Happy STAR WARS Day 

This got us thinking.... so just WHICH of our enclosure fittings would Han Solo's famous Millennium Falcon most likely have been fitted with?

The Millennium Falcon was a heavily modified YT-1300 freighter, and as such, it would have been fitted with a variety of other equipment that was not standard on a stock YT-1300! 

It was a versatile and powerful starship that was capable of carrying out a variety of missions; a favorite of smugglers, bounty hunters, and other outlaws, it played a key role in the Galactic Civil War - and it was probably fitted with hundreds, if not thousands, of various hinges, locks, handles, drawer slides, gas struts and latches in a dozens of places throughout the ship, making it perfect for an FA Parkes supply run!

Some of the most common types of fittings it used would have included:

•  DOORS : From the main entrance door to crew quarters and the cargo bay, it's safe to assume the Falcon would probably have many different types of doors peppered throughout the ship, many of which would need to withstand extreme conditions in space, for take-off and landings, and not to mention from the occasional raid from space pirates or Stormtroopers! So these doors would certainly require a range of our high quality locks, latches, hinges, handles and sealings to ensure the safe flight of the ship and of its crew.
•  HATCHWAYS : The Falcon would have had a number of hatchways, or smaller doors, to provide access to different areas of the ship. Some of the hatchways were located in the cockpit, the cargo bay, and the crew quarters. These might have used some of our stays or gas lifts to help lift them open either vertically or horizontally, and to also prevent them from slamming shut. They may also have included grab or recess handles to help open smoothly, as well as either concealed or visible hinges depending on where the hatch was positioned within the ship.
•  CONTROL PANELS : The Falcon would have had a several control panels for various instrumentation throughout the ship, including in the cockpit, engineering, weapons systems, the cargo bay, and the crew quarters. Much of this instrumention was likely housed in different enclosures, which would require removable or openable access panels to monitor or repair the equipment.

Whatever enclosure fittings they needed to build the Millennium Falcon, we're confident they'd have found most of what they needed right from our range of thousands of parts!

So whether your application is space bound or not - check out our digital catalogue, browse online store, or if you're after something a bit more specific down on Terra Firma, simply call us on +44 (0)1942 681 996, email sales@faparkes.co.uk or fill out our contact form via the link below: