The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft which became widely used as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Initially a day fighter, it was developed into an all-weather fighter in the late 1960s. It was originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force (USAF), but was later produced by several other nations, seeing widespread service outside the United States. One of the Century Series of fighter 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 contributed to the development of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Lockheed U-2, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and other Lockheed aircraft.
The F-104 set numerous world records, including both airspeed and altitude records. Its success was marred by the Lockheed bribery scandals, in which Lockheed had given bribes to a considerable number of political and military figures in various nations to influence their judgment and secure several purchase contracts; this caused considerable political controversy in Europe and Japan.
The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye, especially in German Air Force (Luftwaffe) service. Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was put into early retirement from the Luftwaffe due to his outspoken opposition to the selection of the F-104.
The final production version of the fighter model was the F-104S, an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force, and equipped with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. An advanced F-104 with a high-mounted wing, known as the CL-1200 Lancer, was considered, but did not proceed past the mock-up stage.
The Starfighter's airframe was all-metal, primarily duralumin with some stainless steel and titanium. The fuselage was approximately two and a half times longer than the airplane's wingspan. The wings themselves were centered on the horizontal reference plane, and were located substantially farther back on the fuselage than most contemporary designs. The aft fuselage was somewhat elevated from the horizontal reference plane, and the nose was "drooped"; this caused the aircraft to assume a slight "nose-up" attitude, which allowed the plane to fly at the minimum-drag angle of attack. As a result, the pitot tube, air inlet scoops, and engine thrust line were all canted slightly with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the fuselage.
The F-104 featured a radical wing design. Most jet fighters of the period used a swept-wing or delta-wing, which provided a reasonable balance between aerodynamic performance, lift, and internal space for fuel and equipment. The Lockheed tests, however, determined that the most efficient shape for high-speed supersonic flight was a very small, straight, mid-mounted, trapezoidal wing. Much of the data on the wing shape was derived from testing done with the experimental unmanned Lockheed X-7, which used a similar-shaped wing. The leading edge of the wing was swept back at 26 degrees, with the trailing edge swept forward by a slightly smaller amount. More details
The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye, especially in German Air Force (Luftwaffe) service. Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was put into early retirement from the Luftwaffe due to his outspoken opposition to the selection of the F-104.
The final production version of the fighter model was the F-104S, an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force, and equipped with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. An advanced F-104 with a high-mounted wing, known as the CL-1200 Lancer, was considered, but did not proceed past the mock-up stage.
The Starfighter's airframe was all-metal, primarily duralumin with some stainless steel and titanium. The fuselage was approximately two and a half times longer than the airplane's wingspan. The wings themselves were centered on the horizontal reference plane, and were located substantially farther back on the fuselage than most contemporary designs. The aft fuselage was somewhat elevated from the horizontal reference plane, and the nose was "drooped"; this caused the aircraft to assume a slight "nose-up" attitude, which allowed the plane to fly at the minimum-drag angle of attack. As a result, the pitot tube, air inlet scoops, and engine thrust line were all canted slightly with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the fuselage.