Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Lockheed. Model: CF-104D. Nickname: Starfighter
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Tactical Jet
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane SE Land
> Engine Description: Single General Electric J79‑OEL‑7 turbojet engine

Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/1/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 0.8
> Number of Times Flown:
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: F-104

First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 68
> Date First Flown: 4/5/1990
> Location First Flown: Mojave Airport, CA (KMHV)
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Northern Lights, Tom Archer

Recollections: Flying the F-104, with my great friend Tom Archer, is one of the highlights of my aviation career.  A lot of that has to do with flying it with Tom.  Tom Archer was a US Marine Corp helicopter pilot and the Safety Officer at USNTPS.  When two of my TPS classmates (one a Marine pilot and the other a Navy NFO) were killed in an OV-1 accident during that year, Tom stepped up as the Marine’s CACO (Casualty Assistance Calls Officer).  The CACO’s very, very important job is to act as the CO’s representative focused simply on taking care of the family of the deceased.  There is no more important a job in the Navy.  And Tom did his job–like everything else he ever did–in the best way.  Calm and steady, kind and caring, Tom Archer is as fine a man as I’ve ever known.  To my great delight, he was later my boss when, after retiring from the Navy, I worked for him at the FAA’s Flight Test office in Seattle.  In between these two, I got to fly with Tom in the F-104 after he’d left the Marines and become a pilot flying Hawker Hunters and F-104’s.  Just think of that–a helo guy flying the F-104 (and later being the FAA’s Chief Test Pilot flying every Boeing aircraft)–and you’ll know that Tom is as great a pilot as he is a man.

So, one flight in an F-104 with Tom, in Mojave, California.  What did I want to do?  Much like my previous flight in the F-4 a few years earlier, for part of the profile what I wanted to do was go fast.  In this case, supersonic, at low altitude.  The Edwards range has a corredor where you can do that and so we agreed to add that to the profile.

My summary of the F-104 has a lot to do with the T-38.  You may have already read that the T-38 was my favorite jet and, after flying the F-104, it was clear to me that–within the scope of my albeit relatively limited experience–the T-38 was the PERFECT trainer (on purpose) for the Century Series fighters.  Basically, the F-104 flew JUST LIKE the T-38.  Not enough gas, handling qualities were similar and so was the performance.   I got the data to prove that to myself and then off we went to the low altitude corridor.  

Yes, we went low and we went fast.  Tom never admitted to being scared, but he HAD to be, sitting in the back with a field of view that I’m sure was not to his liking.  But, we did have one problem…upon return to Mojave, and when taxiing in, our lineman was looking at the airplane with a frown on his face.  We had gone fast enough to melt the paint on the jet’s wing leading edge.  The picture here is the airplane’s paint job at the time.  I apologized (then and now) for melting that paint but, man, was it fun!