Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
Vintage Aviation News
MARCH 4, 2025
With a long, pencil-like fuselage, short anhedral wings capped with large tip tanks, and a T-tail, the Starfighter bore a striking resemblance to the spacecraft being developed at the same time. The XF-104 prototype was born from these principles, powered by a General Electric J79 afterburning turbojet producing 15,600 pounds of thrust.
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