Many years ago the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum hosted an exhibit called “Star Wars: The Magic of Myth” and I was there. Now they are bringing back ‘Star Wars’ again with an X-Wing Starfighter going on display, on loan from Lucasfilm.

What exactly is it?

Right now the X-wing is housed in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar along with  other historic space craft and planes while conservators work on restoring the large prop, that boasts a wingspan of 37 feet.

This is not an original trilogy piece, it’s only from the recent “Rise of Skywalker” film so it’s a T-70 X-Wing instead of the original T-65B that we saw Luke Skywalker fly. But I’m sure it will bring people in just the same.

Industrial Light & Magic (part of Lucasfilm) shipped the X-wing in pieces, and it will be reassembled and hung outside the Albert Einstein Planetarium at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. next year.

The Smithsonian Magazine interviewed Margaret Weitekamp, the space history chair of the museum about the X-wing and she said:

“We are thrilled to have an X-Wing on exhibit. It is a real screen-used vehicle from the 2019 film Rise of Skywalker. This display speaks to that crossover connection between people who are excited about space flight and have been inspired by the visions Star Wars has been putting out since 1977.”

Disney will be happy to know that Weitekamp noticed the “lived-in universe” aspect of the films. They like to push that point, especially within Galaxy’s Edge.

“Star Wars is a lived-in universe. This is a battle-scarred X-Wing fighter. We want to distinguish between any scratches that occurred during shipping versus something that was built into the vehicle.”

She even noticed all the details as she was inspecting for damage. Apparently, it can be difficult to tell what was intentionally created and was accidentally damaged in shipping. That is a testament on the teams that built it.

“I was on the floor looking at it and I pointed out a place where it looked like it had what pilot’s would call ‘hangar rash.’ That’s where you get scrape marks on the side of aircraft when they are moved around. I pointed it out to the conservator, who had a big smile and said, ‘No, that’s simulated. It’s part of the detail by the artist!’”

You don’t have to like every ‘Star Wars’ film to recognize the level of detail that the builders put into these props and pieces. Those people clearly love what they do and it shows!

From the way it sounds this isn’t going to be on the same level as the 1997-1999 exhibit they did, but maybe this is just the start of more to come.

If you are interested in seeing the previous Star Wars exhibit you can do so HERE. There were art and props and it was very cool. I mean, Jabba the Hutt was there.

Funny story, I was on a field trip to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and I got permission to run over to the National Air and Space Museum just to go to the exhibit. I remember how excited I was and I would very much like to have other people experience that same feeling.

The National Air and Space Museum is a fitting place for the X-wing to be placed, among other famous planes and aircraft. While it might not be a real space craft, it sure the original X-Wing inspired a lot of people to create, build, design, and want to fly real aircraft. The dream and feelings associated with the prop are as powerful as what one would feel for historical crafts.

The X-Wing is to go on display later in 2022. So stay tuned for more information.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: Smithsonian Magazine, Air and Space Museum, Orlando Sentinel