The extreme shape of the Starfighter earned it the first nickname of "The Missile With a
Man in it" and some USAF pilots also called it “Zipper” or “Zipper 104” because of it’s
tremendous speed. After it proved to be challenging to fly, with high fatal accident rates,
particularly in German service the plane was given many more nicknames because of its
high speed and ability to occassionally fly itself into the ground. In Germany they referred
to it as Witwenmacher ("widowmaker"), fliegender Sarg ("flying coffin") or Erdnagel
("ground nail", the official military term for a tent peg). Others were, Pakistan Badmash
“Hooligan”, Italy because of it’s spiked nose Spillone “Hatpin” and bara volante “Flying
Coffin”, Canada “Lawn Dart”.
Primarily powered by a single 15,800 lb thrust General Electric J79-GE11A turbojet
engine, equipped with afterburner, it was capable of high speeds (just under 1300 mph)
and high rates of climb. On December 14, 1959, an F-104C set a world altitude record of
103,395 ft (31.5 km). The Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official
world records for speed, altitude, and time-to-climb.

The Lockheed RF-104G was used by several countries but Taiwan developed a special
recon version that had an extra long pointed radome that housed a LOng-Range Oblique
Photography (LOROP) camera. This special radome made it possible to switch the
aircraft from an F-104G standard arrangement to an RF-104G or vice versa in a matter
of one perhaps two days. There were 3 LOROP equipped RF-104Gs but only one was
always on full standby status and these aircraft were called Stargazers when they were
in this special configuration.. Former German F-104G #2076 serial 63-13260 was sold to
the RoCAF and coded 4378. This aircraft was later converted to an RF-104G and used
as one of the Stargazers. The Rocaf stopped using the Stargazers in late 1994.

Specifications for the F-104G / TF-104G

F-104G
Role – all-weather multi-role fighter-bomber
Production - 1,122
Crew – 1

TF-104G
Role - combat-capable trainer version of F-104G
Production - 220
Crew – 2

NORMAL PERFORMANCE
Engine – 1 x General Electric J-79 of 15,600 lbs. thrust with afterburner
Increased Internal Fuel Capacity
Maximum speed - 1,320 mph
Cruising Speed - 575 mph
Combat Radius – 420 mi
Ferry Range – 1,630 mi
Service Ceiling - 58,000 ft
Rate Of Climb – 48,000 ft/min

Dimensions
Span - 21 ft. 11 in
Length - 54 ft. 10 in
Height - 13 ft. 6 in

Weight
Empty – 14,000 lbs
Loaded – 20,640 lbs
Maximum Takeoff - 29,027 lbs

Armament
F-104G
1 x M-61 20mm M61 Vulcan 6-barrel cannon
Hardpoints -
7 x capable of carrying a maximum 4,000 lbs of stores
Located -
2 x wing-tip launch rails for AIM-9 Sidewinder or similar missiles
4 x 2 under each wing
1 x under-fuselage center-line pylon

TF-104G
No cannon or centerline pylon
Reduced internal fuel

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