My father Capt. C.J. (Hank) HENRY was one of the first instructors in 1961 for the RCAF on the Cf-104. He logged thousands of hours both in Canada at CFB Cold Lake, and on Canadian bases in Germany and France. He originally instructed on fighters in WW2 and went on to instruct on Canadair Sabres during the '50s. He was a superb pilot and revelled in many aircraft, but particularly enjoyed the 104 for it's power and speed. He never called it anything other than the Starfighter or 'Zipper". This aircraft is still today like a F-1 race car, if you aren't experienced enough you may have a challenge on your hands. Hank landed one with no hydraulic flight controls and another with no main wheels. He never ejected from an aircraft and trusted the 104 implicitly. He also knew his aircraft throughly.
lucky no, I knew him, he was an accomplished pilot ! what made the a/c so dangerous was a lack of training , most often the case in then W. Germany as the Luftwaffe was starting all over and had few ready pilots, then.. In Canada the losses were somewhat less, percentage wise, than the F-86@@WvhKerkhof
I can still remember standing very close to a Starfighter on the ground, listening to that wonderful sound of the engine ticking over, with the pilot doing some pre flight checks. What I didn't realise was the effect this was having on my ears, I was nearly totally deaf when I walked away. BTW watching a Starfighter doing a rapid rate of climb from a few hundred feet was just amazing, it just shot up like a rocket!
Love how it’s so quiet as it rolls down the runway that you can’t even tell if the engine is running or not, but then it gets extremely loud as it passes by with the afterburner. J-79 power!
My Dad Was part of the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing, Fighting 69th,back at Luke AFB,IN Pheonx,AZ in THE 70S,I grow up with this plane,man it brings back memories,THANK YOU
Awesome seeing it fly again , remember watching the German f 104 demo team "Vikings" of the Luftwaffe - best show i ever seen , Brings also back many memories of the 70s -cold war era , Greetings from Germany .
I remember watching the 104 as a kid, when my father was stationed in Lahr Germany. When they scrambled them, you would see them leaving the runway in groups. The noise was deafening. With those short wings, they glided like a rock, and the landing speed was ridiculous. Somewhere around 160-180 knots, I think.
as some may or may not know,the F=104 star fighter nicknamed"missle with a man it"was the brain child of clarence"kelly"johnson built at the secret skunk works u.s.a.
This is a restored Starfighter called "Vestfjordoksen". It had it's first flight in 33 years in late 2016. It literally took off 5 minutes ago, going south to fly on airshows all summer.
My first impression about F-104 was a Japanese Monster Movie in which F-104s had a role to be destroyed so easily by monsters. Now I see F-104, it looks so small as if a pilot is riding directly on the jet engine like Mig-19 or 21, much smaller even comparing to F-16. Hard to roll, hard to turn, hard to land, however it must be beloved by everyone who loves fighter airplanes.
The F-104 is actually longer than an F-16 (16.7 vs 15.1 metres), but it's lighter (max take-off weight is 13.2 vs 19.2 tonnes) and has a lower thrust to weight ratio.
Beautiful video. I worked on this Aircraft at the 22° Fighter Wing in Istrana air base, as an armour (weapon team). This Aircraft have only tip tank on the ends of the wings. The seat is an Martin Baker GQ-7A or IQ-7A.
Valter Moras ...un po' tardi per me...mio padre era lì dal 74 al 79.....io ogni tanto andavo in hangar e mi facevano sedere nel cockpit.... Mi ricordo anche di quando un f104 mancò di spinta in decollo e fini nei campi di mais dopo avere strappato le barriere, la recinzione...saltato la strada...il pilota si chiamava Maugeri.....si andava a fondo pista a vedere i decolli e gli atterraggi...quel suono ti faceva tremare anche il subconscio......
Grazie per avermi risposto, venerdì scorso 11 maggio abbiamo festeggiato i 100 anni dei Gruppi 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 ad Istrana, bellissima cerimonia e tantissimi partecipanti.
