Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: The Flying Coffin

Video from the channel Megaprojects about Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:47. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

A look back at the history of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, a single-engine supersonic interceptor known by nicknames such as "the missile with a man in it," "flying coffin" or "widowmaker." It covers its records, its design problems, its short career in the United States and its troubled service in Europe.

Its origin lies in the Korean War: Kelly Johnson, of Lockheed Skunk Works, took from F-86 Sabre pilots their request for a smaller, faster fighter with a higher ceiling to take on the MiG-15. The contract for two prototypes was signed on 12 March 1953, and the XF-104 flew on 4 March 1954 at Edwards with a Wright J65 engine, pending the General Electric J79. The first production aircraft was delivered on 28 January 1958. The USAF cut its order from 722 to 170 units and soon passed it to the Air National Guard; even so, it took part in the Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958), the Berlin Crisis (1961) and Vietnam, where it lost 14 aircraft without any air-to-air victories, before being retired in 1969. In Europe, the F-104G version, built by a consortium of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, had a very high loss rate. In 1976 the Lockheed bribery scandal broke, forcing the resignations of Daniel Haughton and Carl Kotchian.

It was the first aircraft to hold the world speed and altitude records at the same time: 27,811 m on 7 May 1958 and 2,259 km/h on 16 May 1958; in 1959 it climbed to 31,513 m. It had a very thin trapezoidal wing, a 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon and, in early versions, a downward-firing ejection seat, which the video blames for the deaths of 21 USAF pilots, including Kincheloe. In Germany there were 292 crashes and 116 pilots died.