Yeager's Record Plane Becomes Jet Car

abclocal.com ^ | 5-31-06 | ap

[Jacquerie]

When I hear the Verizon/McDonald ad I recall Chevy Chase spooning Lacy Underall in Caddy Shack.

[Phsstpok]

I think he meant Commemorative Air Force (formerly Confederate Air Force), not Canadian Air Force.

I don't think the Commemorative Air Force is flying any Hornets

[norton]

I think they meant to say it was an F-104 "like" General Yeager flew. I also believe the one he bailed out of was an NF-104 with rocket boost and too little air under it to be anything but an unguided missile.

Used to work on 104 line in Burbank (damn I'm old!) BIG engine, tiny airframe, less wing area; seemed to me to be the apex of the 'just plain fighter' aircraft: intended to vector in on a bad guy, gun him down on the way past, and get home before flame went out.

[mylife]

That is cool!

[JRandomFreeper]

A flight of Harriers flew over the house to land at Carswell (or whatever they call it now... NAS/JRB) tonight. At about 80KTS IAS. It took forever for them to get over, and they were LOUD! I would suppose some of the lift was provided by the jet.

Those old birds are LOUD! The Starfighter was pretty danged loud itself.

/johnny

[drew]

They've rebuilt the fighter as a car, in hopes of setting a new land speed record of 800 miles per hour. The current record is 763, held by a British pilot.

Hope they don't screw the pooch.

[JRandomFreeper]

GE Engine on the 104? or PW?

Dang, you are old.... I'm still looking for my glasses so I can find my teeth, so I can eat supper.

/johnny

[drew]

LOL! "I was, BORN to love you/I was BORN to lick your face/I was BORN to rub you, but you were born to rub me first!

[devane617]

I would love to see the car go 800 on the Salt Flats...

[ThomasPaine2000]

Flame-out, glide path of a rock..

[Bean Counter]

"Hey Ya'll!! Watch this!!"

[norton]

OK, took awhile and someone might have beat me to it,
plowing through 'history' in their site finally yielded the following:
This AC was used as chase plane to the one yeager finally lost and yeager DID fly it in chase mode during testing.
(It's a fun site in any event)

(wiping forehead) Whew!

PS: itty bitty wings = glide path of a rock...or a lawn dart

[norton]

"GE Engine on the 104? or PW?"

Can't remember, another sign of age.

G models, Japan and Germany - had the more optomistic attack stuff & lousy record in German use; which Lockheed laid to poor maintenance (go figure).

I think Japan was fairly pleased & used them a LONG time.
Other NATO countries also kept them in use a good while, but they also flew recon-F84s 'till the wheels fell off.

[Charles Martel]

plowing through 'history' in their site finally yielded the following:
This AC was used as chase plane to the one yeager finally lost and yeager DID fly it in chase mode during testing.

I figured it was something like that. You're quite right, it is a neat site.

[Charles Martel]

Italy was the last to retire the 104, and that was only in the past two years or so. Also, seeing the German 104s wearing Luftwaffe insignia always seemed just a little bit creepy.

I suppose that the Starfighter was short-lived in USAF inventory because it was an interceptor, and Soviet bombers could better be intercepted by NATO forces in Europe (or Canada). And, speaking of forward positioning...

I especially liked the rocket-assisted launch rigs that were disguised as barns.

[norton]

I vaguely remember that they last served the US over Puerto Rico (NG?) because ours were unsuited for any but clear weather. Need to check out units assigned.

[MD_Willington_1976]

Ah I see.. where I'm from CAF is Canadian Armed Forces... they do use old stuff, but not that old LOL

[ThomasPaine2000]

I was stationed at Ramstein AB, 66-69, during this period, both the Canadians(3 Wing at Zwiebrucken) and the Luftwaffe were flying 104's. There was a saying: (Q) How do you get a F-104. (A) Buy an acre of land in Germany and wait. Their mission was tree top level penetration of the East, and they trained all the time.