FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1518.PDF
622 FLIGHT, 19 October 1961 The Lockheed F-I04C and Canadair CF-104 will soon become a familiar sight in every pan of Western Europe. The majority will wear the black-and-white of the Luftwaffe LARGEST AIRCRAFT- PRODUCTION PROGRAMME IN THE WORLD Super Star-fighter IN many respects, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter surpasses everyother type of aeroplane. In speed, ceiling, rate of climb,acceleration, and most other aspects of pure performance it has few rivals. Perhaps no other military aeroplane can touch it forsheer glamour. Apart from research machines, it is generally re- garded as being the "hottest" vehicle which pilots have ever beenasked to handle, and arguments regarding its safety—and effective- ness—have waxed loud and long. Today this neatly engineered,razor-edged storm centre has become the subject of the biggest aircraft-manufacturing programme in the world, and probably thegreatest example of international co-operation on a technical level that the world has yet seen. In fact, it is doubtful if any manufac-tured article has ever been the subject of so much effort in so many countries. This journal examined the genesis and design of the F-104 onApril 20, 1956, and again on May 30, 1958, when we presented the first detailed cutaway drawing of the F-104A ever published. Inthis issue, in which the keynote is the resurgence of the Federal Republic of Germany as a leader in aircraft manufacture, we offeran appraisal of the aeroplane which is costing that country more money than all other types put together. The F-104G Super Star-fighter differs considerably from the less-capable earlier versions, and this article traces its development, and outlines the world-widenetwork of manufacturers who are helping each other to make it. Outwardly, the Super Starfighter differs only slightly from itspredecessors, giving little clue to its very great increase in opera- tional effectiveness and versatility. In contrast, the original designteam at the California Division of Lockheed Aircraft examined a remarkable diversity of studies when the project began during theKorean war. Shortcomings of the first generation of US Air Force jet fighters led to a requirement for a "day superiority fighter,"in which everything was subordinated to flight performance. Arranged in strips on these pages may be seen a selection of theideas which "Kelly" Johnson's men thought might provide the answer. In March 1952 work began on the model 227-0-6, with slidingintake centrebody, and on the 227-0-11. The latter was the true ancestor of the F-104, but the delta wing and flush cockpit were soonabandoned. In April the design grew to 30,0001b, but by July the 227-16-2 reversed the trend. This aircraft weighed only 8,0001b,and it introduced an amazing unswept wing, of only 16ft 9in span and a t/c ratio of only 3.6 per cent, which became standard for allsubsequent projects. Apart, that is, from the 227-14-], with tail booms mounted at the tips of the wing. A strange idea in Augustwas the tiny (15ft 8in span), rocket-propelled 227-15-3, which suffered from inadequate range. In contrast, the 227-13-1 was theresult of a vicious circle which raised the weight to approximately 50,0001b. By October a real effort had been made to reduce size and weight,and the smaller engine of the 227-20-1 reduced the weight to 25,0001b without affecting range and performance. Lockheed went further,and the 242-19-1 represented an unsuccessful attempt to slash the weight to 9,0001b (at the same time introducing a vee windshieldand low tailplane, together with elementary area ruling).The 242-23-1 represented an attempt to 'reduce frontal area by hiding fuel andlanding gear behind the air ducts, but its performance was poor at speeds above the transonic regime. A much more successfulapproach was the 246-1-1, of 22ft lin span. Lockheed still did not like the vee windshield (feeling that a flat screen was necessary for gun-sighting); the intakes had to be changed, and the horizontal tail was raised to the top of the fin to eliminate inertia coupling. The 242-1-27 was an attempt at reducing length by retracting the main gears into nacelles, but this had many disadvantages. The final drawing on page 623 represents an empty weight of about 12,0001b, and is almost the XF-104 which was finally built. After further refinement, the XF-104 was then designed, built and flown in less than a year. Development then continued, and the production F-104 A differed in having a larger engine (General Electric J79 with afterburner) fed by a fixed-geometry, multi-shock intake with cleverly arranged bleed systems to match airflow requirements to the flight regime. To accommodate the larger engine and increased fuel capacity the fuselage was lengthened by several feet, and other major changes included a switch to an a.c. electrical system of much enhanced capacity, and the addition of a search and track radar system, armament and a ventral fin. Lockheed manufactured fewer than 300 F-104 Starfighters for the US Air Force. The first production machine was the single- seat F-104A day fighter for Air Defense Command, which entered operational service in January 1958. The F-104B is a tandem-seat trainer/air-defence model for the same command, the F-104C is a single-seat attack/ground-support version for Tactical Air Com- mand, and the F-104D is a tandem-seat trainer/local-defence variant for Tactical Air Command. Squadrons equipped with the F-104 A found that the good qualities of the aircraft were marred both by limited operational effectiveness and by a safety record which compared unfavourably with that of other "Century-series" aircraft. Today this version of the Starfighter is no longer in US service, except as the QF-104 target drone. The F-104C incorpo- rates such major improvements as flap-blowing, a retractable flight-refuelling probe and provision for carrying a range of stores externally. Several more advanced versions have since been offered to the US Air Force, but none has been accepted. In 1958 Lockheed prepared proposals for three advanced versions embodying improvements to the structure, systems and equipment, under the company designations F-104-7 (TAC fighter/bomber), -9 (NATO/US air superiority) and -11 (ADC advanced air superi- ority). The company appreciated that they would have to conduct an extensive redesign in order to produce a multi-mission aircraft capable of competing successfully with the many other aircraft then becoming available in the same category. Moreover, they began to look increasingly outside the United States to find a market. From 1956 Lockheed and the US Air Force subjected the F-104 to a test programme involving 52 test aircraft flying approximately 8,000 missions for a programme cost somewhat in excess of $30m. One of the many conclusions drawn was that the airframe would have to be redesigned if the role of the aircraft were to be changed from day superiority fighter to all-weather fighter/bomber. But Lockheed knew there would be little chance of selling a purely defensive aircraft, and accordingly the company themselves under- took the development of what is virtually a new aeroplane. The entire structure was re-stressed to meet fighter/bomber strength requirements with full external loads, and to permit ground-support and penetration missions to be accomplished at low altitudes with no placard restrictions. A total of 36 new forgings was introduced for such major components as wing fittings and spars, fuselage frames, longerons and joint-members, and spars and
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
