Flightline: 7/TBA

"user314" (user314) 07/17/2020 at 11:00 • Filed to: flightline, Planelopnik, planelopnik history, germany

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Lockheed F-104G aircraft lined up at Ingolstadt Manching Airport Germany

Look, pretty planes!

Nah, just messing with you.

Springing from the mind of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and his team at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was developed in the early 1950s as a blindingly fast, high flying interceptor to engage Soviet b ombers. Equipped with a single massive !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and featuring small, highly swept wings so thin they needed covers during maintenance, lest ground crew cut themselves.

F-104A showing leading and trailing edge covers

The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! saw service in the USAF from 1958 until 1969, though use continued with the Puerto Rican Air National Guard until 1975. The plane was !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , serving in the air forces of 14 other nations, as well as NASA. Canada,   Italy and Japan license-built their own copies, with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! being modified to perform nuclear strike and recon roles, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! designed to fire !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! missile, and the F-104J, which resembled the F-104G, but retained the original’s interceptor only role   .

The F-104G was the definitive variant, and 1,127 were produced by Lockheed, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and a consortium of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! / !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!   The type featured a strengthened fuselage, wing, and empennage structures; the larger vertical fin with fully powered rudder as used on the two-seat versions; fully powered brakes, a new anti-skid system, and larger tires; revised flaps for improved combat maneuvering; and a larger braking chute. The G model was also a multi-role aircraft, with 7 hardpoints under the wing and fuselage allowing carriage of AIM-9 Sidewinders, unguided bombs and rockets , and fuel tanks.

It was this multi-role aspect that interested the international community, and the so-called “Deal of the Century” was struck (with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! greasing the wheels along the way), allowing Lockheed’s new mount to replace a large number of aging first- generation jets.

West Germany acquired 915 Starfighters, with 151 going to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the rest to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Though an adequate fighter-bomber, the F-104 design was optimized for high-speed, high-altitude flight, and the adaptations to low-altitude flight were not entirely effective. The plane quickly gained a reputation as being accident-prone, with 270 aircraft lost in West German service and 110 pilots killed. The press dubbed the plane Witwenmacher (‘wi dowmaker’), and the running joke being “How do you get an F-104 for cheep? Buy a plot of land in West Germany and wait.”. Still, the plane soldiered on in Luftwaffe  service, surviving past reunification and being finally retired in 1991.

ttyymmnn > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:02

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Erich Hartmann begins twitching uncontrollably.....

For Sweden > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:09

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Imaging turning lmao

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:16

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If you rate the F104 as a missile, it gets low marks. Most failed to explode, and those that did attain impact were often miles from where they were aimed.

Dark humor. I joke because I actually love the plane.

user314 > For Sweden 07/17/2020 at 11:16

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > For Sweden 07/17/2020 at 11:16

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F104s are like a kukri. You can’t put them back in the hanger until the leading edge has drawn blood.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:18

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Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:30

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I remember seeing the Canadian ones fly as a kid. 

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 07/17/2020 at 11:30

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Those Cold War propaganda films are all terrible, but they’ve got some fantastic shots of the hardware from the era. I like to watch Strategic Air Command and fast forward through all of the scenes with people in them.

Here’s another one, Conflict of Wings (1954). Really cheesy story of a small coastal town trying to protect their bird sanctuary from being turned into a bombing range during the exigencies of the Malayan Emergency. Overall a terrible film, but the scenes of postwar/Cold War RAF aircraft are fantastic. IIRC, there are even some brief  shots of the Supermarine Swift , an often forgotten early RAF jet fighter.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:42

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“ highly swept wings so thin they needed covers during maintenance, lest ground crew cut themselves.”

Genuine question because I know nothing about planes: Is this actually true, or were they just really prone to damage on the ground and they needed to protect them?

Darkbrador > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:48

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110 pilots killed, during peace time ? You don’t need ennemies when you fly a F104 !  

Roadkilled > user314 07/17/2020 at 11:49

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It’s also an airplane with a good automotive link. It has been a popular airframe to convert into a land speed record vehicle. 

user314 > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 07/17/2020 at 12:06

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Well, it wasn’t like running your finger down a knife, and they wouldn’t cut paper, but the leading edge was definitely something you didn’t want to smack an arm (or your head) into with any force. It was likely more their positioning that le d to injury than anything else.

As to damage versus injury, the wings were made from aluminum alloy, so someone simply running into one wouldn’t damage the wing overmuch. Now, if you’d hit it with a tool of some kind, that would be a different story. 

Darkbrador > Roadkilled 07/17/2020 at 12:19

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RIP, Jessie ... 

facw > user314 07/17/2020 at 12:26

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Soo many lawn darts...

I love the F-104 though, it looks fast and it was fast.

Always a favorite at the Air and Space Museum:

A Boy and His Longtail > For Sweden 07/17/2020 at 13:24

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You see, if you fly fast enough, you’ll just orbit the Earth making slight adjustments along the way and you will end up where you wanted to be. Turning is overrated anyways, just ask Dodge.