The F-104 Starfighter was engineered around extreme speed and climb performance, using very small wings and a powerful engine to minimize drag. These choices delivered exceptional acceleration and ...

The F-104’s safety record was, frankly, atrocious. Lightweight. Simple. Fast. The F-104 Starfighter was designed, in a time of increasing aircraft complexity and size, to be a straightforward, ...

What You Need to Know: The Lockheed F-104 “Starfighter,” developed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson’s Skunk Works, was a Cold War marvel known for its Mach-2.0 speed and sleek, missile-like design.

The U.S. got its first look, last week, at one of the world’s fastest jet fighters as the Air Force lifted the security ban on pictures of Lockheed’s lightweight F-104 Starfighter. Instead of sharply ...

The Starfighter operated inside an unusually narrow performance band. High wing loading and minimal lift margins meant pilots constantly balanced between stall and structural limits. At altitude, ...