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.

In 1958 the USAF 83rd FIS temporarily deployed F-104As and Bs to Taiwan. The RoCAF showed
interest in these aircraft so 22 F-104As and 5 F-104Bs were transferred to the 8th TFS of the 3rd
TFW based at Ching Chuan Kang (CCK). The first two F-104s (F-104B - 4101 and 4102) arrived
on May 17, 1960. The F-104A and B stayed with the RoCAF until 1966 when they were shipped
back to the U.S. who transferred them to Jordan and Pakistan. The F-104As and Bs were
replaced with F-104Gs.

Lockheed F-104A & B specifications

F-104B Crew – 2 (Pilot/Co-pilot)
F-104A Crew – 1 (Pilot)

Dimensions
Length – 54 ft 8 in
Height – 13 ft 5 in
Wingspan – 21 ft 9 in

Weight
Empty – 13,384 lb
Gross – 17,988 lb
Maximum – 25,840 lb

Performance
Engine – 1 X General Electric J79-GE-3B (thrust 9,600 )
Range – 730 miles
Cruise Speed – 519 mph
Climb Rate – 60,395 ft/min
Service Ceiling – 64,795 ft

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