Canadair CF-104 Starfighter

what is it?

The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (CF-111, CL-90) is a modified version of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft built in Canada by Canadair under licence. It was primarily used as a ground attack aircraft, despite being designed as an interceptor. It served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and later the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) until it was replaced by the McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet in 1987.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 6.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,844 km/htop speed
• range 2,630 kmwithout refuelling
• size 13.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 200made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 65 years ago, in 1961.
• 🏎️Top speed is 14.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.5 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 2 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 2,630 km: 15× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1961

introduced

1962

retired

1995

status

retired

number built

200

role

interceptor aircraft, fighter-bomber

makers

Canadair

engines

1× Orenda J79-OEL-7

crew

1

length

16.7 m

wingspan

6.6 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

13.2 t

top speed

1,844 km/h

range

2,630 km

ceiling

15,240 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family