As much as I appreciate the 104's speed, appearance and climb, it was no dogfighter. In a high-speed, one pass attack it could more than hold its own---however, if the pilot slowed down to engage he was at a huge disadvantage with almost any fighter out there---including the Folland Gnat. With the speed advantage, however, the 104 could disengage at will.
I was in Bodo Norway in 1983.. I think I still have that fighter wing patch in a drawer somewhere...why do they still fly 104s? I thought they had moved to the F16
You are right. They have been flying F-16 since the late 1970ies. This is a plane that has long since been retired but kept in airworthy condition. As an aside, there is an excellent aviation museum in Bodø.
No, It's a Starfighter that has been restored by some Norwegian volounteers to flying condition for airshows. It's currently the only flying Starfighter in Europe.
HMM MAKES ME THINK OF THE SCREAMING BANSHEES I HEARD EVERY MORNING IN COLD LAKE BETWEEN 1962 AND 1967. USUALLY BEGINING AROUND 5:30 IF MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECTLY.
Actually, it is "Lille Svartoksen" (Little Black Oxe) as far as I can see from the map over the area. I am sure there has been a large number of submarines lurking in this area during the Cold War, as this was (-and is) a strategically important military air base. Not all of the submarine crew spoke "NATO-language"...
Great looking airplane that never became what it was promised to become, a starfighter. I don't know how many brave pilots died in the NATO ranks flying this coffin. Sure Lockheed-Martin made benefits, I just hope the same won't be repeated with the F35 also a Lockheed-Martin product.
The greatest interceptor designed to break all those records , when that mattered, killed more pilots than enemies did, downward ejection seat was the reason, pilots were bailing out at low altitudes, too low for their seats/parachutes to safely deploy, Fast and beautiful will the bigger engine
that pilot must have bolls of steal to fly in one of those "widowmakers". or they have improved the ejection seat so much the likelihood of getting killed is alot lower, or he is getting paid alot of money
The Widowmaker, one of the most overrated aircraft in history it was quick and could climb but that was it, the only reason its such a well known aircraft is because west germany the frontline of the cold war bought 900 of them because Lockheed bribed them, it was an extraordinarily difficult aircraft to fly and this is proven by its accident rate, the Canadian Air Force lost 46% of its starfighters because of accidents. The Mig 21 the contemporary to the F104 was a much better aircraft.
Yes that was part of the reason why the Germans had such a high fatality rate but that doesn't explain why it had the highest accident rate in the US Airforce of any 100 series fighter or the fact that the CAF lost 46% of it 104s due to accidents
"the fact that the CAF lost 46% of it 104s due to accidents" Because they, just like the Germans used it as a low level strike fighter, meant to deliver tactical nuclear weapons at first but later more for conventional weapons. The fact that it could carry A2A ordnance was almost as an afterthought for them.
If F 104 was a high altitude interceptor why was it sold to air forces that needed another type of plane? Lack of information of who sold? Corruption? There were 280 accidents in the Luftwaffe with 115 dead pilots. This is not just using the airplane for wrong function. F 104 was first provided as an interceptor and demonstrated to be inefficient in this function in the USAF being relocated to ground attack and multi functions, proving not to be suitable for any of them. This equipment was only sold to several countries because of the corruption.
Outdated, I know; dangerous, I know; poorly manoeuverable, I know.
Still, it's the most beautiful airplane ever!
Well, the swedish Lansen its a wery beatiful plane too, so are JAS! And the mighty Fulcrum is beaty too!
I think the F-104 is the greatest looking plane ever produced,I love it.
Yes, I love him too.
The 104 is a she.
My father Capt. C.J. (Hank) HENRY was one of the first instructors in 1961 for the RCAF on the Cf-104. He logged thousands of hours both in Canada at CFB Cold Lake, and on Canadian bases in Germany and France. He originally instructed on fighters in WW2 and went on to instruct on Canadair Sabres during the '50s. He was a superb pilot and revelled in many aircraft, but particularly enjoyed the 104 for it's power and speed. He never called it anything other than the Starfighter or 'Zipper". This aircraft is still today like a F-1 race car, if you aren't experienced enough you may have a challenge on your hands. Hank landed one with no hydraulic flight controls and another with no main wheels. He never ejected from an aircraft and trusted the 104 implicitly. He also knew his aircraft throughly.
