Perhaps the most famously and hottestly contested Cold War airplane, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was the product of the early 1950s’ design efforts of the legendary designer Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. The Starfighter was constructed in response to a quite precise requirement: to intercept and fight high-altitude, high-speed bombers before they could reach the target with their payload.
It arrived in an era of mania for speed, madness for altitude, and technology ruination when the F-104 was a pioneering pioneer of what flight had in store. When it arrived, it shook up the system. It was the first mass-produced aircraft to cruise at more than Mach 2, and it was also dubbed “the missile with a man aboard” due to its very thin wings and wedge-shaped, low-drag configuration.
The star of the flight was the General Electric J79 engine that propelled the aircraft with all the power it required to break records. A Starfighter reached Mach 2.5 at 92,000 feet in 1962, and it was intended to show just how much jet technology had progressed in a decade.
But not cheaply—a flight on the F-104 was certainly not for the weak of heart. Its brief, stiff wings, perfect for slicing through the air at head-spinning speed, provided little or no lift when flown slowly, and takeoffs and landings of titanic delicacy.
The flyers had to be abominably keen even when they did not especially feel like being so, with not much more than an inch to spare. The jet temperament and its vast motor required infinitesimal control, most particularly in flight-of-needs maneuvers. Its initial electrical flight control was recalcitrant, and when it failed, the outcome was often disastrous.
To pilot a Starfighter, other than for the best pilots, was a risk based on skill. Its mercurial reputation became legendary. It acquired nicknames with sobriquets “Widowmaker,” “Death Tube,” and “Flying Coffin.” Unexcelled flying was required to master it; one mistake was fatal. And despite all its flaws and risks, the F-104 won the hearts of air forces worldwide.
With West Germany’s membership in NATO in 1955, the Starfighter became its primary fighter aircraft. The program began with production shortfalls, crashes, and other maladies, but Lockheed responded with technical assistance and liberal doses of pilot training. Projects such as the Starfighter Utilization Reliability Effort (SURE) emphasized maintenance and safety and eventually reduced the accident rate and rendered the airplane airworthy.
The F-104 from that point on had a wonderful career. The Starfighter was used by the United States Air Force from 1958 to 1969, years of global tension and war during the Vietnam War. Removed from frontline military use, the Starfighter went on to fly for the Air National Guard and NASA, where its speed and altitude were fully maximized in experimentation and research. It endured its initial wave of introduction in 14 nations, and it witnessed the last production aircraft retired in 2004.
The Starfighter has a two-pronged legacy. Insofar as it pushed the limits of jet aerodynamics and opened the door for generations of later high-speed combat aircraft, its record holds up. Its association with a violent history of crashes did make designers and planners grit their teeth, however, and ante up for the price of pilot safety, system integrity, and truthful design. Those were tough lessons learned and ones that have shaped military flight ever since.
The Starfighter is never left behind, even to the present. They remain behind as test vehicles, while some make it to air shows and museums. Companies like Starfighters International continue to run the aircraft in the aerospace development business, a testament that almost forty years after it first flew, the F-104 is still at the top when it comes to being progressive.
In the end, the F-104 Starfighter has a story of risk and hope. It combined new technology with man’s ability to tame a rebellious airplane. True legacy is not win or lose, but its influence it left on the design, operation, and attitude of military flight today.