When we look at the term Air War, we usually look at prime examples of the battles of WW 2, or the Air War over Korea and even what we saw in the Gulf War. Very little discussion has happened over WW1, and there are lots of misnomers about WW1 as a whole from a historical perspective. We tend to focus on cavalry charges, the first use of tanks, the brutal trench war far on the Eastern Front. But WW1 was a precursor to modern day air tactics. Out of all of the technologies used in war, nothing progressed or evolved faster than the use of heavier then air aircraft and their utility in combat then in WW1.
Its hard to believe that by the arrival of WW1, there was only a 11-year separation from the first flight of the Wright Brothers that lasted about 120 feet at an altitude of 10 feet. Since then Airplanes had made a slow and steady progression, but were still basically kites with engines.
As in every war there were disagreements about the use of Airplanes on the modern battlefield but the use of Zeppelins for long range reconnaissance and bombing. Airplanes were too light and too short ranged. However, in the first months of WW1 aircraft were being used for photo recon, artillery spotting using primitive radios and contact reporting. The age of armed combat in the air was about to arrive.
It is interesting to note that the first instance of aerial combat didn’t happen until 4 months into the war, and it was a ramming incident between a Russian aircraft and a Austrian aircraft killing all involved. In the initial stages of the war there was a certain amount of chivalry as pilots would salute or wave at each other and continue their way. Eventually, aircraft were seen as a threat due to early bombing efforts, and their job gathering intelligence, and aircraft crews began to arm themselves with pistols, grenades and grappling hooks. The first instance of a machine gun armed plane entering combat was August 14, 1914 after that, all sides scrambled to arm their planes. We then entered the rapid evolution of aerial combat technology, and to get an understanding of this, its important to note some of the more interesting technology leap forwards.
Machine Gun Synchronization – Early on in the war there was a major problem with machine gun sighting. There were choices, they could either go with the early concept of the pusher engine where the propellor and engine were mounted behind the pilot so he could aim and fire forward, which couldn’t provide the power and speed needed, or mount the machine gun on the top wing over the propellor to fire forward which was inaccurate and dangerous as early use would require the pilot of gunner to stand up in the plane to fire. But one of the biggest leaps forward was the Synchronization gear which used predictive gearing to allow bullets to be fired through the forward propellor, it was patented by Franz Schneider and first appeared on the Fokker Scourge which allowed the Germans to gain early air dominance of the war.
Aircraft design – Because it was the early day of design WW1 was almost seen as a laboratory for evolution, and because of that we saw a lot of different designs, from tri-wings and bi-wings to mono-wing fighter designs. We also saw things that we take for granted now since as engine throttling, at the start of WW1 Pilots would either manually adjust their fuel mixture or turn their engines on and off to adjust their speed.
Gun and Bomb Sights – At the start of the war there were no bomb sights, instead pilots would manually toss small bombs over the side of the aircraft, by the end of the war we had bomb sights that were roughly equivalent to their WW2 counterparts.
Airborne Radios – At the star of the war there were no radios in planes, and either the pilot would use flags, or return to base, or employ homing pigeons, by the end of the war primitive radios could be mounted on planes using morse codes.
Engine Evolution – It goes without saying, that engines became more compact and more powerful through the war allowing for planes to maneuver more freely.
So now we need to set the stage. Imagine yourself as a pilot in the German or British or French or Russian army air forces. You basically wake up in the morning, your probably young, and excited that you are not fighting in the mud. You have a morning breakfast and a strong cup of coffee or tea and stride out to your aircraft. You can hear the canvas moving on the airframe. You get into a very simple cockpit and do a quick check of your guns and maneuvering surfaces. Then your crew chief wishes you luck and spins your propellor.
Your engine catches, its not a purr, its rough until you adjust the fuel mixture, even then your whole canvas covered contraction moans and creaks. Its cold outside and your head is exposed so you cinch your scarf around your mouth.
You move your plane to the start of the air strip and advance the throttle. A lot of thoughts go through your head. Maybe you’ve surpassed the average life expectancy of a pilot with by the end of WW1 had hit a low of 73 hours of flight time. Is today your day? Are you coming back? It’s a beautiful day, the sun is just so, is it your last. You advance your simple throttle, and your plane bounces down the strip, you take another look for canvas tears. Your engine coughs and threatens to stall as you pull back on your stick. Your plane doesn’t leap into the air as much as it reluctantly leaves the ground. You push the throttle forward and look down the map taped to your knee. The enemy is about 100 miles away about an hour and a half of flight time. You turn your plane, and it fights you, the wings threaten to roll, and you stomp on the rudder pedal, and you can hear the cables that hold the wings creak and scream. But you get on a rough heading. You wave to your flight leader who is counting planes to make sure that everyone survived the take off, the landing is another thing. Then he points forward and your flight heads to its destiny, you will have a lot of time to think about your family and friends before you get there. If you get there.
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Manfred Albrecht von Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892, in Kleiburg near Breslau of Lower Silesia which is now Poland. He was the second child and the first son of Albrecht Freiherr von Richtofen and Kunigunde von Schickfuss und Neudorff. Manfred had an older sister Ilsa and 2 younger brothers Lothar and Karl Boiko.
