If I recall well, this aircraft was a bit touchy to handle and the rate of attrition and killed pilots was particulatily high in the German Luftwaffe due to a combination of factors:
-F104 Initial ejection seat had pretty poor perfomances
-F104 in the luftwaffe was primarily used as a groud attack A/C (more risky)
-many of the F104 killed pilots were young inexperienced pilots (less prone to react quickly in the case of serious trouble)
Completely different from the problems of the F105 in Vietnam were the loss incured mainly due to the architecture of the hydraulic circuit.