
> **[Flying Wing](https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/Flying_Wing)**
>
> The German-built Flying Wing aircraft was a prototype cargo plane employed by a contingent of Nazis active in searching the Ark of the Covenant in Tanis, Egypt. The Flying Wing was a new kind of cargo plane,\[1\] used as the supply plane.\[2\] A...
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789/3 "2016-03-31T23:14:53Z")
If you’ll accept a wiki as a cite, it’s the fictional [BV-38 Flying Wing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_aircraft):
> [@](#):
>
> As seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark – Twin prop, bent wings. Inspired by a range of WW2 era German flying wing aircraft projects.
> **[List of fictional aircraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_aircraft)**
>
> This is a list of fictional aircraft, including fixed-wing aircraft, rotary wing aircraft, and lighter-than-air craft. The aircraft in this list are generally intended to operate in an atmosphere, though a few have been stated as being capable of exoatmospheric or sub-orbital flight as well.
> These aircraft appear in notable works of fiction, including novels, stories, films, TV series, animation, video games, comics, and other works. They are either the subject of the work or an important elem...
Hitler did have some advanced aircraft late in the war, including a [stealth bomber](http://www.cracked.com/article_22852_hitlers-super-jet-6-lost-historical-secrets-weve-dug-up_p2.html) that didn’t get built. Until recently…
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### Author:  [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-sea-gull-winged-plane-in-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-a-real-plane/750789/4 "2016-03-31T23:41:50Z")
Even if inspired by real experimental designs, the one in the movie is clearly fake. When they are fighting underneath it, you can plainly see that the wheels are chain driven. Plus when Indy pulls himself up by the gun barrel, it totally flexes in an unnatural way.