[mowowie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6qMTrqGMNI

[NonValueAdded]

See http://www.vectorsite.net/avf104.html. I love Greg Goebel's Website.

[joe.fralick]

The Germans used them as operational fighters, but I don't know if we ever had an operational squadron of them. It burned a lot of fuel and couldn't carry much ordnance, is what I heard.

Amazing performance, though.

[Gaffer]

Did you know that the Germans bought some and lost many to crashes? They nose dived into the ground.....they got to calling them post hole diggers. Turns out the problem was a pressurized oxygen supply company that supplied the oxygen had their system set up near a noxious fume output of some kind.

On the brighter side, I believe that this plane that had a thrust-to-weight ratio significantly greater than 1 which allowed it to climb a straight vertical.

[mamelukesabre]

I’m no expert. But I know a smattering of aerodynamics. It seems to me that the wings on that plane are very short and cocked the wrong way...no dihedral. Sounds like a recipe for unstable flight.

Back in the days of primitive electronics, I would expect this to be trouble.

[omega4179]

[Future Snake Eater]

OK, let's talk about "The Starfighters"...

[poindexter]

World’s fastest tricycle?

[dainbramaged]

I built a Revell model of an F-104 way back in the day. Didn’t Chuck Yeager have to bail out of one over the California desert during a test flight?

[50mm]

83rd Fighter Squadron in Taiwan, 1958

[Pyro7480]

Of course, there's the famous ending scene in "The Right Stuff" where Chuck Yeager flies a variant of the F-104, based on a real-life incident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlsWD1-fmIk

[19th LA Inf]

An odd feature of the early 104 was a downward-firing ejection seat. I think this was done because it was thought that available seats would not clear the vertical fin. In event of engine failure on takeoff, it was necessary to roll upside down to get out! Ivan Kinchloe, a Korean war jet ace, was killed that way.

One of my memorable experiences was landing our company Cessna 337 on the big runway at Edwards AFB. After landing,I had to taxi to the end of the runway and hold for a NASA F-104 on final. This was in 1970 and I think it was one of the last ones flying in this country (might be the one displayed in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum). It was carrying a great deal of power all the way to touchdown, the sound was deafening and unforgettable. The only other one I ever saw was a flyby at an airshow in 1956, so they were operational then.

[oldenuff2no]

The Turks use to fly the 104 and crash them on a regular basis.

[SampleMan]

The F-104 was a Thoroughbred built for speed and climb rate. Not only was it light with a very powerful engine, but it also had a much reduced wing area, which was highly loaded (150 lb / ft) at max takeoff, but resulted in far less drag at speed.

Not surprisingly it was fast as hell. It was the first Mach 2 aircraft and the first aircraft to simultaneously hold the world speed and altitude records.

The USAF cut their order from over 900 to around 250 when they realized that there was more to being a great interceptor than raw power. It then went on to a much more prolific foreign sales career. However, it ran into trouble when the Germans used it as a fighter-bomer (G model). The already high wing loading became an even greater problem and less skilled pilots had a tendency to mort themselves in it.

The Starfighter’s J-79 had a thrust of almost 18,000 lbs. in afterburner and I've always wondered just how fast that airframe would go if you could make a PW F-100 fit into it with 25,000 lbs. of thrust.

[tanknetter]

The wings were sharp enough that they could be used to peel potatoes ....

Don't believe me? Look here

[SampleMan]

For years the CANUKS kept one of their CF-104 in this tiger stripe color scheme. I always loved it.

For the truly interested, the CL-1200 Lancer was prototyped as a follow on design, but was never ordered.

[jnsun]

Italian AF also had them in early 70's.

The planform for supersonic performance changed significantly after their production, so except for power/weight was way obsolete in a few years subsequent.

I'll bet that approach from post 17 was impressive though.

I can't imagine the thing staying aloft much more than an hour.

Is it true thrust/wght was greater than one?

[Young Werther]

As an Air Force ROTC cadet we visited a base where F-104s were based and we all got a chance to "fly" a simulator. I was first in the cockpit. The instructor and fellow cadets stood over me as I performed some simple maneuvers. I thought I'd see how fast she would go so I kicked in afterburner and when I passed 1200mph I decided to head for the stars. All of a sudden my visual horizon said 90degrees all black and my altimeter was unwinding. I ejected! A red light flashed and the flight simulator was reset for the next pilot.

The simulator officer had a large greenbar print out and he explained that the Star Fighter had a T tail and required controlled inputs for pitch up. I had exceeded the speed and ptich up angle and had torn the tail off. I asked if I had survived and he just grinned!

[Robe]

There is an Airshow Demo team, Saw them about 2 years ago in Beaufort USMCAS, SC

Link For Airshow Schedule

[B-Chan]

The 1936 Auburn Model 852 Speedster! Discuss!