This was the first plane I remember seeing when I was a child that really made me say "WOW!"

Great picture.

 

Damn......

 

very nice !

 

Wasn't there a saying once that if someone wanted a Starfighter that they should "Buy some land and wait" and their nickname is the "Lawndart?" Cool pic and cool airplane.

 

I think I've heard that term applied to every century series fighter there ever was, at one time or another.

 

In my day, "Lawndart" applied to the F-16. I believe two early airplanes dived at the dirt on short-final (due to flight control computer malfunction), and I believe both pilots died. I haven't heard of this happening since about 1984.

The F-104G, when introduced to Germany, had a bad spate of accidents. This did NOT happen to other air forces that flew it. The airplane got a bad rep, including being called the "Flying Coffin" in Germany, but the real reason was guys were transitioning to it from lightly wing-loaded airplanes like F-84Fs and F-86s...a different type of flying technique is required.

Lockheed was guilty of bribing many countries in NATO. It was an impressive airplane, but not the right jet for the job.

I saw Italian -104s one day at my base in Germany, and Turkish F-104s in Incirlik. (Both in the 1993 time-frame). Said I was going to try and get a ride in the Turkish two-seater, and my Squadron Commander said "If you do, I'll have you grounded and sent to the psychiatrist!"

 

One of my CFIIs flew the German F104s. He said if you lost the engine at 10,000 feet, look over the side canopy rail, that's where you'll be landing.

He had great stories, from getting the candy tossed out of the C-54s during the Berlin airlift when he was a kid, to ground crew lighting stuff on fire to burn off the ground fog at the approach end of the runway so he see enough to land