USAF 61-3065
NASA N824NA
Designed by Lockheed's creative genius, Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, the prototype F-104 rolled out the company's high-desert Skunk Works and made its first flight on March 4, 1954 at Edwards Flight Test Center. Later, it was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous world records for speed (1,450 mph)*, altitude (103,395' with rocket assist), and time-to-climb to altitude. Because of its physical appearance and performance, the F-104 has often been called the "missile with a man in it." The design was a product of the Korean War, and was unique in several respects. The encounters with the MiG-15 in Korea caused a strong outcry among Air Force fighter pilots for a cheap, lightweight, maneuverable, high-performance fighter to confront future Soviet fighters. The result was the F-104, a fighter that overemphasized rate of climb and brute speed.
The F-104G had full all-weather capability, carrying an Autonetics F15A-41B NASARR (North American Search and Ranging Radar) fire control system. The fire control system was optimized in two basic air-to-ground and air-to-air modes--these were for bombing/navigation and target interception, respectively. In the air-to-air mode, it provided radar search, acquisition, and automatic tracking of aerial targets to make it possible to to carry out lead-collision attacks with automatic missile release. The NASAAR acted in conjunction with the director-type gunsight for the M-61 Vulcan cannon. The director gunsight gave the pilot an optical line-of-sight indication after the NASARR had computed the required lead angle. The weapons sight incorporated a basic infrared facility with common optics developed by Lockheed, which gave the aircraft some night-sighting capability. For air-to-ground modes, the NASAAR provided the pilot with range information for visual bombing computation, ground mapping for all-weather bombing and navigation, contour mapping for navigation, and terrain avoidance for low-level combat missions. The caged sight could also be used as an aiming reference for visual dive-bombing.
One of 1,700 Starfighters built, our two-place G-model first served with the US Air Force, then for a while with the German Air Force, and was finally acquired by National Air and Space Administration in 1975, where it was used in safety tests, as a photo plane, and for pilot proficiency training -- one of its instructor-pilots being the legendary Chuck Yeager. After 1,127 flights, it was retired in 1985, then loaned to California Polytechnic College in 1995, and in turn to the Estrella Warbird Museum in March 2000.
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Its namesake driver, museum trustee George Marrett, as an Edwards FTC test pilot rang up 350 hours in a Starfighter. Shown here with museum co-founder Glen Thomson.
| Powerplant: | 15,800 lb GE J79-GE-7 turbojet |
| Wingspan: | 21'9" |
| Length: | 54' 8 " |
| Height: | 13' 6 " |
| Wing area: | 196 sf |
| Empty weight: | 12,760 lbs |
| Gross weight: | 27,853 lbs |
| Maximum speed: | 1,300 mph* |
| Cruising speed: | 600 mph |
| Landing speed: | 195 mph |
| Ceiling: | 58,000 ft |
| Range: | 1,500 statute miles |
| Status: | Static Display |
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