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March 1954
prints-online.com
- The F-104 first flew in March 1954, less than a year after Lockheed had been given the go-ahead to build a prototype. It made an almost immediate impact. The needle-nosed jet quickly earned the nickname ‘the missile with a man in it’; its official name was the Starfighter.
www.bbc.com/future/article/20160826-the-1950s-jet-launching-tiny-satellites
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It was the first production aircraft to achieve Mach 2, and the first aircraft to reach an altitude of 100,000 ft (30,000 m) after taking off under its own power. The Starfighter established world records for airspeed, altitude, and time-to-climb in 1958, becoming the first aircraft to hold all three simultaneously.
The first XF-104 (Lockheed 083-1001, s/n 53-7786) was transported to Edwards AFB amidst high secrecy during the night of 24–25 February, where Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier was to do the initial testing. [3]
By 1980, when the last Starfighter was manufactured, some 14 countries—including Canada, Japan, Turkey, Italy and Taiwan—had operated F-104s, using them in a multitude of roles, from interceptors and ground-attack aircraft to reconnaissance jets.
Feb 28, 2014 · First acquired in August 1956, F-104 Starfighter aircraft were the most versatile work-horses in what was then NASA Dryden’s stable of research and support aircraft, with 11 of them flying mostly research missions over the next 38 years.
Apr 10, 2015 · Dario Leone. The story of how the Starfighter was used to train future astronauts. Being the first operational aircraft able to reach and maintain a speed of more than Mach 2.0, the Lockheed...
Oct 3, 2019 · The F-104 Starfighter traces its origins to the Korean War where US Air Force pilots were battling the MiG-15. Flying the North American F-86 Sabre , they stated that they desired a new aircraft with superior performance.
Mar 1, 2024 · The first F-104 prototype took to the skies in March 1954 at Edwards AFB and quickly earned its reputation as a “missile with a man on it.” In the first few months, the F-104 set numerous...
