Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War.Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF), it was developed into an all-weather multirole aircraft in the early 1960s and produced by several other nations ...
[17] [18] The F-104 was in service for 12 years with 11,690 flight hours, 246 hours 45 minutes of these in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War and 103 hours 45 minutes in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, after which five F-104 remained and were grounded by lack of spares due to post war U.S. sanctions. The type was phased out in late 1972. [17] [18]
In 1967 the 319th F-104As and Bs were re-engined with the J79-GE-19 engines with 17,900 lbf (79.6 kN) of thrust in afterburner; service ceiling with this engine was in excess of 73,000 ft (22,250 m). In 1969, all the F-104A/Bs in ADC service were retired. On 18 May 1958, an F-104A set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph (2,259.82 km/h). [3]
The F-104 was the first combat aircraft capable of Mach 2 flight, and the only aircraft in history to simultaneously hold the world speed, rate-of climb and altitude records. [4] Three of the Century Series aircraft—F-101, F-102, and F-106—were armed with nuclear air-to-air missiles.
56th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Lockheed F-104A Starfighter 56-857 at Wright-Patterson AFB. The transition into the F-86L was short-lived however, as the squadron began transition into the "missile-with-a-man-in-it", the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in May 1958, [10] becoming the second ADC squadron equipped with the Starfighter. The squadron ...
The Italian Air Force was a major user of F-104s, and the last air force to withdraw the aircraft from its front line. More than 100 F-104s are in display in Italy. A complete list is available here. TF-104G. MM54228 Italian Air Force – Turin Airport [26] F-104. 3-01 Italian Air Force – Trento Airport [27]
In addition to single-seat F-104As, the squadron received the two-seat, dual-control, combat trainer F-104B. The performance of the F-104B was almost identical to that of the F-104A, but the lower internal fuel capacity reduced its effective range considerably. The squadron served as the ADC combat crew training squadron for the F-104.
All-weather fighter interceptor Convair Developed from the F-102 Delta Dagger. Originally designated F-102B. [61] 1956 [61] [62] 1959 [61] 342 (2 prototypes, 277 F-106As, 63 F-106Bs) [61] XF-103: Interceptor Republic Aviation: Canceled at mock-up stage. Request Issued by the USAF in 1949 for an advanced supersonic interceptor to equip the Air ...