The Millennium Falcon Is Actually From Wisconsin

I learned a fun fact about Star Wars lately that has ties to Wisconsin. Did you know that the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's fast hunk of junk, came from Wisconsin? Seriously, that's where it got its start!

George Lucas debuted the groundbreaking Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. I don't need to tell you how innovative it was at the time. It blew away anything ever done before with special effects. That's thanks to the Industrial Light & Magic Team, who worked to bring the special effects to the next level.

Not only were the visuals stunning and amazing, but the sounds were literally out of this world. They used all sorts of techniques and innovations to get sounds right for the tie-fighters, X-wings, and light sabers. It really was cutting-edge technology.

To get the sound for the Millennium Falcon, Industrial Light & Magic went to the Oshkosh, Wisconsin Fly In. It's an annual event in Oshkosh that brings aviation enthusiasts together from around the world.

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One of the planes at that year's fly-ins was the P-51 Mustang. The fighter plane was developed during World War II and ruled the skies for several years as an elite fighter.

Industrial Light and Magic used sounds recorded from the P-51 as the basis for the iconic sound of the Millennium Falcon's engines.

From there, sound engineers fine-tuned different sounds and sequences for the Millennium Falcon, but it all started with the base recording of the P-51 Mustang in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Industrial Light and Magic donated a model of the Millennium Falcon to EAA, and they have it in their museum, complete with an EAA logo on the cockpit. Pretty cool, huh!?