# Lockheed_YF-104



## johnbr (Jul 31, 2020)

*Test 122 was conducted on a model of the Lockheed XF-104 aircraft (prototype of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter) during 9/23/1953 - 10/16/1953. The test conducted an extensive drag build-up of the configuration and determined control effectiveness of all control surfaces (including the dive brake). The model had flow-through inlets and the effect of inlet flow on aerodynamics was also studied. 
The Lockheed F-104 had its first flight on February 17 1956 and remained in service with the USAF and Air National Guard from 1958 to 1975. NASA flew a small number of F-104s for flight tests and spacecraft programs until 1994. The F-104 was designed by a Lockheed design team led by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson starting in 1952 after consultations with fighter pilots in Korea. The design approach was to wrap the lightest, most aerodynamically efficient airframe around a single powerful engine, the General Electric J79. The GE J79 engine was not available for the two XF-104 prototypes and these were designed for the Wright J65 engine which did not allow the XF-104 to reach its design speed. The next variant, the YF-104, was lengthened and fitted with the GE J79 engine. The final F-104 configuration had a strengthened fuselage and added a ventral fin and entered service in January 1958.*
Robert Sullivan

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## Zipper730 (Aug 2, 2020)

One of my favorite characteristics about the design honestly was the inlet: A high performance oversized inlets designed in such a way that increasingly more air simply went around the engine as you went faster.


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## johnbr (Aug 3, 2020)

Facebook art


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## Gnomey (Aug 21, 2020)

Good shots!


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