In 1895 the family moved to a villa in the nearby town of Schweidnitz, where he learned to hunt from his Uncle Alexander. However, Manfred decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a career military officer. At the age of 11, Manfred entered the Wahlstatt cadet school in Berlin.
Manfred was a poor student who received bad grades and had poor discipline; however, he excelled at gymnastics.
“As a little boy of eleven I entered the Cadet Corps. I was not particularly eager to become a Cadet, but my father wished it. So my wishes were not consulted.” – Manfred von Richthen
At the age 17 he entered the Senior Cadet Academy at Lichterfelde, and then completed his academic career at the Berlin War Academy. After graduating, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant and stationed in Miletich which is now in Poland and he joined the cavalry like most young officers.
At the start of WW1 Lt. von Richthofen was stationed on Germany’s eastern border, but as losses mounted in the West he was transferred and participated in the charge into Belgium and France. Manfred’s regiment was attached to an infantry unit and Manfred conducted reconnaissance patrols.
However, history shows that the German offensive was blunted outside of Paris and both sides dug in leading to the trench warfare that was synonymous with the Western Front. When that happened, the Cavalry was eliminated as horses had no places in the trenches and Manfred was transferred to the signals Corp where he laid telephone wires and delivered dispatches.
Life in the trenches was frustrating for him and he looked up and realized that airplanes and not horses were the future of reconnaissance, yet he learned that it would take months of training to become a pilot and the war might be over by the time he got his wings, so instead of flight school Richthofen requested to be transferred to the air service as a observer. In May 1915 he transferred to the Number 7 air Replacement Station to join the observer training program.
During his first flight, Richthofen was terrified, he had no sense of location and was unable to give the pilots direction, but he continued to study and learn and he learned map reading, how to drop bombs, locate enemy troops and sketch maps.
He eventually passed his training and returned to the Eastern front as an observer, after several months he was transferred to the Mail Pigeon Detachment, the code name for a secret unit that was going to bomb England.
Richthofen got his first kill in Sept of 1915 when he shot down a enemy plane using a handheld machine gun, but was informed that kills in enemy lines didn’t count.
The young Lt. fate was changed on Oct 1, 1915, when he was riding a plane headed for Metz and he met Germany’s most famous fighter pilot Lieutenant Oswald Boelcke, frustrated by his own failed attempts to shoot down a plane Richthofen asked for advice.
"Good heavens, it indeed is quite simple. I fly in as close as I can, take good aim, shoot, and then he falls down." – Oswald Boelcke
While this wasn’t exactly the advice that Richthofen was looking for it planted an idea in his head. Boelcke flew a single seat Fokker Eindecker, where the pilot flew the plane and shot the guns, Richthofen was hooked on the idea of becoming a pilot.
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A list of fundamental maneuvers formulated by Oswald Boelke Germany’s first and foremost flying ace. And the father of modern flying tactics that is used to this day.
Try to secure advantages before attacking. If possible, keep the sun behind you.
Always carry through an attack when you have started it.
Fire only at close range, and only when your opponent is properly in your sights.
Always keep your eye on your opponent, and never let yourself be deceived by ruses.
In any form of attack, it is essential to assail your enemy from behind.
If your opponent dives on you, do not try to evade his onslaught, but fly to meet it.
When over the enemy's lines never forget your own line of retreat.
For the Staffel (squadron): Attack on principle in groups of four or six. When the fight breaks up into a series of single combats, take care that several do not go for the same opponent.
Richthofen asked his friend George Zeumer to teach him to fly, by Oct 10, 1915, Zeumer decided that his friend was ready for his first solo flight.
“Suddenly it was no longer an anxious feeling," Richthofen wrote, "but, rather, one of daring...I was no longer frightened." – Manfred von Richthofen
Richthofen persevered and on Dec 25th he passed all three of his fighter pilot examinations and was awarded a pilot’s certificate. He was then assigned to the 2nd Fighting Squadron near Verdun and collected another non credited kill because the plane went down in enemy territory with no witnesses. The 2nd was then sent to the Eastern Front to provide air support against the Russians.
Fate intervened again as Oswald Boelcke visited the young Lieutenant, Boelcke’s brother Wilheim was Richthofen’s commander and Oswald had taken a liking to him and recruited him to join his new group the Jagdstaffel 2 (hunting Squadron that was on the front in France.
On Sept 17, 2917th Richthofen got his first chance to fly in a Air Patrol in a squadron that was led by Boelcke. Richthofen got into a battle with a British plane that he described as a “dark colored barge” and eventually shot the plane down, Richthofen in his excitement landed his plan next to the wreck, in a preview of a later behavior of collecting trophies. He found that the Plane’s observer: Lt T. Rees was dead, and the pilot B.F. Morris had survived but later died of his injuries. The future Red Baron though had his of many kills. As was customary Richthofen was gifted a engraved silver mug to commemorate his first aerial victory, Richthofen ordered a 2 inch silver trophy and had it engraved with “1 Vickers 2-17-9-16” the first number was his kill count, Vickers was the type of plane, the third number was the number of crewmen and the last number was the date.
As his kill count increased Richthofen decided that he’d make every 10th victory cup twice as large as the others, and as disturbing as it sounds, he became obsessed with collecting souvenirs, he would land next to his victim and take trophies such as plane parts, but he would also take the canvas serial number plate. He would then send them home to add to his collection.
Later in the war, the number of deaths that he caused had a sobering effect on him, in addition because of the shortage of metal and especially silver, it was harder to order trophies, his last trophy was for his 60th kill.
On Oct 28 1916 the sobering reality of war hit the young pilot, his friend and mentor and commander Oswald Boelcke who was the greatest German Ace at the time with 40 kills, had the wing of his aircraft clipped by squadron mate Erwin Bohme’s plane, it was a minor touch, but WW1 planes were fragile and Boelcke spiraled to the ground, in WW1 most pilots didn’t wear parachutes as they were heavy and commanders considered their use to be cowardly. He desperately tried to regain control but one of his wings snapped off and Boelcke was killed when his plane slammed into the ground.
Boelcke was a national hero in Germany and the entire country mourned his loss. Germany needed a hero, but Richthofen wasn’t ready to take the mantel, however he continued to make kills at a prolific rate. He made his 8th and 9th kills in November, when he made his 10th kill he expected to receiver the Pour le Merite (Blue Max) for bravery in combat, but the criteria had changed and a pilot wouldn’t receive it until they made the 10th kill.
As he continued to rack up kills, he decided to paint his plane red.
"One day, for no particular reason, I got the idea to paint my crate glaring red. After that, absolutely everyone knew my red bird. If fact, even my opponents were not completely unaware." - Manfred von Richthofen
Richthofen understood the value of mental warfare as well as physical combat, he hoped to make his enemies fear the sight of his red plane and become hesitant. It was rumored that the British and French fliers put a bounty on his head, they gave him several nicknames, such as “Red Devil”, “Red Falcon”, “The Jolly Red Baron”. The German’s simply called him “The Red Battle Flier”.
Jan 12, 2017, he achieved his 16th kill, and was finally awarded the Blue Max. Two days later he was given command of Jagdstaffel 11.
April 1917 was “Bloody April” after several months of terrible weather condition that left pilots on both sides on the ground the weather changed, and the air came back into focus. At this point in the war the Germans had an advantage in the war in terms of the locations of their air strips and Aircraft. The British had lost 4 times as many planes and experienced pilots losing 245 planes to Germany’s 66, In April Richthofen shot down 21 planes bringing his kill count to 52 or over 20% of Germany’s total kills. He passed Boelcke’s record of 40 kills, making Richthofen Germany’s ace of aces.
He was now recognized as a hero in Germany and the face of the war effort. Postcards were printed with his image and stories of his kills like baseball cards. Germany in fear of losing their hero sent him on a few weeks of leave leaving Richthofen’s brother Lothar in charge of Jasta 11. He went on a tour meeting Kaiser Wilheim II, and Germany’s top generals, he spoke to youth groups and at schools and engaged in social circles with the wealthy.
During this time off, Germany’s war planners and propagandists asked Richthofen to write his memories which was published under the name Der rote Kampfflieger (The Red Battle Flier). In June of 1917 a rested Richthofen returned to his squadron.
The German Air Commanders at that point decided to change the structure of air squadrons. Jastas 4, 6, 10 and 11 were joined together in a early version of an airwing and the formation was called Jagdgeschwander 1 (Fighter Wing 1) under Richthofen, it became known as the Flying Circus.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Made up of 5 squadrons of between 12 and 16 planes each. The Flying Circus gained its name from its pilots adopting their Commanders decision to paint his aircraft bright colors. The Pilots were permitted to paint their fighters with bright color leading to a patchwork look that was both an intimidation and a calling call that the best of the best had arrived. The Flying Circus really gained its name due to the mobility of the Wing as it travelled from airfield to airfield setting up tents like a modern circus.
With the German advantage in aircraft and numbers the Fighter Wing was designed to overwhelm the British and French fighter formations. While a Squadron could realistically only put 6 to 8 aircraft up at a time, a Fighter Wing would put up 4x as many. Tactically, it was a brute force solution to the age-old question of what you do when you outnumber your enemy.
The Flying Circus was home to some of the greatest pilots in air war history, from its formation through to November 1918 it claimed 644 kills while losing 52 pilots. Its last commander was Herman Goring who himself had 22 victories but was extremely unpopular with his men after replacing pilots such as the Richthofen brothers and Wilhelm Reinhard.
The Planes of the Red Baron
While most stories about Manfred von Richthofen show him fighting the tri-winged bright red Fokker DR1. He flew several aircraft.
Halberstadt CL II 14207
This was a German 2-seater observation aircraft, and the plane that Richthofen first took to the air with as an observer. It was also the preferred plane of one of Germany’s greatest aces in Oswald Bolcke. It was a solid performer with a top speed of 103 mph and a maximum ceiling of 16,000 ft. It was armed with 1 7.92 machine gun on the font and a 7.92 m014 ring mounted machine gun for the observer.
Albatross D.II
A solid performer, it had a maximum speed of 103 mph and had a fast climb and dive rate. It’s per wing was moved forward giving the pilot greater visibility, its major flaw was a bottom mounted radiator which leaked heavily due to gravity. It was armed with 2 8 mm Schwarzlose machine guns.
Albatross D.III
This was an improved D.II, it was structurally stronger due to V shaped Wing Spars which made it a better turner. Its radiator was moved to the top of the plane. It also had an extended upper wing to give it greater flight stability. It was a faster climber then the DII, the DIII could reach 9800 feet a minute faster then the DII. It had a maximum speed of 117 mph and carried the same armament as the DII.
Fokker F1/DR1
A direct answer to the British Sopwith Camel which outclassed the German Albatross line of fighters. The Triplane was the answer in terms of maneuverability and speed, and it features a nailed-on canvas surface instead of stitched on. It featured a maximum speed of 110 mph, a service ceiling of 20,000 feet and a rate of climb of 1,120 ft per minute. It wasn’t ordered in great quantities due to workman ship issues and the fact that the wings tended to snap off. It was armed with 2 7.92 Spandau machine guns.
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Things continued to go well for Richthofen, and he continued to rack up kills, however in July of 2017 things took a serious turn, while he was attacking several pusher planes a lucky bullet struck him in the head.
"Suddenly there was a blow to my head! I was hit! For a moment I was completely paralyzed...My hands dropped to the side, my legs dangled inside the fuselage. The worst part was that the blow on the head had affected my optic nerve and I was completely blinded. The machine dived down." – Manfred von Richthofen.
He lost control of his plane, and it spiraled towards the ground, but he regained part of his vision at 2,600 feet and he managed to land his plane, but he had a bullet hole in his head, and he was kept from the front for 2 months until August but would suffering from frequent and crippling head aches for the rest of his life.
As the war progressed into 1918, and Germany suffered a severe reversal in the war that pointed to a defeat, Richthofen continued to fly and rack up kills as he neared his 80’th victory. On a personal side he continued to suffer from headaches, his squadron mates noticed that he had grown sullen and depressed, and he flew more recklessly. His superiors in wanting to protect their national hero and worried about his state of mind encouraged him to retire but the Baron refused.
On April 21, 1918, the day after he had shot down his 80th enemy aircraft, he climbed into his bright red triplane and took to the sky. At 10:30 AM there had been a report of several British Aircraft near the front, and Richthofen was taking a group up to drive them off.
The Germans spotted the British Aircraft, and a swirling dog fight ensued. Richthofen saw a single British Aircraft bolt out of the melee which was flown by Canadian 2nd Lt Wilfred “Wop” May who was in his first combat flight. May’s commanding officer was Canadian Captain Arthur Roy Brown, he had ordered his rookie pilot to watch but not fight, but May ignored his orders and had rejoined the fight until his guns jammed. May bolted from the fight and headed for home.
To Richthofen this should have been an easy kill and followed May, Brown noticed the bright red triplane chasing the rookie pilot and decided to break from the main fight to help the rookie.
By this time May noticed that the Baron had taken up the 6 position or death cone and he panicked. He flew low over the tree’s and then over the Moriancourt Ridge. Richthofen anticipated this and swung around to cut May off.
Brown caught up and started firing as they passed over the Ridge, several Australian ground troops fired up at the German plane, which spiraled into the ground.
The Australians reached the plane first, and realized who the pilot was, they ravaged the plane, but the Red Baron was dead, he was 25 years old, His solo piloting career had spanned over a short 2 years, and he had official shot down 80 aircraft and had 2 unrecognized kills to his name.
The number 3 Australian Flying Corps was the closest to the village of Entente where the Baron was shot down. Its commanding officer Major David Blake took custody of the body and knowing that Richthofen was a respected enemy organized a full military funeral. He was buried in the cemetery in the village of Bertangles the next day. Six members of the number 3 acted as pall bearers and a honor guard provided a traditional gun salute. Nearby air squadrons presented memorial gifts.
“To our gallant and worth foe” – Funeral wreath provided by British fliers.
Eventually Richthofen’s body was repatriated and reburied multiple times, eventually resting at the Richthofen family plot in Wiesbaden in 1975. He was accorded a state funeral in 1922, and then had a second state funeral held by the Nazi’s where they erected a massive tombstone with his last name. He would have hated the Nazi’s.
Who killed the Red Baron?
As a young Canadian, we learned World War 1 history and Canada’s roles in it, and one of the standout stories was about the Canadian Arthur Roy Brown who flew for the RAF who shot down the greatest fighter pilot of all times.
The first point that I would like to bring up is that Richthofen had recently returned to the air after being hit in the head with a bullet while still suffering from crippling and frequent headaches, he had also been described by his squadron mates as sullen, depressed and withdrawn, its likely that he had suffered from a serious enough concussion that lead to an altered mental state. This could have led to the change in his flying style where he was described as reckless. It could also be a indication of PTSD and that Richthofen living in incredible pain and being pushed to retire simply had a death wish.
Richthofen lived by his mentors Boelcke’s dicta, the most crucial one was not to take unnecessary risks, on the day of his death even though he had cautioned his pilots not to fly too close to the ground due to ground fire, he ignored his own advice drawing ground fire. He also showed target fixation when pursuing May, he failed to do the most basic thing, especially in WW1 air combat and that was to continually check his six. Instead, he allowed Brown to slide right into his kill slot.
