Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Another of the Sale Of The Century fighters, in a different period. This was the first Mach-2 fighter to be widely sold by the USA, though oddly the USAF didn't fly many of them. Germany rebirthed its aircraft industry building the Startfighter and the Fiat GR-91, but this effort lead to the aircraft getting a somewhat unjustified nickname of "Widowmaker" (The British Lightning had a worse crash record for a similar service life.) Very fast, but not a great aerobatic aircraft, the Starfighter had dashing good looks. It could light up the sky with its reheat going, and had a genuinely sharp wing leading edge.

The gate guardian for the USAF museum at Wright Patterson Airbase. 9/11/2001

F-104. USAF Museum Dayton OH. (Oct 2004)

Other Links