Buy LOCKHEED F-104 STARFIGHTER - L'HISTOIRE CONTROVERSÉE DU ZIPPER

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The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was the first fighter aircraft to fly at Mach 2. Along with the Dassault Mirage III, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, and the Mikoyan MiG-21, it was one of the four iconic fighters of the Cold War. Developed and built in the early 1950s, this single-engine aircraft made its maiden flight on March 4, 1954 under the command of the famous A. W. “Tony†LeVier. Of the 2578 examples built over a quarter of a century, more than 1500 came out of the European production lines of four consortiums. Although designed to climb fast and high in clear weather, the Starfighter was mainly used as a tactical nuclear strike aircraft at very low altitude in marginal weather conditions, a role for which it was first chosen by the Bundesluftwaffe (F-104G version) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (CF-104). This resulted in a high loss rate that earned them an unwarranted reputation as "widow makers. In fact, most of the losses were due to the conditions of use and were comparable to those of other aircraft used for the same type of mission and under similar conditions. More deserved was the controversy caused by several corruption scandals in Europe and Japan. Although the F-104 had only a short career in the USAF, it equipped many other air forces, mainly in Europe and Japan. The last ones were only retired in 2004 by the Aeronautica Militare Italiana. The vast majority of its pilots took great pride in flying what they had dubbed the "Zipper" (go-getter). Apart from its military career, the F-104 set many speed and altitude records. Many derivatives were proposed and are described and illustrated by numerous factory drawings. René Francillon takes us to discover this amazing aircraft thanks to this 350 pages book, abundantly illustrated with many photographs but also plans and the superb color profiles of Thierry Dekker! René FRANCILLON