It also theorized that due to the wind speed that day, Richthofen lost track of where he was and pursued May into enemy territory where ground fire would be especially murderous.
The other question is the who. Who fired the fatal shot? There were no gun cameras in WW1, There wasn’t really a witness to the kill shot, May was in front and Brown was in the 6 spot, the ground troops wouldn’t have had the perspective to see which bullet made the kill. What we do know is that the bullet that finished off the Red Baron entered his body under his right arm pit and exited next to his left nipple. It’s speculated that Brown was positioned behind, above and to the left of Richthofen, which would have made the fatal bullet an impossible shot. Its also calculated that Richthofen continued to pursue May for two minutes after Brown fired, while the bullet wound to Richthofen would have killed him instantly.
From a ground perspective there are three possibilities with the most intriguing being shots fired by Cedric Popkin’s a machine gunner from Australia who had the opportunity to at the Baron twice, with his first opportunity coming as the Baron flew straight at him and the second opportunity as the Baron was traveling to the left of Popkins position.
Its likely that ground fire killed the Red Baron, and the likely hood was that a fluke shot killed the greatest pilot of all time. However, I’m going to conclude that an anonymous gunner in a FE 2d two seat fighter from 20 Squadron RFC RAF who were on a reconnaissance mission on July 6, 1917 killed the Red Baron, the rest was academic.
Conclusions
When we look back of the life and career of Manfred von Richthofen it reads of a much older steely eyed veteran, but he accomplished everything that made him famous in a 2-year period and died when he was 25. From his first struggles in learning to fly where he crashed his plane on his first solo flight, he became the greatest fighter pilot that the world had ever known, and that was in a day and age when your plane was more likely to fall apart due to the frailty and poor workmanship then enemy bullets.
The Red Baron was not a dog fighting genius, but he and his mentor can be considered the fathers of modern fighter tactics that are used to this day. He might not have flown a flashy style but he was confounded tactical, which meant that his tactics forced other pilots to panic and make mistakes.
His name to this day still is spoken with great respect and reverence, and he never broke the rules of chivalry that existed in the WW1 air war.
From a historical point of view, his name, the name of his mentor and the Flying Circus are probably the most talked about and remembered parts of a brutal war that was not as much about heroics as survival.
Its unlikely that his victory count will ever be surpasses. At his time you weren’t really considered an ace until you reach 16 kills and 40 kills would get you the ace of aces tag. In modern jet combat a pilot that hits 5 kills is an ace and 10 kills is a double ace. But it was a different time and place.
He was a quiet man who wrote one of the best war time autobiographies that I’ve ever read, who collected trophies and painted his fighter a bright red color. He became a symbol of the dissatisfaction that eventually catches up to every man that goes to war for adventure and prestige and then gets eaten from the inside out. But to the world and Germany he was a steely eyed indestructible and feared opponent, until he fell.
“My dear Excellency! I have not gone to war to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose.” – Manfred von Richthofen
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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What happens when you design a jet that is the opposite of the normal design logic at the time, is so intriguing that its mass adopted by 15 air forces in the world and kills more pilots than an enemy air force could ever hope to do.
You get the F-104 Starfighter, a short, winged rocket that at times made the argument that it couldn’t possibly fly and defied every conventional understanding of fighter design at the time.
Origins
A part of the United States Airforce infamous Century series that emphasized advanced performance and avionics as well as other experimental characteristics.
The F-100 Super Sabre was the first US fighter/bomber that could exceed the speed of sound in level flight. The CF-101 Voodo exceeded 1,000 mph, the F-102 Delta Dagger was designed using the transonic area rule which was a design to reduce drag between Mach .75 and 1.2, the F-104 was the first combat aircraft capable of Mach 2 flight. All the Century fighters could carry nuclear air to air missiles to destroy Soviet Bombers.
Development
The F-104 was the brainchild of Clarence L Johnson, the VP of Engineering and research at Lockheed’s Skunk Works, their advanced Development program which was responsible some of the most advanced Military aircraft that the world has ever seen from the P-38 Lightning, to the SR-71 to the F-35.
In 1951 Johnson went on a fact-finding mission in Korea visiting US Air Force bases to interview pilots about what they wanted in a fighter craft. During the War in Korea the American’s got a nasty surprise when the Soviet’s released Mig 15 which outclassed the F-86 Sabre, a severely over engineered fighter. The Pilots wanted a small simple high-performance high-speed aircraft, with high the ability to operate at high altitudes.
Johnson returned the States and started working on the design; after reviewing over 100 designs, he settled a small simple craft that was built around a extremely powerful General Electric General Electric J79 Turbo Jet. The F-104 was built around a different design philosophy. They basically wrapped an aircraft around the engine instead of designing a plane and dropping an engine in it.
The F-104 came through a competition that involved 3 additional aircraft and became the United States Airforce’s next generation light fighter bomber.
However, there was a problem, the J-79 wasn’t ready, and two prototypes were built using the smaller Wright J-65 engine. The Prototype first attempted to take to the air on Feb 28, 1954, but the flight lasted about 5 feet, then on March 4th its official first test flight only lasted 21 minutes due to Landing gear problems. Several weeks later the second prototype was destroyed due to a gun firing trial when the bottom ejection hatch blew out causing the pilot to eject, it almost felt like a precursor to things to come. The remaining prototype was accepted by the USAF.