Hank was lucky, the starfighter is also named widowmaker.
@@WvhKerkhof Luck alone will not be enough - skill alone will
@@WvhKerkhof In my father's case luck had nothing to do with it.
lucky no, I knew him, he was an accomplished pilot ! what made the a/c so dangerous was a lack of training , most often the case in then W. Germany as the Luftwaffe was starting all over and had few ready pilots, then.. In Canada the losses were somewhat less, percentage wise, than the F-86@@WvhKerkhof
Один из красивейших самолётов. И такая скорость и потолок для 60-х годов... Обожаю эту птичку.
🤝
I can still remember standing very close to a Starfighter on the ground, listening to that wonderful sound of the engine ticking over, with the pilot doing some pre flight checks. What I didn't realise was the effect this was having on my ears, I was nearly totally deaf when I walked away. BTW watching a Starfighter doing a rapid rate of climb from a few hundred feet was just amazing, it just shot up like a rocket!
Love how it’s so quiet as it rolls down the runway that you can’t even tell if the engine is running or not, but then it gets extremely loud as it passes by with the afterburner. J-79 power!
Thanks. The most beautiful airplane ever made---Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
My Dad Was part of the 58th Tactical Fighter Training Wing, Fighting 69th,back at Luke AFB,IN Pheonx,AZ in THE 70S,I grow up with this plane,man it brings back memories,THANK YOU
Dad was a Zipper IP at Luke AFB in the 60's. 4512th & 69th CCTS. The 104 is still his favorite a/c.
Awesome seeing it fly again , remember watching the German f 104 demo team "Vikings" of the Luftwaffe - best show i ever seen , Brings also back many memories of the 70s -cold war era , Greetings from Germany .
She's a beautiful bird. Dad flew her to Cold Lake Alberta from Palmdale California when she was new in 1962
Unmistakable sound. Hats off to the NAF for keeping this one plane in great shape.
I remember watching the 104 as a kid, when my father was stationed in Lahr Germany. When they scrambled them, you would see them leaving the runway in groups. The noise was deafening. With those short wings, they glided like a rock, and the landing speed was ridiculous. Somewhere around 160-180 knots, I think.
I was a lox man at Dutch Airforce at Lwd base in 1966 till 1970 great fighter to work on.
Could watch this for hours,simply amazing upload,thanks!
Awesome video! I miss the Starfighter, love the smoke and howling sound.
Big Like for your upload.
The Italians should do the same..... Nice to see a 104 flying again.
Stealt aircraft. Not the first one, but the one that comes behind hidden in the smoke from the first one.
The famous howl is back. Hope to see the 104 and hear the J79 on airshows across Europe in 2018.
as some may or may not know,the F=104 star fighter nicknamed"missle with a man it"was the brain child of clarence"kelly"johnson built at the secret skunk works u.s.a.
Das ist phantastisch ..... und bestimmt auch wahnsinnig teuer diese Technik am Leben zu erhalten..... Gruss aus Deutschland
The howling sound of this thing could make everyone freeze - I clearly remember the sound - they flew over our house every day at lunch time ...
Nice to see. you don't see that smoke trail anymore.. efficient engines
My Uncle was a Chief engineer with Fairchild when they built them and then was at Luke AFB in the 60's.
the king is back
Wow! Norway still uses the Starfighter? That is awesome!
Nope. Norway is in the prosess of ending its use of F16s, and enrolling the new F35.
This is a museum plane.
This is a restored Starfighter called "Vestfjordoksen". It had it's first flight in 33 years in late 2016. It literally took off 5 minutes ago, going south to fly on airshows all summer.
The howl of the wolf in the skies....Starfighter still looks lethal after all these DECADES.
Still is.
Beautiful. Did anyone even notice the big sub in the background?
There is one on display @ EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY in Prescott Az.
Now take this jet and add canard rudders, a modern engine and thrust vector control. Wow, that would be something.
Although old, still a beautiful plane!!!!
The Starfighter was also known as the "Widowmaker". But this pilot was so chill as I ever saw. A true and tested fighter pilot.
