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    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter
    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter
    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter

    By Dave Windle and Martin W. Bowman

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    About this ebook

    The Starfighter was once described as a delight to fly, but one mistake and it will kill you. It is one of the worlds fastest fighters with a top speed of Mach 2.2 and a service ceiling of 58,000 feet. First delivered to the USAF in 1958 it was also sold to the German, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Italian Air Forces. It could carry a variety of air to air, and air to surface missiles and was powered by a single General Electric J79 turbojet that developed 17,900lbs of thrust with afterburner. The Italian Air Force continued to fly it into the 21st Century.This book contains the world famous color profiles created by Dave Windle of the type in different operational modes, configurations and color schemes. Martin Bowman has written detailed descriptions and photographs to create the perfect enthusiasts' reference.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 19, 2012
    ISBN9781783461189
    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter
    Author

    Dave Windle

    Dave Windle has gained the reputation of being Britain’s most skilful creator of aircraft profiles. He draws upon his service with the RAF to maintain complete accuracy. Lives near Aberdeen. Martin Bowman is one of Britain’s foremost aviation historians and has written many books and articles. He lives in Norwich.

    Read more from Dave Windle

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      Book preview

      Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - Dave Windle

      e9781783461189_cover.jpge9781783461189_i0001.jpg

      First published in Great Britain in 2011 by

      PEN & SWORD AVIATION

      An imprint of

      Pen & Sword Books Ltd

      47 Church Street

      Barnsley

      South Yorkshire

      S70 2AS

      Copyright © Dave Windle & Martin W. Bowman, 2011

      9781783461189

      The right of Dave Windle & Martin W. Bowman to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      A CIP catalogue record for this book is

      available from the British Library

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

      Printed and bound in Thailand

      By Kyodo Nation Printing Services, Thailand

      Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of

      Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Family History, Pen & Sword Maritime,

      Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select,

      Pen & Sword Military Classics, Leo Cooper, Remember When,

      Seaforth Publishing and Frontline Publishing

      For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

      PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

      47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

      E-mail: [email protected]

      Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Copyright Page

      LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER

      PROFILES OF FLIGHT LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER - Interceptor/ Strike/ Reconnaissance Fighter

      LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER

      No other aircraft in the history of aviation has engendered more controversy or such notoriety and suffered such a high a loss rate over a short period as the Starfighter. Known sometimes as the ‘Missile with the Man in It’ the F-104 had such stubby little wings that many inferred that it had ‘no visible means of support’. Early on the Starfighter was beset with a number of operational problems that resulted mainly from the troublesome General Electric J79-GE-7A engine. By the time the F-104 had logged its 100,000th flight hour, in April 1961, 49 out of 296 Starfighters operated by the USAF had been lost and 18 pilots killed–none of them in combat. From 1958 to early 1963 there were forty serious incidents, which resulted in the deaths of nine pilots and the loss of twenty-four aircraft, and the USAF cut back its F-104 orders. Lockheed’s failure to produce F-104s in greater numbers and the loss of so many aircraft looked potentially disastrous for the Burbank, California, company. Yet, within a few years the Starfighter had won a worldwide market with licence production underway in seven countries. Their governments rushed to buy F-104s in great numbers for their air arms, even when they looked ill suited for the role they were chosen for and when other designs offered more for the same money. But the publication in 1975 of a Lockheed company report revealed that $22 million in ‘sales commissions’ had been paid to foreign officials, including at least $1 million to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The bribes scandal forced the chairman, vice-chairman and president of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to resign. On 1 September 1977 the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation became Lockheed Corporation. F-104 production continued unabated and two years later worldwide Starfighter production ended at 2,577–1,241 of them having been built in Europe.

      e9781783461189_i0002.jpg

      XF-104-LO FG-786 (53-7786), the first of two XF-104 single-seat prototypes ordered on 12 March 1953. (Lockheed)

      e9781783461189_i0003.jpg

      YF-104A FG-955 (55-2955), one of seventeen YF-104As built for service trials with the J79-GE-3 engine. Mach 2 was achieved in an YF-104 on 27 April 1955. (Lockheed)

      The F-104 originated in May 1952 when Lockheed were offered a contract for the construction of prototypes of a Wright J67-powered, 16-ton interceptor, but the company, whose Advanced Design Group was already working in secret on a much simpler and considerably lighter proposal (the CL-246), declined. In 1951 Hall Hibbard, Lockheed’s chief engineer, and Clarence L. ‘Kelly’ Johnson, assistant chief engineer and chief designer, were determined to create a successful lightweight, uncomplicated jet-fighter design, especially since American fighter pilots in Korea had told Johnson this was what they required. Both men had worked on the P-80, which had been contracted by the USAAF in June 1943 and was completed in just 143 days. After returning from Korea (following a trip in 1951 to see how his F-80 performed), in November 1952 Johnson (named chief engineer at Burbank that same year) began to design a dedicated air superiority fighter, even though at this time, the USAF had no requirement for such an aircraft. Design was carried out at the famous Advanced Development Projects Section or the Lockheed ‘Skunk Works’ as it was known. This had its origins at the beginning of the P-80 programme when

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