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Given that jet fighters might be tricky to fly for pilots used to flying propeller aircraft, let alone new trainee pilots, Lockheed proposed in 1945 that a two-seat conversion trainer be built for the P-80 Shooting Star. The US Army Air Force rejected the idea on cost grounds, citing that the T-6 Texan already in service would be sufficient enough. After a series of fatal crashes of the P-80, the USAAF revisited Lockheed’s proposal, which included extending the P-80’s fuselage by three feet, extending the canopy backwards, and adding a second cockpit with full flight controls. This aircraft, designated first TP-80C on its maiden flight in March 1948, then TF-80C, then finally T-33A, would go on to be far more successful than the fighter it was based on.
The T-33 was designed to be simple, robust, and easy to fly for trainee pilots, though it was intended at first to be only used for propeller-qualified pilots to transition into jets. As propeller aircraft were mostly phased out of the independent US Air Force’s inventory, the service made the decision to go to an “all-jet” training syllabus, and as a result pilots began flying T-33s in flight school.
The “T-Bird,” as it became known, could still be unforgiving in certain circumstances, and was less forgiving as the T-37 Tweet or the T-38 Talon that would eventually replace it. It also was an aircraft for practical jokers: the in-and-outs of the T-33 was something only experienced pilots knew well, and trainees could be subjected to all kinds of tricks by the instructor pilot. The T-33 was, however, eminently reliable. Even after it was withdrawn from training units in the mid-1950s, it soldiered on as a “hack” aircraft for units, a familiarization aircraft, advanced trainer, and aggressor aircraft, especially in Air Defense Command and Air National Guard units.
Well into the 1980s, T-33s could be found in frontline USAF units, and it was said that, when the last F-16 was retired, the pilot would hitch a ride home in a T-Bird. While this did not prove true, it was not off by much—the last USAF T-33s did not leave the inventory until around 1988.
Because of its robustness and cheap flyaway price, the T-33 was also popular with foreign air forces: no less than 41 nations operated T-33s at one time or another, and it was license-built in Japan by Kawasaki and in Canada as the CT-133 Silver Star, which differed from US-built aircraft only in using a Rolls-Royce Nene engine. 6557 T-33s were built overall, and today over 80 and possibly as many as a hundred survive, with many still flyable.
51-4120 was built as a standard T-33 trainer, but would never serve in that capacity. Soon after it was delivered to the USAF, it was converted in the early 1950s to a NT-33A testbed with the nose of a F-94A Starfire, and was one of the few T-33s that was air-refuelable. When the Starfire testing period ended, it was loaned to the Cornell University Aeronautical Laboratory (now Calspan) and further converted to a flying simulator. Using a variety of different instruments and flight controls, 51-4120 could be programmed to simulate everything from the X-15 to the F-22. It contributed to the development of every frontline USAF aircraft of the 1980s, including the secret F-117 project.
When it was retired from service in April 1997, 51-4120 was among the last T-33s left in the USAF inventory, and the oldest aircraft still on strength, having served the USAF continually for 45 years. Because of its impressive record, the NT-33 made its final flight to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and went on permanent display at the National Museum of the USAF.
Today it is on display in the Experimental Aircraft Gallery next to the YF-23 Black Widow, still carrying 1950s era tail registration markings; it remains in bare metal with international orange panels for testing purposes.
The former platform for the Aldwych branch shuttle at Holborn, closed in 1994. Throughout the last 30 years, both stations at either end of the branch have been used for testing advertising and numerous other designs — to the right is a sign advertising the station as St Paul’s and to the left a Virgin Media advert from 2007. Note the original signal cabin down the Aldwych end of the platform — one of two Leslie Green platform-end examples surviving (the other inaccessible at York Road).
