The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a supersonic interceptor jet that flew in the U.S. Air Force beginning in the 1950s. The F-104 was designed to reach high speeds and climb to high altitudes to chase ...

In 1975, Lockheed paid settlements to 60 widows and dependents of 32 Luftwaffe pilots who had been killed in the F-104. Nor ...

You couldn’t beat Smitty in an F-104. To reach maximum altitude, the pilot accelerated the NF-104 at full power to maximum speed, then pulled up into a “zoom climb.” In a zoom, the more ...

The seat required the pilot to wear metal “spurs” on the heels of his flight boots, thus earning an F-104 pilot the nickname “Cowboy.” The spurs had slotted receptacles that the pilot ...