Book Review of Lockheed F-104 Starfighter A History
Author: Martin W. Bowman
Pen & Sword Ltd.
ISBN: 9781473863262
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $39.95
ISBN: 9781473863262
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $39.95
HISTORY:
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft which later became widely used as an attack aircraft. Initially a day fighter, it was developed into an all-weather fighter in the late 1960s.
It was originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force (USAF), but was later produced by several other nations, seeing widespread service outside the United States.
One of the Century Series of fighter aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004. Its design team was led by Kelly Johnson, who contributed to the development of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Lockheed U-2, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and other Lockheed aircraft.
The F-104 set numerous world records, including both airspeed and altitude records. Its success was marred by the Lockheed bribery scandals, in which Lockheed had given bribes to a considerable number of political and military figures in various nations to influence their judgment and secure several purchase contracts; this caused considerable political controversy in Europe and Japan.
The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye, especially in German Air Force (Luftwaffe) service. Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was put into early retirement from the Luftwaffe[3] due to his outspoken opposition to the selection of the F-104.
The final production version of the fighter model was the F-104S, an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force, and equipped with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
An advanced F-104 with a high-mounted wing, known as the CL-1200 Lancer, was considered, but did not proceed past the mock-up stage.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Interceptor aircraft, fighter-bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Lockheed
First flight: 17 February 1956 (YF-104A)
Introduction to service: 20 February 1958
Retired: 31 October 2004 (Italy)
Status: Retired from military service; in use with civilian operators as warbirds
Primary users: U.S. Air Force, German Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Turkish Air Force
Number built: 2,578
Unit cost: U.S. $1.42 million (F-104G)
Developed from: Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter
Variants: Lockheed NF-104A, Canadair CF-104, Aeritalia F-104S
Developed into: Lockheed CL-1200/X-27, Lockheed CL-288
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Ltd. is based in South Yorkshire, UK.
This book is hard-bound of 320 pages in 6 1/2" x 9 3/4" page format.
It has a paper jacket with the cover art of a F-104G of German Air Force Jagbomber Gershwader 34 at Nemmingen flying along.
This book feature many first-hand stories from RAF, USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps and Israeli pilots.
It contains 183 color photos and 148 black and white ones, 4 color paintings, 2 information lists and a cartoon marking the achievements of Major Howard "Scrappy" Johnson and a 2 page index at the end of the book.
The F-104 was used by: the Israeli AF, Japanese AF, Jordanian AF, Pakistan AF, Spanish AF, Chinese AF, U.S. AF, NASA, German AF (Luftwaffe), Turkish AF, Belgian AF, RAF, Royal Hellenic AF, Netherlands AF, Danish AF, Dutch AF, Norwegian AF and Indian AF etc.
This is one neat book and highly recommended.
I want to thank Casemate Publishing, who sent me this book sample and the folks at Pen & Sword Ltd.
Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books.
All Pen & Sword titles can be seen on Casemate's website at:
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft which later became widely used as an attack aircraft. Initially a day fighter, it was developed into an all-weather fighter in the late 1960s.
It was originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force (USAF), but was later produced by several other nations, seeing widespread service outside the United States.
One of the Century Series of fighter aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004. Its design team was led by Kelly Johnson, who contributed to the development of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Lockheed U-2, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, and other Lockheed aircraft.
The F-104 set numerous world records, including both airspeed and altitude records. Its success was marred by the Lockheed bribery scandals, in which Lockheed had given bribes to a considerable number of political and military figures in various nations to influence their judgment and secure several purchase contracts; this caused considerable political controversy in Europe and Japan.
The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye, especially in German Air Force (Luftwaffe) service. Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was put into early retirement from the Luftwaffe[3] due to his outspoken opposition to the selection of the F-104.
The final production version of the fighter model was the F-104S, an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force, and equipped with radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
An advanced F-104 with a high-mounted wing, known as the CL-1200 Lancer, was considered, but did not proceed past the mock-up stage.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Interceptor aircraft, fighter-bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Lockheed
First flight: 17 February 1956 (YF-104A)
Introduction to service: 20 February 1958
Retired: 31 October 2004 (Italy)
Status: Retired from military service; in use with civilian operators as warbirds
Primary users: U.S. Air Force, German Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Turkish Air Force
Number built: 2,578
Unit cost: U.S. $1.42 million (F-104G)
Developed from: Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter
Variants: Lockheed NF-104A, Canadair CF-104, Aeritalia F-104S
Developed into: Lockheed CL-1200/X-27, Lockheed CL-288
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Ltd. is based in South Yorkshire, UK.
This book is hard-bound of 320 pages in 6 1/2" x 9 3/4" page format.
It has a paper jacket with the cover art of a F-104G of German Air Force Jagbomber Gershwader 34 at Nemmingen flying along.
This book feature many first-hand stories from RAF, USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps and Israeli pilots.
It contains 183 color photos and 148 black and white ones, 4 color paintings, 2 information lists and a cartoon marking the achievements of Major Howard "Scrappy" Johnson and a 2 page index at the end of the book.
The F-104 was used by: the Israeli AF, Japanese AF, Jordanian AF, Pakistan AF, Spanish AF, Chinese AF, U.S. AF, NASA, German AF (Luftwaffe), Turkish AF, Belgian AF, RAF, Royal Hellenic AF, Netherlands AF, Danish AF, Dutch AF, Norwegian AF and Indian AF etc.
This is one neat book and highly recommended.
I want to thank Casemate Publishing, who sent me this book sample and the folks at Pen & Sword Ltd.
Casemate is the N. American distributor of Pen & Sword books.
All Pen & Sword titles can be seen on Casemate's website at: