Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

what is it?

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fighter aircraft for the United States Air Force (USAF), it was developed into an all-weather multirole aircraft in the early 1960s and extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. It was also produced under license by other nations and saw widespread service outside the United States.

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

base stats

• speed 2,459 km/htop speed
• range 2,623 kmwithout refuelling
• size 13.2 tmax take-off weight
• built 2,578made 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 70 years ago, in 1956.
• 🏎️Top speed is 18.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 2.0 (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 2,623 km: 15× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 2.5× 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

1956-02-17

introduced

1958

retired

2004

status

still flying

number built

2,578

role

interceptor aircraft, fighter-bomber

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Lockheed Corporation, Mitsubishi, Canadair, Aeritalia

engines

1× General Electric J79

crew

1

length

16.7 m

wingspan

6.6 m

height

4.1 m

max take-off weight

13.2 t

top speed

2,459 km/h

range

2,623 km

ceiling

22,250 m

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

family