"Really George" flown by Col. George Laven Jr., Commanding Officer of the 479th Tactical Fighter Squadron stationed at George Air Force Base.

 

Features of this model include moving control surfaces, retractable landing gear, opening canopy, and optional ordinance. The pilot figure comes complete with removable mask and helmet.

The Appearance of the Russian MiG-15 jet fighter in the Korean War came as a shock to the US Air Force. It was every bit a match for the best aircraft they had at the time: the F-86 Sabre. The race was on to design a new air superiority fighter that would set new standards. Lockheed's brilliant designer, Clarence "Kelly" Johnston, began work in 1952 on a prototype capable of Mach 2. The design was accepted and the Starfighter entered service with the USAF in early 1958. Its design was unlike anything that had been seen before. Its superlative performance quickly led to world records in speed, altitude, and time-to-climb.

 

The Starfighter's wings were extremely small. This helped it to attain high speeds, but made slow speed handling very difficult. Full span nose flaps and large trailing edge flaps were necessary to slow the F-104 enough to make landing safe. Additionally, the trailing edge flaps had high pressure engine air directed over the top of the flaps to increase efficiency, and thereby decrease landing speed further. Another technological breakthrough was the shock cones in the engine intakes that controlled air intake to allow efficient combustion at all altitudes and speeds. The wings angled down to eliminate the dangerous "Dutch Roll" tendencies. The first production Starfighters were fitted with downward firing ejection seat, but was soon retrofitted with an upward firing C-2 seat, as it was impossible to eject on the ground, or at low altitudes.

 

The Starfighter equipped frontline USAF squadrons from 1958 to 1967. It served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, but saw very little air to air combat. In all, 2,349 F-104s were built. Less than 300 went to the USAF, the balance serving with the Air Forces of Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Jordan, Pakistan and Turkey. Its service career spanned more than 45 years, finally coming to an end in the summer of 2004, when the Italian AMI retired their Starfighters.

 

Powered by the General Electric J-79 turbojet that produced more than 15,000 lbs. of thrust in afterburner, the F-104 had a top speed of 1,450 mph, and could attain an altitude of 60,000 feet. The Starfighter was just over 58 feet long and had a span of 22 feet. Armament consisted of one fuselage mounted M61 Vulcan cannon that could fire a blistering 4000 rounds per minute, and a pair of Aim-9B Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.