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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0488.PDF
488 FLIGHT - HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE HOLLYWOOD ballyhoo is frequently employed to give an artificial build-upto something which does not usually merit the "stupendous-colossal-spec-tacular" adjectives applied to it; yet this was certainly not the case on April 17th, when the U.S.A.F., Lockheed and General Electric shared in the unveil- ing of the world's fastest combat aircraft, the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. As we described in some detail last week, this remarkable aircraft is designed for speeds approximately twice that of sound, and, with some compromise in performance, can be adapted for a multitude of military tasks. These photographs, specially taken for us at the unveiling by Harold G. Martin, are certain to evoke wide interest. (Lett). Believe it or not, the unveiling of the Startighter actu- ally took place not in a public theatre but at the south-west end of Lockheed's pro- duction flight build- ing at U.S.A.F. Plant 4 2, P a I m d a I e . Observe the notice. (Right). The button was pressed by Gen. Otto P. Weyland, Commanding General of the U.S.A.F. Tacti- cal A'.r Command and thus the first cus- tomer of the Star- fighter. With him is Mr. Robert E. Gross, Lockheed president and board chairman. (Left). Although the jettison seat ejects downwards the pilot climbs aboard conventionally by opening the finely profiled canopy. (Left, below). Here, we tried to record the profile of the 3.4 per cent wing, the characteristics of which were described in some detail last week. Incidentally, the aileron booster jacks are not in the fuselage. (Below). The U.S.A.F. pushed a blanking cap over the Starfighter's rear end to prevent people from measuring the propelling nozzle. We hear that they were inspired to do so after reading "Flight's" assessment of the Tu-104. In spite of this, the thrust of the J79 is accurately known.
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