View Full Version : Ex RNoAF CF-104 airborne again!
Finally!
Congrats to all the people who made that happen!
Starfighter.no on Facebook video (https://www.facebook.com/starfighter.no/videos/1442603715767189/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED)
Google translate article (https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.an.no%2Fnyheter%2Fluftfart%2Fbodo-hovedflystasjon%2Fher-tar-det-legendariske-flyet-av-fra-bodo-lufthavn%2Fs%2F5-4-398068&edit-text=&act=url)
Awesome achievement with what must have been limited resources and money. Total respect for the Vikings. Would be great to see the same done for Black Mike.
Wander00
28th Sep 2016, 16:27
Hello, is that the CAA.............
Brilliant job, well done the Norwegians
Davef68
28th Sep 2016, 16:55
Brilliant job.
As for the UK, post-Shoreham, I doubt it!
Some better videos in this link: nrk.no (https://www.nrk.no/nordland/her-flyr-eskil-_the-widowmaker_-for-forste-gang-pa-33-ar-1.13152617)
AdLib
28th Sep 2016, 21:05
Like a homesick angel. Fan :mad: tastic
MSOCS
29th Sep 2016, 00:11
I watch this, it makes me smile!
A brilliant result from the whole team who put her back where she belongs!
Treble one
29th Sep 2016, 09:53
Seems our Nordic cousins have less onerous versions of the CAA....Starfighter, Draken, Viggen.....??? Amongst others!
Of course due to DA limitations/conditions imposed by the CAA we probably won't see this magnificent beast in UK skies....
Heliflyger
29th Sep 2016, 13:43
http://youtu.be/G6zzwiggFJs
Heliflyger
29th Sep 2016, 13:53
From the backseat of the F16: https://youtu.be/TdMioGFmUqM
Martin the Martian
29th Sep 2016, 14:07
What a beautiful sound that J79 makes.
Nice job all round.
Some video shot from the F-16BM chase ship: CF-104 first flight from www.flynytt.no (https://vimeo.com/184875978)
Wander00
29th Sep 2016, 19:59
Is it a 2 seater - would that not make it a TF-104 - only asking.............
CF-104D actually
Ex Royal Canadian Air Force frame like all the CFs we had back then. (They augmented F-104 already on the books, and replacing F-5s at 334 Sqn at Bodø in 1973-ish. 331 Sqn got their F-104s in 63)
A and C
29th Sep 2016, 22:49
I work for a Scandinavian company and the reason that the CAA's of these states are Govened by states than base laws on common sense not how the lawyers can bend the law to make as much money as can.
People in these countries don't have to constantly look over their shoulders waiting for the lawyers to get at them as long as they act responsably
Wander00
30th Sep 2016, 07:59
M609 - many thanks
Sandy Parts
30th Sep 2016, 15:10
Still a 'cool' aircraft (despite the widow-maker reputation). Watched the Luftwaffe ones visiting Bruggen as a kid and then watched some of the last Italian ones visitng Sigonella many years later. They look like the classic Ferrari of the fighter world
I watched 24 of them on an exercise survival scramble from Schleswig-Holstein; awesome noise, smoke, etc and that was just from the ones that made it airborne, let alone the several that aborted!
AtomKraft
1st Oct 2016, 14:18
You couldn't call the RNoAFs' 104s 'Widow makers'.
I think I'm right in saying that statistically they were the safest 104 operator.
Hardly lost any, if I remember rightly- or was it fewest accidents/ losses per flying hour?
Anyway, the opposite of the Germans!;)
PapaDolmio
1st Oct 2016, 14:33
At the risk of starting something that's been done to death before. ..Not much worse loss rates than many jets of that era. The early Harriers and Lighting spring to mind. Not to mention Scimitar, Sea Vixen and a lot of American jets.
Back to thread.... Fantastic achievement from all concerned. Still one of my favourite jets, sadly I don't think we've got much chance of seeing it in the UK.
AtomKraft
1st Oct 2016, 14:40
Well.....The Scandis brought their Viggen to Leuchars a few years ago (with burner definately working!)- registered on the Swedish civvy register,
If this 104 gets a normal civilian registration, which surely must have already happened- then why not?
Here's hoping!
GeeRam
1st Oct 2016, 14:49
You couldn't call the RNoAFs' 104s 'Widow makers'.
I think I'm right in saying that statistically they were the safest 104 operator.
Hardly lost any, if I remember rightly- or was it fewest accidents/ losses per flying hour?
Anyway, the opposite of the Germans!
Belgium & Italy had a higher loss rate (as a percentage) than the Germans, and the highest IIRC was Canada at over 40%...although, I think that changes when measured as losses/per flying hour, which is where the Germans go back up the list.
Statistically, the Spanish were the safest, as they didn't loose any.... but they didn't operate them as long as most other AF's.
The Japanese had a low loss rate as well.
AtomKraft
1st Oct 2016, 14:58
The Spanish don't count!
