• 07 Jan 2020 12:37 PM
• 0

Boeing Builds Star Wars Interceptors

On Dec. 4, Disney unveiled its new “Rise of the Resistance” ride at the grand opening of its new “Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge” theme park in Orlando, Florida. Video of the nighttime event shows the two T-70 X-Wing fighters take off vertically, rotate and then translate forward away from the huge crowd. TheDrive.com website reported that the interceptors used the unmanned Boeing Cargo Air Vehicle (CAV) eVTOL aircraft as the platform for the two-thirds scale spaceships. The site’s Tyler Rogoway noted that “the design is pretty genius, utilizing a tubular frame with translucent skins with textures printed on them, so when they are back-lit from the inside they appear extremely vibrant and solid.” Unfortunately, it appears that these X-Wing CAVs were only for the media spectacle, and aren’t likely to be demonstrated to park visitors. Boeing’s CAV has been flying outside this year and is designed to carry up to 500 lb (227 kg). As reported in the Sept/Oct 2018 Vertiflite, Boeing received at least seven N-numbers for the big CAV drones, with the designation “CV2.”