Despite the Starfighter’s shortcomings, the pilots who flew the F-104 fell in love with it
The Lockheed F-104 was the first operational fighter able to maintain speeds exceeding Mach 2. Work on the aircraft started in 1952, and the first XF-104 took to the air in 1954. On May 18, 1958, an F-104A established a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph, while on Dec. 14, 1959, an F-104C set a world altitude record of 103,395 feet. The Starfighter became the first aircraft to simultaneously hold official world records for speed, altitude, and time-to-climb.
Thanks to its speed, the Starfighter represented a major advance over older, more forgiving subsonic jets. However, when air-to-air combat occurred at subsonic speeds, its limited wing area placed the F-104 at a disadvantage against more conventional fighters, since turning performance in that flight regime was crucial. For that reason, it was important to keep the Starfighter above Mach 1 so it could exploit its unmatched speed and vertical climb.
In addition, the F-104’s short range and limited weapons capacity counted against it, and as a result, it remained in active service with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for only a brief time.
Despite these limitations, more than 1,700 F-104s were produced both in the United States and overseas through the military aid program for many countries, including Canada, West Germany, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Taiwan, and Japan; pilots who flew the Starfighter also
came to admire it deeply, as reflected in several accounts shared with Ted Spitzmiller for his book Century Series: The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy, 1950–1960. James C. Parham Jr., who flew the Starfighter with the South Carolina Air National Guard, recalled that, “Although its range was limited with two Sidewinders and no drop tanks, the F-104 was the ultimate high-altitude interceptor. Pilots had a real affection for the F-104. The cockpit was simple, compact, and comfortable. The canopy was uncomplicated, lightweight, and manually operated. At Mach 2, it was quiet, and the long, flexible fuselage rippled ever so slightly.”
Because it was not well-suited to USAF service, the F-104 was sold to foreign governments early in its career. The Canadian Air Force became one of the aircraft’s principal operators, and several U.S. pilots had the opportunity to fly it through squadron exchanges, including Dudley Larsen, who transitioned to the CF-104 from the F-4 Phantom.
Larsen was favorably impressed by the “Zipper”: “It was an easy transition because the plane was very honest to fly-it talked to you. It had a good feel when it settled in. The engines were the same as the F-4 (J79).” The Starfighter proved highly effective in visual multi-bogey ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) because it was both very fast and very small. However, its high wing loading gave the F-104 poor turning performance, and if the pilot banked more than 30 degrees, he became a target. According to Larsen, the CF-104 was able to hold its own against the F-4, and pilot skill made a significant difference.
Ed Carney, a U.S. Navy A-7 Corsair II pilot, was completely taken with the Starfighter after flying it in Germany for three years with the West German Navy from ’79 to ’82: “Coming from the A-7E it was like transitioning to jets all over again. Crazy fast and light, and would outrace anything out there. Flying slow (defined as less than 450 kts) could be dicey if you tried to pull any G’s.“ As Carney noted, the jet could supercruise at sea level and retain its maneuvering performance in combat, provided the fight did not slow down too much. “It demanded a skilled pilot and rewarded him with amazing performance, but was the least forgiving airplane I have ever flown. On the deck, plugging in the burner would shove you from 450 to 750 knots so fast it was almost scary. We were always pulling it back to keep from exceeding a speed or temp limit.”
Carney believed the F-104 was more than just a high-performance fighter, saying that “Along with the SR-71, it is Kelly Johnson’s greatest creation.”
Century Series The USAF Quest for Air Supremacy, 1950-1960, is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
