Did you know…
Which F-104 was the first piloted aircraft to test a "ballute" braking parachute at supersonic speed?
Short answer
It was a modified F-104B used to study the drag and stability of a ballute in the wake of an asymmetric aircraft. Deployments began at Mach 1.3 and 50,000 ft (15,240 m) and ended when the aircraft slowed to Mach 0.5. Until then, ballutes had only been tested in wind tunnels and in rocket flights behind symmetric bodies.
The test aircraft
An F-104B was modified to investigate the drag and stability characteristics of a ballute-type decelerator deployed in the wake of an asymmetric aircraft. The F-104 provided a test platform with which to extend the study of the ballute system. Before these tests, available research on ballutes was limited to wind-tunnel studies and rocket flight tests with ballutes deployed behind symmetric bodies. The main experiment sought to obtain data to evaluate a high-speed towed decelerator across a Mach number range of 0.7 to about 2.0. It was a system that could be used to increase the aerodynamic drag of an asymmetric vehicle.
What the device looked like
The ballute was a hemispherical-shaped device, four feet in diameter, resembling a small balloon that self-inflated with air captured through small inlets around its circumference when deployed.
What the flights showed
Decelerator deployments were initiated at a Mach number of 1.3 and an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240 m), and ended when the aircraft had decelerated to Mach 0.5. The flight tests indicated that the decelerator had a short inflation time and relatively small opening forces. The ballute showed good stability characteristics behind the test-bed aircraft. The drag levels achieved with this decelerator were lower than those obtained with other high-speed decelerators towed by a symmetric vehicle.