With the completion of the J-79 engine the X-104 went through a significant design change as the body was lengthened to house the engine, and the air intakes were widened, and the frame was strengthened. A further 16 aircraft were ordered, but one of the prototype aircraft lost control and tumbled forcing the pilot to eject. Because of this an additional bottom mounted fin was added to give greater stability at supersonic speeds.
As was the case with the century series planes, they all attempted to make a generational leap forward in some way, some successfully like the F-3H Demon which was literally a F-101 enhanced Voodoo which was an attempt to create a modular multirole fighter and eventually evolved to become the F-4 Phantom II, Or the F-102 Delta Dagger which was met to be the ultimate Soviet Bomber Interceptor. Or the F-104 which was met to be a light high altitude multi-role fighter that could travel at Mach Jesus Christ. The problem with making these generational leaps is that you’re making a lot of theoretical guesses and safety goes out the window.
Design and Appearance
With the F-104, when you take a walk around it, it’s a major departure from the fighter jets of the time. For one thing it’s an extremely long and streamlined shape to house its huge engine. It had stubby thin wings with a leading edge that was so sharp that when it was in maintenance it used what could be described as a skate guard to protect aircrewmen from taking their heads off if they forgot to duck under the wing. Instead of the traditional rear fin and rudder configuration, it had a tail assembly that more resembled what you see on a private jet to keep the fin elevators out of the way of the high-speed air going over the trapezoid wings. With most fighters and bombers, the wings are used for fuel storage as well as you know, flying. But with the F-104 all the fuel was stored in the body of the jet. The wings are not swept or delta winged but based on a trapezoid which at the time was the considered to be the best shape for high altitude Super sonic flight. The Wings also canted down at a 10-degree angle to improve roll control during high-speed maneuvering.
If you looked under the cockpit you’d see a unique hatch, in early F-104’s they had a downwards ejecting pilots’ seat because it felt that using a traditional upward ejecting system would lead to the pilot being sliced like sushi as it was iffy if the pilot would be able to clear the T-tail. This downward ejection concept created a problem at low altitude ejections which would be equivalent to a person spreading strawberry jam on toast. Eventually the F-104 was updated with an upwards ejection seat featuring the Mk-7 ejection seats.
Performance
When you put all this together, you got a fighter that would set multiple records including speed at 1404 mph, altitude at 103,000 feet and rate of climb. However, there was a trade off as the F-104 was a notoriously poor turner for a fighter and could only handle a 7 G turn. A Mig 25 could pull up to 8.5 g’s and F-4 could pull 9 g’s. so, it was likely that the F-104 was going to lose any kind of turning fight, and because the F-104 was equipped with a short to medium range Aim-9 sidewinder and a M-61 canon, it was at a disadvantage.
Avionics and Sensors
The initial F-104’s used a basic targeting radar that had a range up to 22 miles which suited the use of the Aim-9 sidewinder. The issues were that it was useless at any altitude below 3000 feet as it couldn’t defeat ground clutter returns. While the fire radar could reach out to 22 miles, it could also only effectively track enemies within 10 miles, and as we talked about before this is knife fighting range and the F-104 was not a great turning dog fighter.
Later, the export versions of the F-104 got more effective radars with longer ranges and the ability to look down and fire down which worked well when the F-104 was upgraded to fire the Aim-7 sparrow, they were also equipped with a ground strike fire control system.
Going Into Production
In the late 1950’s at the early stages of the cold war, the United States Airforce was caught in a web of every changing priority as it felts like new jet designs were coming out around the world daily and the mission requirements continually changed and the F-104 became a victim of that.
Originally designed for air superiority, the mission changed as the Soviet Union was perceived to be winning the Bomber gap. In the late 1950’s the Soviets were producing many M-3 Bisons a medium range high speed jet bomber, the Soviets were also pumping out huge numbers of the Tu-95 Bear quad engine turbo prop long range bomber which is still in service today. The Soviets were also pumping out the Tu-16 Badger.
Because of this bomber gap the mission changed the Airforce was suddenly more interested in a high-speed high-altitude Interceptors but the F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart were taking a long time to develop, so the F-104 was pushed into a job that it was poorly suited to due to its short range missiles and fire control system.
Because of the new requirement for interceptors over Air Superiority and issues with the F-104 engines that led to the grounding of the Plane, the United States started losing interest in their mass purchase of the F-104, they reduced their order from about 720 planes down to about 170 fighters with the US inventory eventually expanding to about 290 fighters. But the F-104 production run would eventually become extremely prodigious due to the export market for a relatedly inexpensive and simple light fighter plane with 2500 Star Fighters eventually being built. After a 10-year service life, the F-104 was deemed as inadequate as a Air Superiority Fighter and as an interceptor and in 1969 the last F-104 was retired by the United States Airforce.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Even with the fading interest by the US Airforce in the F-104, it had attracted attention by 15 air forces around the world who were looking for a multi-role plane. The most significant in terms of the F-104 history were the air forces of Pakistan, Germany and Canada. The F-104 was about to become the United States premiere export fighter rivalling the F-5 freedom fighter and the 5th generation F-35. It was also going to receive a notoriety that would make the Starfighter a legend in the fighter community for all the wrong reasons.