They never bought any- and Ala 12 ( I think) only operated them for a wee while. They were then returned to the rightful owners, I expect.
There were no 104s that were 'Spanish' ones.
That said, I can't remember whose aircraft they borrowed. Think it was from the Germans???
Certainly, the one in the Museo del Aire at C-V, which is half painted as Spanish- is a Luftwaffe example- although not one that temporarily served Spain, I think!
I stand by my assertion that the Noggies were the safest.
They did have good safety record, that is correct. (I don´t know ´rank`compared to the others) A former 104 pilot I talked to claimed that part of the reason is that all pilots that flew the F-104 in Norway had ample operational F-86, F-84 or F-5 experience before coming to the F-104/CF-104 squadrons. He claimed that other nations, like Germany, had more inexperienced pilots going straight from the training pipeline to the 104.
edit: It is on the civ register, LN-STF
Treble one
1st Oct 2016, 19:11
A and C I am very grateful that some common sense can be applied to vintage aircraft like those I mentioned...
ZeBedie
1st Oct 2016, 19:45
Was this the only aircraft in the entire history of aviation where they put a safety guard on the rather sharp leading edge after landing?
TBM-Legend
1st Oct 2016, 22:48
My late friend AVM Jim Flemming RAAF flew the F-104 in the late 50's with the USAF. He loved the aircraft. Superior in his opinion to the Mirage 111 which he flew and commanded a squadron, No 75.
916 Starfighter (http://www.916-starfighter.de/Nozzle%20Failure%20at%2070.htm)
Treble one
1st Oct 2016, 23:58
AtomKraft, the CAA does not recognise the DA's of the Swedish pilots, in the new post Shoreham world.
AtomKraft
2nd Oct 2016, 08:15
111
Great.:rolleyes:
GeeRam
2nd Oct 2016, 12:27
The Spanish don't count!
They never bought any- and Ala 12 ( I think) only operated them for a wee while. They were then returned to the rightful owners, I expect.
There were no 104s that were 'Spanish' ones.
That said, I can't remember whose aircraft they borrowed. Think it was from the Germans???
Well, you could say that about the Noggies as well ;) as all theirs were supplied under MAP, as were all the ones supplied to the Danish, Greek, Jordanian, Taiwanese & Turkish AF’s.
The Spanish ones were 18 x Canadair built, and 3 x Lockheed built. All were later transferred to Greece and Turkey.
I stand by my assertion that the Noggies were the safest.
The Japanese had much better operational record than the Noggies.
The JASDF operated over 200 x F-104J’s between 1962 and 1986 and only lost 3 of them in that time!
The Noggies operated just 45 x F-104 between 1963 and 1982 and lost 12 of them.
Which is close to the same loss rate as fellow Nordic user, the Danish AF, who lost 13 out of 51 in a similar time frame.
BUT.....it's the Noggies that have put one back in the air :ok::D
AtomKraft
2nd Oct 2016, 14:21
GeeRam
Thanks for puting me right on that.:ok:
Treble one
2nd Oct 2016, 16:13
Terrible isn't it AtomKraft.....???
Finningley Boy
3rd Oct 2016, 09:15
How many did the West Germans lose out of the how many hundreds they flew? I understand proportionally fewer than the other European NATO Air Arms!?
Also, regarding the Display Authorization, surely it is irrelevant whether the Norwegians or the Swedes apply or what they fly so long as they satisfy the requirements of the relevant authority. I trust that the Viggen and Draken weren't turned down this year because of the potency and sophistication of the aircraft? But then they would surely have allowed the Tunnan and SK60 which also cancelled their UK dates. Hopefully whatever got in the way this year will have been resolved in time for next year and we will see the Swedes and their impressive line up of Cold War Sky Warriors as well as the Noggie F-104!:ok:
FB:)
AtomKraft
4th Oct 2016, 01:21
111
It's utter boleaux, but folk in the UK are used to it- or ought to be by now...
Last time I heard that lovely J-79 howl, was when a pair of F-104S arrived for the Leuchars show a few (?) years ago. Brought back memories, and its a magic sound.
Before that, I remember a guided tour of SAL one evening with my Dad, back when they were refurbishing the RCAF fleet. 104s were a common sight at Prestwick then, and featured in every visit. The chap showing us around a Starfighter under maintenance pointed to an exposed actuator in the fin- that's known as a 'Cadillac valve' he said. Costs the same as a Cadillac!
Still, the Worlds hottest fighter!:ok:
TBM-Legend
4th Oct 2016, 09:01
Take a peek at these guys - Starfighters (http://www.google.com.au/url?q=http://www.starfighters.net/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwi6kti15MDPAhWBJZQKHZxXCl4QFggUMAA&sig2=bucfJ01Rcbz4ODO2xJCq2w&usg=AFQjCNEFg02qTCUVtj2w_LJ6Q9-_w4-fBA)
redcon
4th Oct 2016, 17:15
F-104S didn't howl. Perhaps they were TF-104Gs?