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
General Electric Boeing 747-121(A/SF) / N747GE (cn 19651/25) / The General Electric classic 747 engine testbed (line number 25, previously registered N744PA)
I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth data network that connects individuals, industry, and government, please submit your ideas here. You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall on the 2nd floor. A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate our medical, film production, university, technology, financial services, and community sectors by letting people share massive amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem solving, and communication. Gigabit Philly Videos GigabitPhilly Site GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter Can you imagine Gigabit Philly? ---Jonny Goldstein
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Forgeline's own project C7 Corvette will be wearing many wheels, since it is the testbed for perfecting C7 fitment. Here it is on Forgeline VX3C wheels finished with Satin Black centers and Gloss Black outers. See more at: www.forgeline.com/customer_gallery_view.php?cvk=980
#Forgeline #VX3C #notjustanotherprettywheel #Corvette #C7
Mike Lazalier, lead engineer, Aerospace Testing Alliance, on the test platform near the bottom of the Mark 1 "space chamber" on Oct. 5, 2009. Performing on-site visits such as this, is one of the many tasks he performs as an Aerospace Testing Alliance lead engineer with the 718 Test Squadron at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. The Mark 1 Test Facility is a state-of-the-art space environment simulation test chamber for full-scale space systems testing. The thermal chamber is completely lined with a liquid nitrogen shroud that can provide thermal conditions down to 77 degrees Kelvin. With a working interior diameter of 36 feet and at 70-feet tall large objects can be installed and small objects can use the height to experience Zero-g states for two seconds. Inside the upright vessel is a support structure that weighs in at 200,000 pounds and is 12-square feet of seismic mass provides vibration isolated of test articles. The facility has mechanical roughing pumps, turbo molecular and cryogenic high vacuum pumps, all with cryogenic traps. Solar (day/night) simulations with infrared lamp arrays are available for thermal cycling. A $1.5 million dollar upgrade in fiscal year 2000 replaced existing oil diffusion pumps with a complete dry pumping system, cleaned the interior of the chamber and refinished the surface the (LN2) thermal shroud. A new Hewlett Packard 3852, with 1,500 channels of data capability, replaced the previous Micro-Vax data system. These upgrades, combined with the shear size of the facility, at 42-foot-diameter by 82-foot, postures AEDC for future testing of full-scale satellites and other space systems requiring a contamination-free test environment. The Government is interested in obtaining information concerning a Space Threat Assessment Testbed (STAT). The STAT is a testbed facility that will be used to test space system survivability against natural, environmental, and man-made effects. STAT will provide connectivity to a Satellite Operation Center (SOC) for systems under test in order to train space operators to recognize threats and aid in the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to mitigate the effects of those threats. STAT will include space chambers with realistic natural space environmental conditions, as well as integrated representative threat sources. STAT Spiral 1 is currently developing the technology to integrate and control the various environmental sources and build a capability to test subsystem size components and microsats. STAT Spiral 2 will scale up the STAT Spiral 1 capability to accommodate an entire satellite or a full-scale mockup with the key subsystems installed. This program includes efforts to design, develop, procure, and install modifications to the existing Mark 1 space chamber in order to create STAT Spiral 2. (U.S. Air Force photo/Lance Cheung)
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2012 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Project: Tiny TIM (Threats-In-Motion)
Location: NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed / National Weather Center (Norman, OK)
Date: Feb 28, 2023
Photographer: James Murnan / NOAA NSSL
This experiment brings together NWS forecasters and researchers to evaluate and provide feedback on the concept of allowing warnings to be extended in time and area, a first step towards Threats-In-Motion (TIM) for severe weather warnings for hail, wind, and tornadoes. To facilitate this evaluation, forecasters use Hazard Services Convective to create and manage TIM warnings. The concept and software is tested on several archived cases.
A photo I have forgotten to post so far, Bow's LT246 carrying a Pepsi wrap last year. This one was quite a dark drive, given that the wrap covered the fixed top and bottom sections of the driver's window. This LT is now a TfL testbed for retrofitted camera mirrors.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
MRMS HMT Hydro Experiment
The Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) Hydrometeorology Testbed - Hydro (hereafter denoted as HMT-Hydro) experiment is a part of the United States Weather Research Program (USWRP) through the Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT) that runs from 25 June to 20 July 2018. During the HMT-Hydro experiment, forecasters and hydrologists from the National Weather Service (NWS) will work with National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) research scientists to assess new technology and techniques to improve the prediction and warning of flash flooding. In particular, NWS participants will evaluate new probabilistic hydrologic modeling concepts and output within the Flooded Locations and Simulated Hydrographs (FLASH) system that could help convey the uncertainty of the flash flood threat. NWS participants will also evaluate high resolution precipitation forecasts from the NSSL Warn-on-Forecast (WoF) project and the addition of these forecasts into the FLASH system. Feedback from participants will allow NSSL research scientists to identify how these precipitation forecasts could influence the warning decision making process, including the potential for increased warning lead time. The HMT-Hydro experiment runs in conjunction with the Flash Flood and Intense Rainfall (FFaIR) experiment at the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) to collaborate on the short-term forecasting of flash flooding for both a national and regional scale.
