F 104 Starfighter Pilots Flight Operating Instructions

Created by famed Lockheed designer Kelly Johnson, the F-104 Starfighter was designed to compete with Soviet Mig-15s. Equipped with a huge and powerful J79 engine, the aircraft could reach speeds well in excess of Mach 2.0, while its thin, trape- zoidal wing provided extremely low drag with terrific acceleration and rate of climb. This pilot¿s flight operating handbook was originally produced by the USAF. It has been slightly reformatted but is reproduced here in its entirety. It provides a fascinating view inside the cockpit of one of history¿s great planes.