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GeneralTate — Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
Published: 2016-03-04 06:13:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 1738; Favourites: 58; Downloads: 64
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Description
This Day in Aviation History
March 4th, 1956
First official flight of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force (USAF). One of the Century Series of aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004. Its design team was led by Kelly Johnson, who went on to lead or contribute to the development of the SR-71 Blackbird and other Lockheed aircraft.
The F-104 served with the USAF from 1958 until 1969, and continued with Air National Guard units until 1975. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flew a small mixed fleet of F-104 types in supersonic flight tests and spaceflight programs until 1994. USAF F-104Cs saw service during the Vietnam War, and F-104A aircraft were deployed by Pakistan briefly during the Indo-Pakistani wars. Republic of China Air Force (Taiwan) F-104s also engaged the People's Liberation Army Air Force (China) over the disputed island of Quemoy. The operational service of the Starfighter ended with its retirement by the Italian Air Force in May 2004.
Source:
Wikipedia, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: gstv.us/1QWARUf
YouTube, XF-104 Starfighter First Flight: gstv.us/1QWAVDj
YouTube, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter "Documentary": gstv.us/1QWAZD5
If you enjoy the "This Day in Aviation History" collection, you may enjoy some of these other collections from Gazing Skyward TV: gstv.us/GSTVcollections
#avgeek #Lockheed #F104 #Starfighter #military #USA #NATO #aviation #history
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Comments: 16
Even today, this is a beautiful, elegant design!
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Us Canadians used these fighter jets a year after the the badass F-101 Voodoo fighter jets came into use in the RCAF. We could have gotten the more manuverable English Electric Lightning, but we bought the Starfighters instead. The Canadian Starfighters were designated as CF-104s and were manufactured by Canadair. It's a pretty fast aircraft and one of the most iconic fighter jets for it's time.
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how have I never heard of this before? 
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Ahh, the old Starfighter. Flying one was like owning the sharpest knife in the world, to quote one of its pilots.
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Yep, it filled the role of strategic interceptor quite well !
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Assuming the pilot knew what they were doing.
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