Happy birthday F-104

[Nopax,thanx]

Just think we should all take a moment to celebrate 50 years of one of the last century's most evocative aircraft.....


...and be thankful that the Italian Air Force are still flying them!!!

How about a few anecdotes from Starfighter people past and present?

[Lu Zuckerman]

As a start,The F-104 did not have conventional oleo-pneumatic shock struts. The landing gear on the 104 used struts that were filled with a viscous fluid that would compress under high landing loads. The compression of the fluid would absorb the landing loads and the fluid would then decompress but it would not overshoot like a conventional landing gear. Once the aircraft hit the deck it would stick.

A similar shock strut was used on the tail landing gear of the Sikorsky S-56 (H-37).

If you really want to get into an argument try this. Conventional hydraulic fluid (red) will under a specific load compress to 58% of its static volume.

:E :EI may have twisted the above figures a bit.

The volume loss is 12-18% at 42,000 pounds pressure.

[Oscar Duece]

There's an ad running in trade-a-plane at the moment, offering some Italian 104's, plus training on type.
Quoting 40-60 hours for suitable pilots ? to convert.

Sounds like a great way to go out with a bang ......

[No comment]

MOTF or DamienB... either of you able to put a happy birthday pic on here of the Widowmaker? (Preferably not in widowmaking mode...)

One of you must have a good shot somewhere!

[hjc]

How's this:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hjcurtis/CaptainSim104extra1.jpg

(I cheated, mind you!)

[Tempsford]

I have just a hint of a connection with the F104 or the CF104 to be more exact. Being a 'forces brat' is a name attributed to many thousands of kids. I was in one of a few British families that were attached to the then RCAF at 2 Wing Grostenquin in France and 3 Wing Zweibrucken in Germany.
We were there because my father was working for CAE installing the CF104 simulator. On arrival at Grostenquin, I can remember seeing a DC3 with a large probe on the front. I was told that this was to familiarise crews with the CF104 nose. I believe that they had been flying Sabres (may have been CF100 - can't remember) up til then.
On the Station there were also Bristol 170 and Expeditor. Grostenquin is still there albeit in a somewhat run down state. When Mr DeGaulle asked the foreign forces to leave in the early 60's we move across the border to Zweibrucken in Germany. My school was adjacent to the runway and I can often remember the considerable noise from the CF104 making the teacher suspend lessons to wait for the a/c to depart.
I can also remember going to friends houses and seeing a control colum mounted on a plaque. These were mementos of pilots who had 'banged out' of CF104 and I can remember seeing a couple.
We also went to see friends at 4 Wing Baden Solingen which was another CF104 Base. They were fascinating times for a young kid and times of great adventure . What do I remember most? I can remember the Stations being 'very busy' during the Cuban Missile Crisis and going to the US Bases as Ramstein, Kaiserslauten, Frankfurt and the like beacuse their PX's were better,and oh yes the Astra Cinema at the Base on Saturday mornings.
As I said, only a tenuous link to the CF104, but one that I will never forget.

Tempsford