Tag: F-104 Starfighter
Bob Gilliland made the historic SR-71 first flight on Dec. 22, 1964. Robert J. “Bob” Gilliland, former Lockheed
test pilot and the first man to fly the iconic SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, the
world’s fastest aircraft, died on Thursday, Jul. 4, 2019 at the Rancho Mirage,
California retirement facility where he had been living for several...
The F-104 Starfighter’s interception times from being scrambled were superior to those of the F-106A, and it could perform interceptions at a greater range than any comparable fighter. Designed as a supersonic superiority
fighter, the F-104 Starfighter was lightning-fast. Development of the F-104
began in 1952, and the first XF-104 made its initial flight in...
"I decided to play a game and hard turned into the F-104s. Too late I remembered that the 100 series Avons fitted to the Canberra didn't like that sort of treatment,” `Boz' Robinson, former RAF Canberra pilot. The English
Electric Canberra was the RAF's first ever jet bomber and proved to be
Britain's most durable...
Suddenly, Capt Smith F-104C Starfighter's right wing was hit by gunfire, blowing away the AIM-9B and launcher. His right arm was also struk by 37 mm bullet fragments… The F-104 Starfighter was lightning-fast, but despite its high performance, the diminutive Cold War fighter was not given much of a chance in the event...
The debriefing was a hoot. I especially liked the part where the Eagle guy played his recorder and we heard the backseater say "Break, we just got gunned again"! The Lockheed F-104 was the first operational fighter capable of sustaining speeds above Mach 2. Thanks to this ability the...
The Lockheed Lancer could have outperformed most of the fighters then serving in the world's air forces Designed as a supersonic air superiority fighter, the F-104 Starfighter was a technological marvel when it first took to the sky in the 50s. Armed with a six-barrel M-61 20mm Vulcan cannon, it served as a tactical fighter, and when equipped additionally with heat-seeking...
SATS was a test program for take-off and landing on short runways while ZELL was a system whereby jet fighters and attack aircraft were intended to be placed on large JATO rockets attached to mobile launch platforms The gorgeous footage in this post shows German Air Force (Luftwaffe) F-104 Starfighter aircraft being tested as part of Short Air Field for Tactical Support...
Test pilots reported that the F-16/79 demonstrated the same 9G capability of the basic F-16, but the former seemed to perform easily at or near Mach 2 In response to President Jimmy Carter's February 1977 directive to curtail arms proliferation by selling only reduced-capability weapons to foreign countries, General Dynamics privately developed a modified export-oriented version of the F-16A/B designed...
“Along with the SR-71, the F-104 is Kelly Johnson’s greatest creation,” Ed Carney, U.S. Navy A-7 Corsair II pilot who flew the Starfighter with the West German Navy from ’79-’82 The Lockheed F-104 was the first operational fighter capable of sustaining speeds above Mach 2. Thanks to this ability the Starfighter was a huge leap forward when strictly compared to the old subsonic...
The F-104 Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb The interesting video in this post gives you the chance to learn some facts about the legendary F-104 Starfighter. Designed as a supersonic air superiority fighter, the F-104 Starfighter was a technological marvel when it first took to the sky in the 50s. Armed...
