Combat Aircraft recalls the littleknown combat exploits of the US Air Force’s F-104 Starfighter, which enjoyed two successful periods deployed at the height of the war in South-east Asia.
LOCKHEED’S CHIEF ENGINEER Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson went to Korea in December 1951. He needed to find out what kind of fighters pilots wanted. At the time, the MiG-15 was providing the main opposition for the US Air Force’s F-86. In some respects the MiG was superior to the more complex Sabre, and it had several features that the American jets lacked, including cannon armament. Above all, the pilots were after a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance. When Kelly left he immediately started work designing a new fighter. His plan was to create the lightest, most aerodynamically efficient airframe possible around a single, powerful engine — the General Electric J79. This would Offer performance that far outstripped the aircraft then in service. The design was presented to the air force in November 1952 as a replacement for the existing F-100 Super Sabre. Lockheed won the bid and was instructed to produce two prototypes. The first of these XF-104s took to the air in early March 1954. The final production r…