Gotta love those Norwegians!!
My first impression about F-104 was a Japanese Monster Movie in which F-104s had a role to be destroyed so easily by monsters. Now I see F-104, it looks so small as if a pilot is riding directly on the jet engine like Mig-19 or 21, much smaller even comparing to F-16. Hard to roll, hard to turn, hard to land, however it must be beloved by everyone who loves fighter airplanes.
The F-104 is actually longer than an F-16 (16.7 vs 15.1 metres), but it's lighter (max take-off weight is 13.2 vs 19.2 tonnes) and has a lower thrust to weight ratio.
Beautiful video. I worked on this Aircraft at the 22° Fighter Wing in Istrana air base, as an armour (weapon team). This Aircraft have only tip tank on the ends of the wings. The seat is an Martin Baker GQ-7A or IQ-7A.
Valter Moras in quali anni?...mio padre era un sottoufficiale motorista a Istrana sugli F 104....
Ciao, dal 1988 al 1998 al 22° Gruppo C.I.O. anno in cui venne messo in posizione quadro, poi sono rimasto fino ad agosto 2010 al 51° Stormo.
Valter Moras ...un po' tardi per me...mio padre era lì dal 74 al 79.....io ogni tanto andavo in hangar e mi facevano sedere nel cockpit....
Mi ricordo anche di quando un f104 mancò di spinta in decollo e fini nei campi di mais dopo avere strappato le barriere, la recinzione...saltato la strada...il pilota si chiamava Maugeri.....si andava a fondo pista a vedere i decolli e gli atterraggi...quel suono ti faceva tremare anche il subconscio......
Grazie per avermi risposto, venerdì scorso 11 maggio abbiamo festeggiato i 100 anni dei Gruppi 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 ad Istrana, bellissima cerimonia e tantissimi partecipanti.
Great book on CF 104s called " Starfighter". Authors name is Bashaw I think. Retired fighter pilot.
I have that book. Probably read it fifty or more times.
Awesome! Thank you
Great, thanks for posting ! But why so many cuts at the best moments ?
bodö-home of eismeer geschwader..major erler..1944
The original Widow maker
Smoke King is back
Taiwan AirForces F-104 fighters ,was frist jet fighter usd AIM-9 missile shooting down China PLA MiG-19 fithers.in the world history.
F-86 i belive
Very nice. I know that place, have been there before on NATO mission.
Nice bird ! looking at the smoke, I do believe it flies using coal !
Powered Volksvagen???
Who's Helge Andreasen???
Bodø looks slippery as usual. Bet the Diesel rocket wears spikes as well. 🚀
F104 is the Best Looking fighter Ever. And fast, first to sustain mach 2
Looks like a knife cutting through the sky!
I'd love to see one with an F-414.
They still flying these ?
No, the Norwegian Airforce is using the F-35A now. This is just a preserved aircraft from the historic collection.
As much as I appreciate the 104's speed, appearance and climb, it was no dogfighter. In a high-speed, one pass attack it could more than hold its own---however, if the pilot slowed down to engage he was at a huge disadvantage with almost any fighter out there---including the Folland Gnat. With the speed advantage, however, the 104 could disengage at will.
Better known as "Slash & Dash."
I was in Bodo Norway in 1983.. I think I still have that fighter wing patch in a drawer somewhere...why do they still fly 104s? I thought they had moved to the F16
You are right. They have been flying F-16 since the late 1970ies. This is a plane that has long since been retired but kept in airworthy condition. As an aside, there is an excellent aviation museum in Bodø.
Are they bringing these back out of necessity?
No, It's a Starfighter that has been restored by some Norwegian volounteers to flying condition for airshows. It's currently the only flying Starfighter in Europe.
The F-104 was retired from the Norwegian air force in the early 1980s. When this one flew again in 2016, it was the first time in 33 years.
Placing 2 men on that rocket is obscene
HMM MAKES ME THINK OF THE SCREAMING BANSHEES I HEARD EVERY MORNING IN COLD LAKE BETWEEN 1962 AND 1967. USUALLY BEGINING AROUND 5:30 IF MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECTLY.
