Subject: Number 104 in the series--Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (2 of 20)

From: [email-masked]
Date: 17 Dec 93 16:30:11 GMT

>From [email-masked]

Although the first service test Starfighters were to be powered by the 
afterburning J65 turbojet, early versions of the General Electric J79 
engine were available by the time that the YF-104A was ready, and the 
service test aircraft were built with the General Electric engine in 
mind.  

The seventeen YF-104A service test aircraft (serials 55-2955/2971) 
were powered by early experimental versions of the General Electric 
J79 engine instead of the J65 engine which powered the XF-104s.  The 
YF-104A also differed from the XF-104 in having a 5 feet 6 inch 
extension in the length of the fuselage.  A forward-retracting 
nosewheel replaced the rearward-retracting unit of the XF-104, in 
order to provide improved ejection seat clearance out the bottom of 
the aircraft.  Two additional fuel cells were installed in the 
fuselage.  The air intakes were modified and were fitted with 
half-cone center bodies which had been omitted from the two XF-104s.  

The YF-104A aircraft were initially fitted with the General Electric 
XJ79-JE-3 turbojet, rated at 9300 lb.s.t. dry and 14,800 lb.s.t.  
with afterburning.  

The first YF-104A (55-2955) was completed in February of 1956, and was 
trucked out to Edwards AFB.  It made its first flight there on 
February 17, 1956, with Lockheed test pilot Herman "Fish" Salmon at 
the controls.  

On February 16, the second YF-104A (55-2956) was used for a 
media-covered official rollout ceremony at Lockheed's Burbank factory.  
This was the first display of the Starfighter to the public.  The 
engine air intakes were covered with fairings, since the Air Force 
didn't want people to see the half-cones in the air intakes.  

The J79 engine provided a spectacular improvement in performance.  
55-2955 reached Mach 2 on February 28, 1956, becoming the first 
fighter aircraft capable of double-sonic speed in level flight.  

Together with the first 35 production F-104As, all seventeen YF-104As 
were used for flight-test and to evaluate early versions of the J79 
(the -3, -3A, and -3B) engine, the Vulcan cannon, the AIM-9 (formerly 
GAR-8) Sidewinder air-to-air missile and the wingtip-mounted fuel 
tanks.  Airframe strengthening and local redesign were progressively 
introduced.  Various forms of flap blowing were tested, and a ventral 
fin was introduced to improve directional stability at supersonic 
speed.  Some were also used to test wingtip racks for either 170 
US-gallon drop tanks or Sidewinder infrared-homing air-to-air 
missiles.  

On May 16, 1958, Captain Walter W. Irwin flying a YF-104A set a new 
world's air speed record of 1404.19 mph flying over a 15/25 kilometer 
course at Edwards AFB.  

On May 7, 1958, Major Howard C. Johnson reached an altitude of 91,249 
feet at Edwards AFB in California.  

A large percentage of the seventeen YF-104As were lost in crashes 
during the test program.  At the end of this program, the surviving 
YF-104As were brought up to F-104A production status and were turned 
over to USAF squadrons for duty.  Following the withdrawal of the 
F-104A from active service in 1960, at least four of the ex-YF-104As 
(55-2956, 2957, 2969, 2971) were converted into unmanned QF-104A 
target drones.  They were all most likely shot down during tests.  

Of the seventeen YF-104As built, only two are known to survive today.  
The first survivor is the seventh YF-104A (55-2961).  This aircraft 
was transferred to the NACA in August of 1956.  It was initially 
numbered 018, which was later changed to a civilian registration of 
N818NA.  In 1958, NACA was reorganized as NASA, and the YF-104A 
remained with NASA until November of 1975.  This aircraft is now 
hanging in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.  I saw it 
there in October of this year.  The other survivor is the thirteenth 
YF-104A (55-2967).  It is now on display at the Air Force Academy in 
Colorado Springs, Colorado.  I remember seeing it sitting outside the 
Chapel when I visited the Air Force Academy in 1971.  Is it still 
there? 

55-2955/2971 	Lockheed YF-104A Starfighter 

Sources:

    The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery Books, 1989.

    Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Steve Pace, Motorbooks International, 
    1992.

    Lockheed Aircraft Since 1913, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute
    Press, 1987.

    The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.

    The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament, Bill Gunston,
    Orion Books, 1988.

    The World's Fighting Planes, William Green, Doubleday 1968.

    American Combat Planes, Ray Wagner, Third Enlarged Edition, Doubleday,
    1982.

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033