Not your everyday touch and go in a F-104
 

The title says it all.

http://www.aerodrome-gruyere.ch/video/touch-roll-touch/

If posted before, sorry about that.

Con- nice video.

Not seen the video before but that is what the BAF did at RAF Cottesmore air show about 1966 only not from take-off.

It did straight rolls at 20 feet down the runway then the touch-go-roll-touch-go-roll a few times. Maybe it was for that Major that they did it again.

Our Wg Cdr Ops (Base Commander equiv) shot down the taxiway to the tower to throw all the red cards he could find. Unfortunately the pilot could not understand English :}

What really worried the Wg Cdr was the 3 nuclear armed bombers off the end of the runway and the worry of a large hole on the runway.

Shouldn't there be a speech bubble coming from the guy in orange overalls at 14 seconds who walks off?
Something like:

"Bloody poncey show off"

or

"You think that's good, I can do better than that".


Nice vid, although the Starfighter looks better in either poloshed Aluminium with Stars and Bars, or Green Camoflage with Old fashioned german crosses on it.

Remind me again, how many F104s were lost?

Is that the "Mad Major" who did a fast fly-past (just below the speed of sound!) at Finningley in '69 with loads of pamphlets stuffed in his airbrakes? When he deployed said brakes the airfield was covered in confetti as the bumph was instantly shredded - we were picking it up for weeks!!

Bl**dy impressive tho' :D

Speaking of colour schemes...they tell me there's a 104 in this photo somewhere...
 

Round about the same timeframe there was a barking mad Belgian AF Warrant Officer who did "Crazy Flying" in a Mirage V, low, slow and kicking it all over the place.:uhoh:

Unless this was an authorised display (highly unlikely) a very good reason why I am glad I never flew yesteryear.

The guy doing that was quite frankly asking for it. Especially in a jet with a reputation like the F104.

Didnt Bader lose his legs by doing something remotely similar?

The dreaded "Starfighter"
 

Over the plains of North Germany in a Sioux in the days the Luftwaffe had the dreaded Starfighter.

Observer with many hours to shiny new pilot just out of Wallop.

“Starfighter 10 o’clock”

Pilot in cocky tone.

“Seen”

Pause ……………………..

Pilot in “brown trousers” mode.

“Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeet !!”

Observer now with cocky tone.

“Yip they usually come in pairs !!”

:E:E

The display in question was extremely well performed by a gifted and competant aviator. Furthermore it was an authorised display and it is somewhat crass to criticise such a professional display of the 104 which was a very fine aircraft when maintained and flown by professionals.

The Widowmaker
 

But it wasn't called the Widowmaker for nothing. Great aeroplane though, Kelly Johnson's finest.

Soddim that says it all. Used to be know what you can and can't do with your aircraft, that was a trademark of a professional. Sorry guys, but nowadays it appears to be more of "Resources Management/Risk Avoidance" game. Dark tales surround the 104, but with someone in the seat who really knew and liked the a/c, it was a pilot's plane, pure and simple. I am probably wrong about the above, so I will run for the door, or at least try.

104s
 

Didn't we lose more Lightnings as a percentage of total force deployed than the Luftwaffe did with their Starfighters?

I seem to recall some fairly spectacular Lightning displays in the 'good old days', notwithstanding.

Hence why I said

Want to comment on that chaps options if he lost his (single) donk (low level birdstrike or severe surge) at ultra low level, low energy and inverted?

Well, having far fewer eggs to protect in the basket, I suppose pointless inverted low speed flypasts would be excellent front-line training for our boys and girls. Bugger the fact that accidents per flying hour were quite frankly something I wouldnt want to return to no matter how exciting the 'buzz'.

IIRC Didn't Susse Jacobs later lose his life attempting to repeat this manoeuvre?

Yep.

The Slivers

Remember the German Navy team?
One of them did a slow flypast and caught your attention,
his mate came through underneath him at .9 (?) and frightened the s*it out of you!
Good display, never forgotten.
lsh

The Vikings.

I remember at RIAT on I think maybe their last visit, 85 or 86 ish?, when the low fast pass under the slow pass caused a moderate 'bang' as he just nudged the 'forbidden' zone :E

I believe that to be the case. The Lightnings tended to end up in RAF Dogger Bank, where no one was looking, and the pilot picked up by SAR. The F104, when it took out Herr Schmidts barn, created a lot more publicity, and casualties.

Germany lost 31.8% of its F104s in accidents, with 116 pilots killed

98 Lightnings were lost out of 337 ever built, a loss rate of 29.1%.

The Royal Navy lost 37.9% of its Sea Vixens in accidents, with 51 aircrew killed.