The German Flying Wing
The plane in Raiders looked so unique because it was.
Here is a quote from
The Raiders of the Lost Ark Collector's Album.
"The futuristic Flying Wing was chosen by director Steven Spielberg to represent the ominous and advanced state of aeronautics in Hitler's Germany Production designer Norman Reynolds used a Northrop Corporation prototype of the Flying Wing and drawings by Ron Cobb
to design for Raiders of the Lost Ark this strange plane that has no tail and no fuselage. The plane was built in England by Vickers Aircraft Company and painted at EMI Elstree Studios in London. In order to ship the elaborate prop to Tunisia for filming, it had to be disassembled and sent in parts, then rebuilt on location. In the film the Flying Wing is in Egypt (the Tunisian location) for the top secret mission of transporting the sacred Ark of the Covenant. But before the Ark is even aboard the plane, a series of dramatic events results in the fiery destruction of the Flying Wing."
This plane was never air-worthy,
and has been stowed at the Disney Indiana Jones Attraction.
** LINK **