(Image: MilborneOne, public domain)
Firefox: no, not Mozilla! We’re talking about the fictional Soviet MiG-31 super fighter stolen by Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood), in the film adaptation of Craig Thomas’ 1977 novel. The full-size replica is seen here after filming in 1982 parked at Van Nuys Airport in California.
(Images: left, right via Wikipedia)
The fictional jet’s design was based in part on the North American XB-70 Valkyrie bomber. Four large-scale mock-ups were built for the production, two of them capable of flying. The full-size version, meanwhile, was actually built around the skeleton of a defunct radio broadcast antenna. Although it couldn’t fly, the impressive model was capable of taxiing at 30-40 mph and measured 66 feet long, 44 feet wide and 20 feet high. But where has it been since 1982? Does it still exist, or was it broken-up for scrap?
Check out 6 full-size replica aircraft used as movie props.
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