I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth data network that connects individuals, industry, and government, please submit your ideas here. You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall on the 2nd floor. A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate our medical, film production, university, technology, financial services, and community sectors by letting people share massive amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem solving, and communication. Gigabit Philly Videos GigabitPhilly Site GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter Can you imagine Gigabit Philly? ---Jonny Goldstein
At NATC in Sept.-Dec. '59 for carrier suitability trials. Modified by Grumman as NRA-3B with big nose, and assigned to NMC/PMTC until 10/90, then bailed to Hughes. Active as testbed aircraft at Van Nuys Airport. Civil reg # N578HA. Transferred to Whidbey Island NAS for display at Whidbey Memorial. Flew to NAS Whidbey on 4/29/2011.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
here it is, for real, live and unfaked ;)
the demo shows the current album name (top line) and song name (bottom line) that is being played.
being played by ANOTHER COMPUTER off in another room!
on this box, there is an IR receiver window (left circle) and you can use a sony DVD player remote to skip to the next song, skip backward one song, pause and play songs. all the basics - all via web client URL tricks ;)
the module in the rear is the ethernet 'shield'. that is wired to the main arduino (foreground) via some hacked up ribbon cables.
there is also a quadrature rotary encoder on the right but its not being used for this application.
power is provided by the usb connector on the left. that jack is also used for programming the arduino.
if you have the 'mpd' daemon running on your system and install my patched scripts then this MPDmaster box of mine can do some simple control over the network (10/100 ethernet).
...and, yes, that ethernet board *is* sitting on a roll of electrical tape. makes a fine insulator, in more ways than one (lol).
C/n 01 the testbed for SAAB 35 Draken. The wing was about 70 % of the size of the projected aircraft. Built in 1951 as 210A marked Swedish Air Force U, in 1952/1953 modified to 210B. Draken = the kite. When SAAB 35 was introduced it took over the name Draken, and SAAB 210 was renamed Lilldraken (The small kite). In Flygvapenmuseum - Swedish Air Force Museum in Malmslätt outside Linköping, Sweden 27. July 2007.
In 1951, North American proposed to the USAF a supersonic fighter based roughly on the F-86 Sabre. The USAF ordered two prototypes, designated YF-100 Super Sabre--the first of the legendary "Century Series" of American fighters. The prototypes first flew in 1953, ahead of schedule, and performance was as advertised--the YF-100 became the first fighter to achieve supersonic speed in level flight. (At least the first Western fighter--the Soviet Sukhoi Su-7 made the same achievement about the same time.) The USAF ordered it into production as the F-100A in 1954.
Almost immediately, however, the F-100 ran into problems. It was very unstable, subject to sudden rolls and stalls, especially at low speeds. This became known as the "Sabre Dance," and was so prevalent that it led to the premature retirement of the F-100A only three years after it became operational. Modifications were made, primarily a larger tail, and this cured much of the instability issues. It resulted in the much improved F-100C/D series, the latter intended for the tactical fighter-bomber role.
Because of their high speed, cannon armament and wide variety of underwing stores, F-100C/Ds were some of the earliest fighters committed to the Vietnam War. These were used almost always over South Vietnam to support ground troops, though in the first months of Operation Rolling Thunder, they were used over the North as well. A F-100D was credited with the first aerial kill of the Vietnam War in 1965, but they were withdrawn south as North Vietnamese defenses became more advanced. F-100s proved superb in the support role, and were popular with their crews, though the nickname "Hun"--short for One Hundred--could also be attributed to its still-squirrely flying characteristics.
By the end of the Vietnam War, most F-100s were relegated to Air National Guard units (a number of F-100-equipped ANG units served in Vietnam), where they would finally be phased out in 1979. Denmark, France, Turkey, and Taiwan would also use F-100s, with the last leaving Danish service in 1982 in favor of the F-16. Many remain in museums, and a few are flyable.
Usually finding information about F-100s is fairly easy, but 55-3503 has proven to be very elusive. Not much can be found about this aircraft online, but what can be found is rather interesting. In 1965, as the Vietnam War began to intensify, the USAF commissioned Project Pave Arrow--some of the research into precision-guided weapons. To test the feasibility of laser-guided bombs, four F-100Ds and two O-2A Skymasters were seconded to Pave Arrow. The F-100s carried M117 bombs equipped with laser seekers, while the observer in the O-2 used a water-cooled laser to mark the target.
Pave Arrow was less than successful--the lasers kept getting fogged up over the humid Florida ranges--but it was an important step forward in the development of precision weapons, and later experiments would solve the problems with the laser. 55-3503 was one of the F-100s that served with Pave Arrow. It may have been retired soon after that, or may have been sent to Vietnam; again, very little information exists about this aircraft.
