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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0727.PDF
FLIGHT,30 May 1958 743 F-104... cryptically described as "not very many wings." As a result the total U.S.A.F. order was pruned to the relatively trivial total of 294 aircraft, and the majority of these have now been built. The result is that big surplus productive capacity exists, and Lockheed are in the fortunate position of being able to offer the aircraft at a very competitive price, all tooling costs having been written off on the existing orders. The mean price per aircraft paid by the U.S.A.F. is reported to be $1,112,000; but the 104 is stated to be available, almost "off the shelf," at $678,000. This is the figure alleged to have been quoted to the West German government, and it is one which no other manufacturer of a similar product could hope to match. In the development of the F-104 Lockheed, G.E. and the U.SA.F. had to face and overcome many very severe problems. Their solution took longer than had been hoped, and squadrons of 104As were not formed until this year. The first deliveries were made to the 83rd Fighter/Intercepter Wing, based at Hamilton A.F.B., near San Francisco, late in February. It is appropriate to list some of the major development programmes which were completed before this release to the user could take place. Lockheed's original contract, for two XF-104s, was placed in March 1953. The first of these flew on February 7, 1954. From the XF-104 was evolved the F-104A, the chief differences being an increase in fuselage length to accommodate more fuel, a change in engine from the Wright J65 (Sapphire) to the J79, and minor alterations including a redesigned rear fuselage, a nose under- carriage arranged to retract forwards (XF-104 hinged to the rear) and supersonic intakes. The first F-104A flew on February 17, 1956. One of the most fundamental and protracted programmes was that which cured the super-stalled pitch-up. This cure, already described, was completed by April last year. Extensive flying at the boundaries of the 104's performance showed that no part of the load-carrying structure could reach a temperature above 200 deg F solely as a result of kinetic heating, and that the 0.016in- radius leading edges of the wing and tail did not erode drastically even in heavy rain or hail. For a considerable period the tip tanks tended to fly in and hit the fuselage after jettisoning, and much work was also necessary to prove the aircraft for gun-firing, GAR-8 firing and stores-dropping. Last winter a machine flying from Eglin A.F.B. showed its range by flying to a target more than 600 miles distant, dropping a simulated nuclear store at maximum speed, flying back and landing with more than 500 lb of fuel remaining. Squadron pilots seem to have found little difficulty in converting to the type. No simulator is needed, neither does any F-104 squadron yet have the services of a two-seat F-104B. The latter, which is in full production alongside the A model, is fully equipped for operational missions and differs chiefly from the single-seater in having a cockpit which extends back into bays formerly occupied by fuel. Like all recent fighters the 104 is intended The photograph on the left gives an in- dication of the dimi- nutive size of the wing. Compression- formed 755T spars are being set up in the main wing jig, each spar covering half the semi-span. On the right is the fuselage line in the main plant at Bur- bank. From here the major sections of each machine are trucked to Palmdale tor final assembly. Output is working at less than capacity. for all-weather operation. The ASC-14 radar fire-control system, produced jointly by G.E. (LMEED), Aerojet-General and R.C.A., is packaged into neat sectors which plug-in around the circular space, some 30in in diameter, in the extreme nose of the aircraft. Pilots have found that, in practice, intensive lock-on training is required if targets are to be held, but their task is eased by the fact that the 104 is an outstandingly good gun-platform. Most of the really dangerous development fl>ing, in which several aircraft were lost, stemmed from difficulties with the powerplant. This in no way reflects upon G.E., since the J79 was even less of a known quantity than the aircraft when F-104 A flying started. It is, however, singularly unfortunate that a major engine snag should have been suffered just after the release of the aircraft to the Air Force. Early in April the U.S-A.F. grounded all 104s fitted with the J79-GE-3A, except for machines engaged in current engine development. Notwithstanding the fact that the J 79 as a type had then run some 44,000 hr, it was found that "pure engine trouble" (we quote the U.S.A.F.) was the cause of a series of accidents, in one of which the commander of the 83rd F/I squadron was killed. Roughness, backfiring and flameout in the afterburner was vouchsafed as a particular headache. Nevertheless, it is fair to regard the basic F-104A as a fully proven weapon system. It is now in service with a number of F/I squadrons, together with all its specially designed support equipment (which, for the benefit of British readers, is regarded as the non-flying portion of the weapon system). Every conceivable type of operational problem has been evaluated and, where possible, simulated; and the proving has extended to such simple, but cumulatively important, items as the number of steps the ground-crew chief needs while walking from the starboard intake to remove the cover over the pitot tube in the nose. Future developments concern such programmes as zero-length launching with rocket-boost, the dropping of real nuclear stores by various delivery methods, the firing of MB-Is, and the intro- duction of F-104s fitted with the more powerful GE-7 version of the J79 which has a turbine of 2in greater diameter. There may yet be a pilotless version—a son of thousand-mile Bomarc —but no requirement for such a device has yet been stated by the U.S.A.F. The photograph below was taken on May 16 at Edwards A.F.B., when Capt. Walter W. Irwin took off on the flight which promises to bring to him the world record for absolute speed. His average speed for the two runs was 1,404.19 m.p.h. The runs were made at 40,000ft in an o.a.t. of —60 deg. C. Even this temperature was too warm, he said, and on other occasions he has exceeded 1,500 m.p.h.
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