Pakistan
Pakistan became the first non-Nato country to use F-104’sas they purchased a squadron of 12 F-104a’s and 2 F104B’s. As part of the adoption the 104a’s were refitted with the m-61 20 mm gun that the USAF had removed to make room for a improved radar system. Pakistan also used the more advanced GWE j70 11 engine. Which made it a lighter fighter with a better weight to thrust ratio.
During the 1965 India-Pakistan war the PAF used the F-104’s as high altitude interceptors and as a night fighter using an improved fire control system that gave it a look down shoot down capability. However, the Indian Airforce learned to send their bombers in at low altitudes in the ground clutter forcing 104 pilots to skim the earth at 300 feet and point their radars upwards. On Sept 6, 1965 the F-104 notched its first ever combat kill shooting down a Dussault Mystere with a side winder mission.
In the 1971 India Pakistan war the F-104’s mission had changed, and they were used for deep strikes on Indian airfields and radar sites.
In 1972 the US placed an arms embargo on both India and Pakistan even though India was a client of the Soviet Union and didn’t use much in the way of US equipment. It crippled Pakistan though and they couldn’t maintain their F-104’s and phased them out.
Germany
Germany became a major purchaser of the F-104 purchasing 916 of the jets to act as a multirole fighter, providing air superiority, high altitude interception and ground attack capabilities as part of the Lockheed Martin deal of the century where they licensed the 104 to local manufacturers boasted by Lockheed Martins use of bribery to close deals. When Germany purchased the F-104G in 1961 there was a rumored 10-million-dollar bribe to the Germany Defense Minister and his party. The investigation was eventually dropped, then reopened in 1978, however Lockheed was also implicated in bribing government officials with Italy and their purchases of C-130’s, Japan and their F-104 purchase, and various other air forces.
Germany was looking for an all-weather capable multirole platform and even though the F-104 was not an all weather nor was designed to be an interceptor or low altitude ground attack fighter, Lockheed Martin made a lot of promises. The F-104G was called the Super Starfighter, was given a more powerful engine with a larger tail for great rudder stability, a improved all weather radar system, and a larger drag chute. It could carry heavy weapons including special packages or a 2000 pound nuclear weapon.
Problems started occurring right away. The F-104 was never designed to be a low level bomber, and adding heavy bomb packages effected the flight characteristics. The other problem was with the pilots. When West Germany reformed their air force, the pilots that returned were not used to flying a highly technical advanced Mach Holy Crap fighter, that was intensely difficult to fly. German Pilots learned that you had to fly every inch of the aircraft and it was very unforgiving. The combination of technical errors and pilot errors caused 292 of the F-104G’s to crash killing 116 pilots.
In the United States Airforce, a pilot had to have nearly 1500 flight hours before even being considered for transitioning to the F104, the average German pilot had about 400 hours of flight time and mostly in slower less technologically advanced fighters. When you combine it with the flight issues that we’ll cover later, using the F-104 in a role that it wasn’t made for and the add on of advanced and distracting avionics it led to the F-104 gaining the nickname the Widow Maker. It was also clear when reviewing the F-104’s service record it was a cursed aircraft, it suffered a high number of bird strikes, pilots losing their special awareness due to weather and other innocent incidents that led to classes.
One of the lead pilots in the German Airforce was effectively fired for blistering the German Government for picking the F-104, the whole line was effectively grounded due to safety concerns and eventually, phased out in favor of the Phantom II and the Tornado.
Canada
At the end of the 1960’s Canada decided to replace the excellent F-86 Sabre, and as part of their list of requirements and due to their commitment to NATO started looking for a fighter that could act as a Nuclear Strike and reconnaissance platform, in combination with their CF-101 Voodoo interceptors that could fire the unguided nuclear tipped Genie rockets.
In the face of a Soviet invasion of Europe, the F-104 could be counted on to drop nukes on strategic road crossings, railway crosses, logistics center and armored formations.
After a competition that features such planes as the Dassault Mirage II3, the Gruman Super Tiger, the Northrop N-156 (F-5), the F-104 was selected over the F-105 Thunder Chief which the Airforce preferred. However, the F-104 was the cheaper version and was selected.
The fact that the Canadian Government had hamstrung the selection process by insisting that the plane be manufactured in Canada had helped the F-104 due to Lockheed Martin licensing the manufacture of the Starfighter to Canadair in Montreal.
The F-104 now designated at the CF-104 refitted with an air to ground attack packages with specialized equipment needed to carry nuclear weapons. And had the under carriage and landing gear re-enforcement.
Canadair would go on to fill Canada’s order for 200 CF-104’s as well as building 140 F-104G’s for the German Airforce.
8 Squadrons were sent to Europe to fulfil the role of Nuclear Strike aircraft and reconnaissance Aircraft, in the event of war, they would be equipped with US Nuclear bombs including the Mark 57 with the “Dial a Yield” ability to select whether the bomb was a 10kt or 20kt bomb.
