Lockheed F-104A "Starfighter"

The XF-104, Lockheed Model L-246, was designed by “Kelly” Johnson of the famed Skunk Works. 173 F-104 A models were built. It was a high-performance day and night fighter powered by an axial-flow, turbojet engine with afterburner. The F-104 A is a single place aircraft, designed for cruise at high subsonic speeds and combat at high supersonic speeds. Notable features of the aircraft include extremely thin flight surfaces, short straight wings with negative dihedral, hydraulically powered ailerons and horizontal stabilizer. The wings, with leading and trailing edge flaps, have a boundary layer control system which is used in conjunction with the trailing edge flaps to reduce landing speeds. A drag chute is installed to reduce landing roll.

Specifications

Engine:

One GE J79-GE-3B (or –19, -11A, -1B) of 15,800 lbs. With afterburner. (-19 was rated at 17,500 lbs. Max. thrust)

Wingspan:

21.94 ft.

Length:

54.77 ft.

Height:

13.49 ft.

Weight:

19,600 lbs. With no external load. 25,300 lbs. With 170 gallon tip and 195 gallon pylon fuel tanks.

Maximum Speed:

1,320 mph. (Mach 2)

Cruising Speed:

575 mph

Armament:

Basic armament consisted of two AIM-9B air-to-air guided missiles, carried one on each wing tip, in place of fuel tanks. An M61 20 mm electrically operated gun was located on the lower left side of the forward fuselage. Its ammunition supply of 725 rounds was fired at an average rate of 4,000 rounds per minute.

Range:

Approximately 1,820 NM with tip and pylon tanks. Cruise climb profile: 8.5 min to climb to 26,000 feet, 39,000 final at .85 Mach. With no external stores, 6 min climb to 33,000 initial, 40,000 final. Other data sources state that it could achieve a rate of climb of 50,000 fpm with no external fuel or armament.