Designed as a supersonic superiority fighter, the F-104 was produced in two major versions. Armed with a six-barrel M-61 20mm Vulcan cannon, it served as a tactical fighter, and when equipped additionally with heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles, as a day-night interceptor. Development of the F-104 began in 1952, and the first XF-104 made its initial flight in 1954. On May 18, 1958, an F-104A set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph, and on Dec. 14, 1959, an F-104C set a world altitude record of 103,395 feet. The Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb.
The USAF procured about 300 Starfighters in one- and two-seat versions. In addition, more than 1,700 F-104s were built in the United States and abroad under the military aid program for various nations including Canada, West Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Taiwan and Japan.
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The fly boy called those 104's their hot rod.
ReplyDeleteAlso known as "the widowmaker", for it's propensity to crash.
ReplyDeleteA lot of planes were called 'The Widowmaker' (as was the 1970s 500 cc Kawasaki triple), and it usually was because the people flying them weren't used to their high speed. Once they got the hang of it, the planes were fine. The B-26 Marauder got the moniker early on, but ended up being the combat plane with the lowest casualty rate.
DeleteThe Luftwaffe lost a lot of F-104s, but that was basically because the pilots and crew weren't yet accustomed to such high performance jets, and because it was used for something it wasn't designed for: Low altitude and bad weather operation.
The Danish air force lost about one fourth of theirs, which was a better accident rate than the F-86Ds and F-100s it replaced. Canada lost almost half, while Spain didn't lose a single one.
It was too much of a single-mission design to be a truly good aircraft for the respective air forces, and its combat record isn't particularly stellar either. Yet the pilots who flew it were enthusiastic about the plane, as it in some ways really was 'the sharpest knife', and had to be treated with respect. It seems like NASA, which had eleven of them through almost 40 years, did use them well
ReplyDeleteFor me, the F-104 is the most beautiful airplane ever built, with the Concorde in second place. I go to museums to see them every so often, and am awed by their lines every time.
Question of taste... Draken, there is no more beautiful plane then Draken.
DeleteDo we have other aircraft which that ceiling altitude is 103,000 feet, or higher (u2) ? what are similar high altitudes limits for recently manufactured fighter jets? With air to air, combat, aren’t we now (today) attempting to engage at great distance and launching a missile and quickly “get of danger” ?
ReplyDeleteNo idea, sounds like your homework project, not mine. I just see something that says, wow, 3 records consecutively, and am impressed. I'm not out to learn the rest of air combat. I say launch missles and blow shit up in the ionosphere.
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