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Lockheed's G. L. "Kelly" Johnson has designed some really exciting aircraft, but the company's Model 83 (which originated in late 1952) must qualify as outstanding when the state of the art at that time is taken into account. Lockheed were aware that USAF experience in Korea had shown the need for an air-superiority fighter able to operate from forward airfields and climb rapidly from the ground to engage in high-level combat. The Model 83 was designed to fulfil these roles, and in formulating his design "Kelly" Johnson attempted to keep it as cheap, small and readily maintainable as possible. Tendered to the USAF as an unsolicited proposal, it was necessary for competitive bids to be received and the USAF notified a formal requirement for such an aircraft in late 1952.
Submissions were received from North American and Republic; but as both of these companies were already heavily involved in fighter development and production, Lockheed's proposal was selected cautiously: two XF-104 prototypes being ordered for development and testing. The first of these flew on 28 February 1954, followed by test and evaluation aircraft. It was not until 26 January 1958 that the first production F-104A began to enter service - as interceptors - with Air Defense Command's 83rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron.
These production aircraft appeared quite revolutionary to those seeing them for the first time: with but a token monoplane wing mid-set on the fuselage - this latter assembly wrapped tightly round a powerful turbojet engine - needle-nosed and T-tailed. Able to demonstrate a level speed of around 2,250km/h and to climb to a height of 25km in about 4.5 minutes, it is not surprising that the Press dubbed the Starfighter the "missile with a man in it".
F-104A (170) and multi-mission F-104G (77) served with the USAF, as well as F-104B (26) and F-104D (21) two-seat operational-trainer counterparts of the A and C respectively. Major construction, however, was in Europe: following development by Lockheed of the multi-mission F-104G, more than 1,000 came from production lines in Belgium, Germany, Holland and Italy to equip the air forces of those nations. Similar versions were built under licence in Canada and Japan. Lockheed also built 179 F-104G for export or for supply to friendly nations through the Military Assistance Program.
Final production line was that of Aeritalia SpA in Turin, Italy which built 205 Starfighters for the Italian Air Force and 40 for Turkey. These multi-role combat aircraft have the designation F-104S and have extended production of this out-standing (and sometimes controversial) aircraft for a period of 20 years.
Interestingly a Starfighter - built from non-serviceable ex-military aircraft components by American Darryl Greenamyer over a ten-year period - was without doubt the fastest and most complex "homebuilt" aircraft ever completed. With this aircraft - known as the Red Baron F-104RB Starfighter - he raised the world speed record over a 3km low-level course to 1,590.45km/h on 24 October 1977. Unfortunately the F-104RB was lost in an accident in 1978.
| CREW | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 x General Electric J-79-GE-11A, 70.3kN |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 13166 kg | 29026 lb |
| Empty weight | 6490 kg | 14308 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 6.7 m | 21 ft 12 in |
| Length | 16.7 m | 54 ft 9 in |
| Height | 4.1 m | 13 ft 5 in |
| Wing area | 18.2 m2 | 195.90 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 2400 km/h | 1491 mph |
| Ceiling | 24400 m | 80050 ft |
| Range w/max.payload | 370 km | 230 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 1 x 20mm machine-guns, 2200kg of weapons |
 | A three-view drawing (1640 x 1070) |
| Mark Cook, nvkid(@)cox.net, 17.08.2008 As an Exchange Officer with the RCAF at Cold Lake, Alberta, in 1961-1963, I had the distinct pleasure of flying the magnificent CF-104 with the greatest bunch of guys I've ever served with. That sweet little ship would accelerate from 400 knots to 500 knots indicated in level flight in 5 seconds (at 5,000'). Accelerations was so rapid I had to slow to 350K in order to get through all of the afterburner stages before it got to 400K. We had trouble getting the gear up by the max gear speed of 295K in the cold weather. We got chewed out by the WingCo for trying to outdo each other in Mach number with the first new bird we received: in the cold climate, we could get to Mach 2.22 before the Slow light came on. A good friend of mine, Joe Jordon, set the altitude record in the F-104 at Edwards AFB. He was permitted to exceed the Slow light (too high compressor intet temperature)since he had a zero-time compressor, and he exceeded 100,000 feet. | | Johnny Marshall, j.m.marshall(@)hotmail.com, 02.08.2008 What is the current status of Air Force Major James Jabara that flew F104'S out of TOYAN AFB IN FORMOSA IN THE LATE 1950'S ? | | James C. Parham, Jr., jparham(@)wyche.com, 21.06.2008 I flew the 104A with the South Carolina Air National Gruard in the early '60s. Many of our pilots had flown fighters in WWII. The rest of us had flown F-86s and F-102s. We lost 6 104s and two pilots because of engine stalls caused by a faulty Bendix fuel control. One of the pilots we lost was our commander Brigadier General Barney McEntire who was then on a mission to attempt replacement of the Bendix control. In spite of this problem the pilots, without exception, considered the 104 the greatest airplane they had ever flown. Superb performance, responsive and straightforward, but demanded concentration. Thanks for this great piece re a great airplane. | | stephen russell, stephenrusell(@)sbcglobal.net, 16.06.2008 This fighter they should resume production of & use
FBW & the F22 supercruise engine & widen fueslage & wings.
Still a classic.
Still great Intercepter plane
Love to ride in the 2 place Trainer model.
Install newer engine, shed do close to Mach 3?
Beef up the airframe some.
F104 Starfighter 2.
Nice.
Great for Naval carrier use with beefed up landing gear alone. | | Jondolar, jon(@)landspeed.com, 28.04.2008 While there are only a few of these aircraft flying, such as the east coast based Starfighters, we have spent the last ten years getting an "A" model F-104 ready to scoot along the ground at supersonic speeds to try and bring the land speed record back to North America; she's called the North American Eagle. I invite you to check out our project - especially its unique history found in the classroom section of the site - by visitng www.landspeed.com. Our most recent press coverage was in the April 13th Sunday Times of London. | | dennis_834, dennis_834(@)hotmail.com, 04.04.2008 The F-104 didn't have a long service life because, shortly after its introduction, the Pentagon decided to develop fighters with a much longer range and equipped with missiles instead of a gun. Still, the F-104 remained the fastest fighter in the world for several years. | | Anthony Pietrantonio, anthonypietrantonio(@)msn.com, 11.12.2006 It seems that the F104 did not have a long US Service life because it was not a really good aircarft.... What was its actual flight perforance like compare to other comparable arecraft of its day such as MIG21 or a phantom. How would it hold up in combat. |
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