Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Background and early development

Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, vice president of engineering and research at Lockheed's Skunk Works, visited USAF air bases across South Korea in November 1951 to speak with fighter pilots about what they wanted and needed in a fighter aircraft. At the time, the American pilots were confronting the MiG-15 with North American F-86 Sabres, and many felt that the MiGs were superior to the larger and more complex American fighters. The pilots requested a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance, especially high-speed and high-altitude capabilities. Johnson started the design of such an aircraft upon his return to the United States. In March 1952, his team was assembled; they studied over 100 aircraft configurations, ranging from small designs at just 8,000 lb (3,600 kg), to large ones up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg). To achieve the desired performance, Lockheed chose a small and simple aircraft, weighing in at 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) with a single powerful engine. The engine chosen was the new General Electric J79 turbojet, an engine of dramatically improved performance in comparison with contemporary designs. The small design powered by a single J79, issued Temporary Design Number L-246, remained essentially identical to the prototype Starfighter as eventually delivered. Lockheed designated the prototype Model 083.
Johnson presented his new fighter concept to the United States Air Force on 5 November 1952, and they were interested enough to create a general operational requirement for a lightweight fighter to supplement and ultimately replace the yet-to-fly North American F-100. Three additional companies were named finalists for the requirement: Republic Aviation with the AP-55, an improved version of its prototype XF-91…

Airframe
The Starfighter's airframe was all-metal, primarily duralumin with some stainless steel and titanium. The fuselage was approximately two and a half times as long as the airplane's wingspan. The wings were centered on the horizontal reference plane, or along the longitudinal centerline of the fuselage, and were located substantially farther aft on the fuselage than most contemporary designs. The aft fuselage was elevated from the horizontal reference plane, resulting a "lifted" tail, and the nose was "drooped". This caused the aircraft to fly nose up, helping to minimize drag. As a result, the pitot tube, air inlet scoops, and engine thrust line were all canted slightly from 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 balanced aerodynamic performance, lift, and internal space for fuel and equipment. The Lockheed tests determined that the most efficient shape for high-speed supersonic flight was a very small and thin, 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 wing of a similar shape. The leading edge of the wing was swept back at 26 degrees, with the trailing edge swept forward by a slightly smaller amount.

The new wing design was extremely thin, with a thickness-to-chord ratio of only 3.36% and an aspect ratio of 2.45. The wing's leading edges were so thin (.016 in; 0.41 mm) that they were a hazard to ground crews. Hence, protective guards were installed on them during maintenance. The thinness of the wings required fuel tanks and landing gear to be placed in the fuselage, and the hydraulic cylinders driving the ailerons were limited to 1-inch…

U.S. Air Force

Although the F-104 was designed as an air-superiority fighter, the United States Air Force's immediate need at the time was for a supersonic interceptor. In the late 1950s, the United States government believed it had dangerously fewer jet-powered bombers than the Soviet Union. In response, the USAF had ordered two interceptors from Convair: the F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-106 Delta Dart, but both were experiencing long development delays. The Starfighter's speed and rate of climb intrigued the Air Force, which pressed the F-104A into service as an interim interceptor with the Air Defense Command (ADC), even though its range and armament were ill-suited for the role. On 26 February 1958, the first unit to become operational with the F-104A was the 83rd Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) at Hamilton AFB, California.
The new aircraft experienced problems with the J79 engine and M61 cannon, and after three months of service, the unit was grounded after engine-related accidents. The aircraft were then fitted with the J79-GE-3B engine, and another three ADC units were equipped with the F-104A. But the Air Force's interest in the Starfighter was waning as the service's preference shifted to fighters with longer ranges and heavier ordnance loads. As a result, the USAF reduced their orders of the F-104A from 722 to 170, and the F-104A and F-104B aircraft of the 83rd, 56th and 337th FIS were handed over to the 151st, 157th and 197th FIS of the Air National Guard (ANG) after less than a year of service with the ADC.

Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958

In August 1958, only a few months after establishing operational readiness with the F-104, the 83rd FIS was ordered to deploy for an air defense and deterrence mission in Taiwan. The People's Republic of China had begun…

The Starfighter was the first combat aircraft capable of sustained Mach 2 flight, and its speed and climb performance remained impressive more than thirty years after its first flight. Equipped with razor-edge thin-blade supersonic wings (visible from the cockpit only in the mirrors), it was designed for optimum performance above Mach 1.2. If used appropriately, with high-speed surprise attacks and good use of its exceptional thrust-to-weight ratio, it could be a formidable opponent. It was exceptionally stable at high speed, i.e., over 600 knots (1,100 km/h; 690 mph), at very low level, making it a potent tactical nuclear strike-fighter. However, in a low-speed turning contest with conventional subsonic opponents (as Pakistani pilots were with Indian Mystères in 1965), the fighter was vulnerable. The F-104's large turn radius was due to the high speeds required for maneuvering, and its high-alpha stalling and pitch-up behavior required attentiveness from its pilot. In reference to the F-104's low-speed turn performance, a humorous colloquialism was coined by a pilot in the skies over Edwards Air Force Base: "Banking with intent to turn."

Takeoff speeds were between 180 and 200 knots (330 and 370 km/h; 210 and 230 mph), with the pilot needing to swiftly raise the landing gear to avoid exceeding the maximum landing gear operating speed of 260 knots (480 km/h; 300 mph). Climb and cruise performance were outstanding; occasionally a "slow" light would illuminate on the instrument panel at around Mach 2 to indicate that the engine compressor was nearing its limiting temperature and the pilot needed to throttle back. Landings were also performed at high speed: the downwind leg of the circuit was typically flown at approximately 210 knots (390 km/h; 240 mph) with flaps in…