Whilst watching Empire I noted that Luke climbs what appears to be a rigid ladder to get into his X-Wing when leaving Dagobah (after learning that Han, Leia, Chewie and C-3P0 may be in danger at Bespin).
Once he enters the cockpit, how does the ladder retract?
The junior novelisation confirms that it's "retractable" (as opposed to being manually attached and then discarded).
Quite how this is actually accomplished isn't immediately obvious but I'd assume that it collapses into a smaller size and then slots into the body of the X-Wing somewhere near the top.
Yoda answered, “If you honor what they fight for … yes!”
Luke reached for the lower rung of the X-wing’s retractable ladder and looked away from Ben and Yoda.
Interestingly, a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi has Luke climbing a similar ladder and then simply discarding it. No explanation is offered for this discrepancy.
Pablo Hidalgo addressed this conundrum in Star Wars Insider #60, although he did stress that his answer was not part of the accepted canon.
Q. What's the deal with the ladder to Luke's X-wing? In a New Hope, we see his boarding ladder being removed by a tech prior to take-off. When he gets to Dagobah in Empire, a ladder mysteriously and conveniently appears so he can board, but once he's in the cockpit, it's gone. Where did it come from? Where did it go? If X-wings have some sort of automatic retractable ladders built-in, than why does the guy at the Massassi base even bother?
PH: It's a valid question, and there hasn't yet been a source published that's supplied a “real” answer. This response is just a stab at possible solutions and is not meant to settle any arguments. Anyway, no technical manuals point the an X-wing having a retractable ladder, so that's out. Incom representatives no doubt strongly suggest that you land your X-wing only at well-stocked facilities that provide you with a prompt and courteous ladder service.
But what if you land on some forsaken planet like Dagobah? What then? X-wing fighters have cargo holds in their bellies that can hold 110 kilograms of supplies - You can see it clearly in Empire. A pilot can access the hold by removing a section of the cockpit seat - Presumably that's how Luke got all those boxes and gear out of his ship when it was still in the Dagobah lagoon.
So, that ladder is usually kept there for pilots who must put down in remote locations, though getting it out of the hold and draping it on the side of a fighter must be awkward, unless it's hinged or something.
The odd part about Empire is that Luke never removes his ladder. Hopefully that was his intent, and the ladder is designed to fall off and litter the Dagobah countryside. Otherwise we're left with the unfortunate conclusion that Luke did the Star Wars equivalent of driving away with his coffee cup still on the roof of his car.