55-3503 was almost certainly retired in the early 1970s, and eventually ended up at the Pueblo Weisbrod Museum. It was painted as a Thunderbird aircraft and kept inside, but was repainted in Southeast Asia camouflage as an aircraft of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang, South Vietnam (which 55-3503 may have served with). A PACAF badge is carried on the upper tail. Many F-100s on public display have their pitot booms removed (to avoid tourists and photographers like me from impaling themselves), but 55-3503 still has its boom, though it's folded up.
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
N356AS at Victorville after a ferry flight from Roswell, NM. From what I can find online, this jet will become an engine testbed for General Electric.
Underneath the Boeing's tail you can see one of the DC-10 fire fighting aircraft that is based at Victorville.
Ravn Connect Cessna 208B Caravan shares the ramp with company Cessna 207A Skywagon. Palmer is about an hours drive north of Anchorage.
Although Ravn have over a dozen Caravan aircraft, they must be dotted all over Alaska as this was the only one seen during our week in the state. The same goes for the Skywagon too, over twenty in the fleet, only one noted - twice!
Quick photo taken as we passed on our way north to Fairbanks (via Denali State Park) which we reached by car some six hours later.
N405GV has recently (end of 2021) been prepared for operation as an Electric C208 Testbed by Ampaire.
Moscow Zhukovesky (Ramenskaye) - UUBW
August 2001.
Gromov Research Institute,
Bort 05,
Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker
Testbed for flight controls, as indicated on the fuselage.
This 1970 Boeing 747-100 (ex-Pan Am) is the aircraft used by General Electric to test their jet engines. The #3 engine is replaced with whatever engine is being tested. The aircraft is stored and maintained here in Victorville.
This is/was the testbed aircraft for the 777 engine, shown in the #2 position.
03/03/1970 - Pan Am - N744PA
09/03/1992 - General Electric - N747GE
With the crazy Rodenstock XR-Heligon 100mm F/1.5
A lens that was used to project an X-ray image onto a cathode TV tube.
From left to right: Meyer-Goerlitz M42 100mm F/2.8 (awesome lens), Olympus 12-50 (good) and the Rodenstock XR-Heligon 100mm F/1.5
Photo taken with the Primax 35mm F/3.5 M42 lens on the Olympus E-M10.
20084 on the testbeds at Crewe Works 24.4.85 - the loco had been fitted with experimental extended range fuel tanks (scanned print)
Copyright Kevin Whitehurst - no unauthorised use
Out of this world public domain images from NASA. All original images and many more can be found from the NASA Image Library
Curated higher resolutions with digital enhancement without attribution required can be downloaded: www.rawpixel.com/board/418580/nasa
This is a free download under CC Attribution ( CC BY 4.0) Please credit NASA and rawpixel.com.
Moscow Zhukovesky (Ramenskaye) - UUBW
August 2001.
LII, 76456 (c/n 0063471125, f/n 5602)
Ilyushin Il-76-976.
One of five "Aircraft 976" built from the conversion of five new Il-76MDs. Despite the external similarities with the A-50 Mainstay, 'aircraft 976' were not AWACS aircraft but were used in the Airborne Control and Measuring Station -ACMS role by Lii to track missile test launches.
In 2004, 76456 was converted to an Il-76LL engine testbed and sold to the Chinese Air Force for use by the CFTE. It is used to test the WS10 turbofan engine - used on the J10 and J11 fighters.
Note, the Tu-155 Cryogenic Fuel Technology demonstrator, CCCP-85035, in the background.
Boeing 737-683
cn: 28297 / ln: 30
ff: 02-03-1998 N1786B
02-03-1998 N35135 rr Boeing testbed for C of A for the B737-600 series
21-01-1999 SE-DNS SAS "Signe Viking" config CY112
28-07-2001 LN-RRY rr SAS "Signe Viking"
02-2005 Painted in SAS Braathens colours as the first 736, and opf SAS Braathens from 01-04-2005 (allthough AoC change to CNO was officially made 20-04-2006 for LN-RRY ).
01-07-2007 LN-RRY SAS Norge tfd, "Signe Viking", op in SAS Braathens colours,
SAS Norge colour update was not before 12-2008 (!)
01-10-2009 Scandinavian Airlines - SAS tfd, "Signe Viking" config CY120
Again: LN-RRY did not get updated to std SAS colours before 2013 (!)
