That's a beauty looking 195. The strutless Cessna's really stand out, much cleaner. Just need to toss it on floats!
Yes! F-104 Starfighter! The coolest plane with the coolest name! I would give my right arm to fly in one of those! Twice the speed of sound in 1959!! From Lockheed's Skunkworks of course!
Lockheed sold a lot of F-104's to other countries but never the US. USAF spent a lot on research and development but never put it into service. Definitely an airframe ahead of its time.
They served in the Air Force from 1958 until 1969. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-104_Starfighter
True I just did some research. It seems they were ordered but when Reagan was elected he allowed export of the F-16 The F-5 was never in a combat role with the USAF.
Most European NATO countries operated the Starfighter. It was the center of Lockheed bribery scandals and safety concerns through its career...but was one hot ship! The ultimate production version was the final version, the Italian F-104S...in good company here!
Design an aircraft as a fast climbing interceptor, then use it as a low level bomber because its small wing makes it less susceptible to wind gusts... And see what happens to your safety record.
The loss-rate issue became a huge deal in Germany, largely as the Luftwaffe operated just a few of them! The crisis put famed WW2 ace and Starfighter critic Erich Hartmann (352 kills, highest scoring ace in the history of aerial warfare, etc) at odds with his old wartime comrade and fellow ace, post war General Johannes Steinhoff.... who ultimately implemented changes to pilot training that dramatically cut their F-104 loss rate.
Here's how you get your bike to those distant riding areas. <a href="http://s863.photobucket.com/user/jhower/media/P1040214_zps2wkpjhhb.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.advrider.com/advrider-photobucket-images/images/j/jhower_P1040214_zps2wkpjhhb.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo P1040214_zps2wkpjhhb.jpg"/></a>
The short wings and T-tail has unrecoverable stall written all over those beasts. Sexy looking beasts, though.
Considerably better than mach 2 in 1957!!! Unbelievable for it's time! 0 to 20,000 feet in 58 seconds! Nicknamed "The missle with a man in it".
