Why did they call the F-104 "Zipper"?

Short answer

American pilots called it "Zipper" or "Zip-104" for its prodigious speed. Lockheed trademarked the nickname "missile with a man in it" for advertising purposes. The press, by contrast, dubbed it Widowmaker for its high accident rate: 292 Starfighters were lost and 116 pilots died.

Published: October 31, 2026 · Updated: October 31, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

F-104 right side view

Two nicknames and an advertising label

"Zipper" and its variant "Zip-104" were the names American pilots used for the fighter, and the reason was its prodigious speed. Lockheed itself cultivated an even more striking label, "missile with a man in it," which the company hastened to trademark for advertising purposes. The nickname born in American squadrons thus referred to the aircraft's speed.

The Widowmaker of the headlines

The press settled on a very different nickname for the same aircraft, Widowmaker, and did so because of its high accident rate. It is not a nickname given lightly. The model's accumulated losses reached 292 Starfighters. Those accidents resulted in the deaths of 116 pilots.

What was held against the aircraft

Among the aspects attributed to it are control problems and its small wings. Added to these are poor turning ability and high landing speeds. The speed that inspired the "Zipper" nickname thus coexisted with that poor turn performance and those high landing speeds.