07-08-2019 wfu and std ENGM/OSL, after 20,5 years in SAS service
27-08-2019 Departed ENGM/OSL at 13:20 pm as SK9121 to St. Athan EGSY/DGX for part-out and scrap
Airbus A380-861
MSN 004 [Engine Alliance testbed]
F-WWDD 'VNO'
Airbus S.A.S.
Copyright © 2010 A380spotter. All rights reserved.
USN XF4D-1 Skyray BuNo 124587 record setting Skyray, aka Ford, with a world speed record flight of 752.944 mph on 03 October 1953. Transferred to GE Flight Test at Edwards AFB in July 1955 where it served as the J-79 and CJ-805 testbed & returned to the US Navy in May 1960.
Research into the "blown wing" concept dates back to just before World War II, but it was not until the 1950s that the technology was put into use. The concept was to bleed air from the aircraft's engine through holes over the wings' flaps: this would lower the aircraft's stall speed and make it easier to control at low speeds, such as at landing. The first aircraft to operationally use a blown wing was the F-104 Starfighter--with such a small wing, it needed all the help it could get due to a high landing speed.
Blown wings fell out of favor after Vietnam, as outright speed was not found to be as effective in combat as originally thought, but then was resurrected as both the United States and the Soviet Union began experimenting with STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) transports--the YC-14 and YC-15 (and later the C-17 Globemaster III) for the US, and the An-72 Coaler for the USSR. While the Americans went with large blown flaps for their transports, the Soviets mounted the engine above the wing, using direct thrust to get the same effect. There was numerous research into blown wings/flaps, which led to the creation of the unique Ball-Bartoe JW-1 Jetwing.
The Jetwing was never meant to go into production, and only one was produced, strictly for experimental purposes. Most of both wings had redirected engine thrust blown over the wing surface, and wing fences were added to ensure the air went where it was supposed to go. Though it looked ungainly, with a faint whiff of the F-84 Thunderjet, the Jetwing proved to be easy to fly, and remained controllable at the astoundingly low airspeed of only 40 mph. (Most aircraft land at least at three or four times that number.) The aircraft first flew in 1977, and the test program proceeded through the late 1970s before it was grounded. The Jetwing was then donated to the University of Tennessee for display and further research, but when the university no longer wanted the aircraft, it was in turn donated to Wings Over the Rockies in the 1990s.
This strange aircraft was nearly hidden behind the museum's EA-6B when I visited in August 2020, and I had no idea what it was--I thought it was some sort of "Luftwaffe 1946" experimental design come to life. The Jetwing is an interesting artifact, and unique.
The age and vulnerability of the RF-101C Voodoo was apparent by the Vietnam War. As losses rose among the Voodoo community, the USAF sought a faster and newer replacement. The solution turned out to be yet another variant of the eminently adaptable F-4C Phantom II. The basic airframe was retained with a new nose, with three cameras placed inside. As the RF-4C was meant to be unarmed, it was not necessary to retain the multimode interception radar of the F-4C, and the RF-4C used the smaller AN/APQ-99 navigation radar. Lighter and more aerodynamic than the F-4C, the RF-4C proved to be the perfect replacement for the RF-101 and remaining RF-84F Thunderstreaks in USAF service. It entered service in 1965.
The RF-4C would be the last dedicated manned tactical reconnaissance aircraft in USAF service. They were used extensively over Vietnam, and in active-duty USAF squadrons until the late 1980s, when they were relegated to Air National Guard units. The last two squadrons of ANG RF-4Cs saw service during the First Gulf War, after which they were retired completely. A number were supplied to foreign air forces afterwards, but the RF-4E (built off of the early F-4E variant) remains the primary foreign RF-4 version.
One of two RF-4Cs at Quartzsite, Arizona's Veterans Freedom Memorial Park, this is 65-0941. It was delivered to the USAF in 1966 and served with the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, first at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho and then at Bergstrom AFB, Texas. In 1978, it was transferred to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California and redesignated as a NRF-4C testbed. 65-0941 would remain with AFFTC until it was retired in 1991; in 1992, it was donated to Quartzsite for their veterans' memorial, along with 66-0384.
Of the two RF-4s there, 65-0941 is worse off, its markings fading and showing signs of heavy corrosion, having spent nearly 30 years in the Mojave Desert. The park itself is quite pleasant, and worth a stop, but the two Phantoms could definitely use some restoration work.
