Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-104>HA1053

General Background

The F-104 Starfighter was the first aircraft to be able to maintain Mach 2 not just in short bursts. The Starfighter shattered speed and rate of climb records that still are impressive today. This extremely high speed earned the plane the nickname “The Missile With A Man In It”. The F-104 was operated by approximately 15 countries. The Starfighter first flew with the USAF in 1958 and the last airplane was decommissioned in Italy in 2004.

The Aircraft

On May 22, 1998, after thirty eight years of service the RoCAF held a retirement ceremony for its F-104s. The decommissioning ceremony was held at Ching Chuang Kang (CCK) Air Base (AB) because the base is home to the 8th TFS, the first ROCAF squadron to operate the F-104. For the very conservative event seven F-104s had new paint and fin markings with each one different and representing the seven former F-104 squadrons. One badge was a "Baby Dragon" applied to TF-104G 4147 (61-12236) representing the 28th TFS. Somehow during the refurbishment of this aircraft for the retirement event, the incorrect serial 61-12236 was applied. The correct serial for this airframe should be 61-03030 that had accumulated 6,000 flying hours. The aircraft is on a pole at the CCK AFB wearing the markings of the 427th TFW and still wearing the incorrect serial 61-12236. When retired the total RoCAF F-104 flying hours were 380,000.

Specifications:

Manufacturer:	Lockheed
Designation:	F-104G Starfighter, single-seat, TF-104G two-seats
Length:	16.66 M
Height:	4.09 M
Wingspan:	6.63 M
Wing Area:	18.22 Sq. M
Empty weight:	6345 Kg
Gross weight:	9362 Kg
Max. weight:	13171 Kg
>Range:	1754 Km
Cruise Speed :	821 km/h
Maximum speed:	1844 km/h
Climb :	14,630 M/min
Ceiling:	15240 M
Wing loading:	563kg/m2
Powerplant:	1 General Electric J-79-GE-11A (A/B 7,067 Kg.)
Thrust:	4356 Kg