Why so much smoke, dirty exhausts?
PLEASE, just once get the 104 on video at low level and max speed, Mach +++. Maybe out over the ocean?
Wish they'd plug in the burner and lose the smoke on those low passes. But on the upside.... NO MUSIC!
It's not hard to find it in the sky, it's about as dirty as 100 12 valve Cummins engines.
thanks
Awesome plane, with the turn-around like an oiltanker. Long Live F-16!!!
Is this the second or the third flight, Erik?
the lawn dart flies again
Awesome,Awesome!!
It was really cold out there. Shaky images prove this... ;o)
Hærlig.
SHE IS BEAUTIFUL! I WANT TO GO UP!
Look mom, no wings
Great
Is that a submarine in the bay at 8.10+ ? 😨 . 👍
No, it is probably a small island called "Svartoksen" (Black oxe), with a lighthouse looking like the bridge of a submarine.
bjofuruh . Ok, thank you for reply. :-)
Actually, it is "Lille Svartoksen" (Little Black Oxe) as far as I can see from the map over the area.
I am sure there has been a large number of submarines lurking in this area during the Cold War, as this was (-and is) a strategically important military air base. Not all of the submarine crew spoke "NATO-language"...
Oh dear, these smokeyJ79s ... !
How did the pilot learn to fly again the F104 ?
"lets see.. what does this button do again? oh right."
This plane is too long for its tiny wings, they went too far but it helped to stablish a warning for inginneers and future aircraft manufacturing.
A rocket🎉
Smokie. Jist like MIG29 :)
Volksvagen :-)
I didnt know Norway has such modern fighters!
Wolf Blitzer really... we are about to change from F 16 to F 35...
Starfighter is the best.
Great looking airplane that never became what it was promised to become, a starfighter. I don't know how many brave pilots died in the NATO ranks flying this coffin. Sure Lockheed-Martin made benefits, I just hope the same won't be repeated with the F35 also a Lockheed-Martin product.
The greatest interceptor designed to break all those records , when that mattered, killed more pilots than enemies did, downward ejection seat was the reason, pilots were bailing out at low altitudes, too low for their seats/parachutes to safely deploy, Fast and beautiful will the bigger engine
Was this Trudeaus idea?
11:16 waste of a video. You just skipped over the best part of the flyby. Disappointment at its worst
that pilot must have bolls of steal to fly in one of those "widowmakers". or they have improved the ejection seat so much the likelihood of getting killed is alot lower, or he is getting paid alot of money
And the purpose of all this? Showing off an old, apparently coal fueled toy?
The Widowmaker, one of the most overrated aircraft in history it was quick and could climb but that was it, the only reason its such a well known aircraft is because west germany the frontline of the cold war bought 900 of them because Lockheed bribed them, it was an extraordinarily difficult aircraft to fly and this is proven by its accident rate, the Canadian Air Force lost 46% of its starfighters because of accidents. The Mig 21 the contemporary to the F104 was a much better aircraft.
Yes that was part of the reason why the Germans had such a high fatality rate but that doesn't explain why it had the highest accident rate in the US Airforce of any 100 series fighter or the fact that the CAF lost 46% of it 104s due to accidents
Lockheed was famous for bribes and may have sold the F 104 as an aircraft for various functions
The F 104 is a rocket with small wings and very difficult to be controlled.
"the fact that the CAF lost 46% of it 104s due to accidents"
Because they, just like the Germans used it as a low level strike fighter, meant to deliver tactical nuclear weapons at first but later more for conventional weapons.
The fact that it could carry A2A ordnance was almost as an afterthought for them.
If F 104 was a high altitude interceptor why was it sold to air forces that needed another type of plane? Lack of information of who sold? Corruption? There were 280 accidents in the Luftwaffe with 115 dead pilots. This is not just using the airplane for wrong function. F 104 was first provided as an interceptor and demonstrated to be inefficient in this function in the USAF being relocated to ground attack and multi functions, proving not to be suitable for any of them. This equipment was only sold to several countries because of the corruption.
One uggly aircraft...