The fourth of the 1950s era “Century Series,” the F-104 Starfighter was designed around one single element: speed. Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, head of Lockheed’s famous “Skunk Works” factory, had interviewed US Air Force pilots during the Korean War, seeking their input on any new fighter. Since the pilots reported that they wanted high performance more than anything else, Johnson returned to the United States determined to deliver exactly that: a simple, point-defense interceptor marrying the lightest airframe to the most powerful engine then available, the superb General Electric J79.
When Johnson offered the L-098 design to the USAF in 1952, the service was so impressed that they created an entire competition for the aircraft to be accepted, ostensibly as a F-100 Super Sabre replacement. The Lockheed design had the clear edge, though both North American’s and Northrop’s design went on to be built themselves—the North American F-107A Ultra Sabre and the Northrop T-38 Talon. The USAF purchased the L-098 as the F-104A Starfighter. The design changed very little from initial design to prototype to operational aircraft, which was done in the astonishing time of two years.
When the first F-104As reached the USAF in 1958, pilots quickly found that it was indeed a hot fighter—too hot. The Starfighter’s design philosophy of speed above all else resulted in an aircraft with a long fuselage, T-tail for stability, and small wings, which were so thin that special guards had to be put on the leading edges to avoid injuring ground personnel. Because of its small wing, the F-104 required a lot of runway, and blown flaps (which vents airflow from the engine over the flaps to increase lift) were a necessity; unfortunately, the airflow system often failed, which meant that the F-104 pilot would be coming in at a dangerous rate of speed. Because it was feared that a pilot who ejected from a F-104 would never clear the tail, a downward-ejection seat was fitted, but after killing over 20 pilots, the seat was retrofitted with a more reliable, upward-firing type. The design also was not very maneuverable in the horizontal, though it was difficult to match in the vertical. Its shape earned it the moniker “Missile With a Man In It” and “Zipper.”
One thing pilots did not complain about was its speed—the listed top speed of the F-104 was Mach 2.2, but this was because above that the fuselage would melt. The J79 was a near flawless engine that gave the Starfighter an excellent thrust-to-weight ratio; uniquely, the intake design of the Starfighter gave the engine a bansheelike wail. So superb was the F-104 at level speed and climbing that NASA leased several as trainers for the X-15 program, and in setting a number of speed and time-to-climb records.
If the F-104 had gotten a mixed reception at best in the USAF, Lockheed felt that it had potential as an export aircraft. Beating out several excellent British and other American designs in a 1961 competition, every NATO nation except France and Great Britain bought F-104s and manufactured their own as the F-104G; Japan also license-built Starfighters as F-104Js, while still more were supplied to Pakistan and Taiwan. Just as in USAF service, accident rates were incredibly high, particularly in West German and Canadian service—Germany lost 30 percent of its initial batch, and the Canadians over half. Worries that the F-104 was too “hot” for pilots usually transitioning from the F-86 were ignored, and later it was learned why: German, Dutch, and Japanese politicians later admitted to being bribed by Lockheed into buying the Starfighter.
Its high accident rate earned such nicknames as “Widowmaker,” “Flying Coffin,” and “Ground Nail.” Pakistani pilots simply called it Badmash (“Criminal”) and the Japanese Eiko (“Glory,” inferring that it was the easiest way to reach it). German pilots joked that the quickest way to obtain a F-104 was to buy a patch of land and wait.
Nonetheless, once pilots learned how to tame the beast, the accident rates eased somewhat, and NATO pilots discovered that the Starfighter excelled as a low-level attack aircraft: fitted with bomb racks, the F-104 was remarkably stable at low altitude and high speed, and Luftwaffe pilots in particular found that they could sneak up on a target, launch a simulated attack, and be gone before ground defenses could react. The Italians in particular loved the F-104, building their own as the F-104S: these aircraft were equipped with multimode radar and armed with AIM-7 Sparrow and Aspide radar-guided missiles, making them a superb interceptor. Though most NATO nations reequipped their F-104 units with F-16s, F-18s, or Tornados beginning in 1980, the Italian F-104S fleet was continually upgraded and soldiered on until final retirement in 2004. 2578 F-104s were built, mostly F-104Gs; today over 150 survive in museums, with at least ten flyable examples, making it one of the best preserved of the Century Series.
An early F-104, 56-0755 was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards AFB, California for its entire career. Initially, it was used as a JF-104A testbed before becoming a chase plane for both USAF and NASA projects, including the X-15 and XB-70 Valkyrie. It was retired in the early 1970s and eventually made its way to the March Air Museum. It is painted in aluminum paint to simulate bare metal, and does a fine job of doing so, retaining the markings 56-0755 wore with AFFTC.