F-104 "The WidowMaker"
The West German Luftwaffe received a total of 915 Starfighters and during its period of service with the German armed forces, about 270 German Starfighters were lost in accidents, just under 30 percent of the total force, killing 110 pilots, hence the nickname "The Widowmaker".
The attrition rate in German service was not all that much greater than that of the F-104 in service with several other air forces, including the United States Air Force. Whilst Canada had the unenviable record of losing over 50 percent of its 200 single-seat CF-104s in flying accidents.
At Rheindahlen one would see regular flights of pairs of F-104s flying at relatively low-level, south to north from the GAF base at Norvenich which was about half-way between Aachen and Cologne. These flights were a regular daily occurrence, about every hour or so.