In 1971 the CF-104 was reconfigured for conventional ground and was refitted to carry either Iron Bombs, Cluster Bombs or Rocket Pods, It was never configured to carry Sidewinder missiles to defend itself from air attacks.
During its time with the Canadian Airforce, it certainly earned its multiple nicknames such as the Widow Maker, the Law Dart and the Aluminum Death Pool as out of 200 fighters there were 110 serious accidents with 37 pilots being killed. This article will cover why the F-104 had so many accidents.
As Canada began to reduce its commitment to NATO, the CF-105 was reduced from 8 Squadrons to 3 Squadrons in Europe by 1971, but they weren’t really re-integrated in the AirForce for North American Continental Defense, and the last CF-104 was retired in 1988.
Starfighters at War
One could argue that the world was at its most volatile in the 1960’s and 70’s and the Starfighter did have a combat record in most theatres.
In 1958 The PRC began to shell the ROC or Tawain, the Chinese also shifted over 200 fighters and Bombers to Airfields to intimidate Taiwan’s Airforce. The Americans deployed a fighter wing of F-104’s whose mission was intimidation, at the time China were flying Mig 15’s and Mig 17’s and had nothing in their inventory that could keep up or get to the same altitude as the Starfighter, basically it helped to scare some sanity in the air force commanders on the mainland.
The Starfighter carried out a similar mission during the Berlin Crisis in 1961, where they were there to intimidate Soviet Airforce commanders.
During the Vietnam the Starfighters acted in multi roles, they acted as bombers and provided BARCAP for early warning aircraft. The Star Fighters 2937 combat missions and had a good rack record as only 13 Starfighters were lost with 5 of them being from engine failures or collisions, so only 8 were lost to enemy fire.
The Reputation
So why did the Starfighter garner a reputation as a dangerous aircraft with nicknames like the Window Maker or Lawn Dart. Out of the 900 F-104G’s that the German’s purchased nearly 300 crashed leading to the deaths of 116 pilots. In Canada out of the 200 Fighters over half of them crashed killing 37 pilots. Was there an inherent design flaw that would drop airplanes out of the sky, like the Soviet Blinder Bomber that would suddenly reverse its controls, or the Mig 15 that due to material issues would twist their wings and go into a flat spin?
The answer is no, the issues that caused a high crash rate were much more human.
One of the first issues was that the century series fighters were the new line of 2nd generational fighters. Because of that they had far more advanced avionics, and unlike the fly by feel fighters of the previous generation, a Pilot had to split his attention between the more complex monitoring systems, their threat warning systems, a more advanced display and still fly the plane. The Star Fighter was a finicky fighter that required a experience pilot with a hyper state of awareness, more then a quarter of the crashes were caused by distracted pilots, who weren’t looking out of the cockpit but were looking down at their instruments instead.
If there was a design issue its that the F-104 was designed with speed in mind, but the design didn’t deal well with landings. Because the small wings weren’t good at providing lift at low speed, by design the F-104’s had to land at a high state of speed or risk losing lift and slamming into the ground, and because of the design of the fuel tanks explode. This led to landing at high speeds and using a pilot chute to slow down, which created a whole other series of problems.
The other factor is that the Starfighter was rarely used for its intended purpose, which was a high-level, high-speed air superiority fighter. Because of its design it couldn’t dog fight at slow speeds or maneuver at slow speeds. Which meant that the counter to a F-104 was go get it into a turning battle and watch the F-104 lose its lift. Instead, air forces purchased the Starfighter to act as a low-level low speed to high speed bomber, or as a high level interceptor that would push the engines to failures. When the F-104 was used for its created mission, it was a safe aircraft, however it just wasn’t good at anything but Mach 2 bushwacking tactics.
The final issue once you get by an aircraft not being used for its purpose, that required a experienced pilot that could balance modern avionics with flying by feel, that you had to land at high speeds or die. The Starfighter was an unlucky aircraft. For the CF-104 21 of the 110 crashed due to bird strikes, 32 were attributed to a combination of poor level and low altitudes, 18 were attributed to actual engine failures or other system failures. For Germany their loss of nearly 1/3rd of their fighters most of their fighters were loss due to instability caused by flying them at low speeds and altitude which went against its design, it wasn’t built to be a low altitude bomber. Another large factor was that West German pilots didn’t have experience, on average a German Pilot had 400 hours of stick time, in the states you wouldn’t even be able to look at a F-104 from across the runway until you had more then 3x that amount.
Conclusion
The F-104 was part of the century series of fighters that were meant to introduce the second generation of fighter jets. Designed for specific roles, and combined with new engine, weapon and avionics technology it represented a radical leap forward for Western Air forces. The Starfighter was designed to fly higher and faster than anything else on the planet. Built to bushwack enemies from above, it never really got to fulfil its role.
A fighter that was unforgiving to its pilots, with a safety record that gave it legendary nicknames like the Windowmaker, it still intimidated Soviet, North Vietnamese and Chinese air force commanders.
While the idea of high-altitude high-speed fighters was an exciting concept for its designers, it ended up being used in roles that were unsuitable to its design, and that led to the loss of fighters and the death of pilots.
When you look at the design of the F-104, there are not a lot of design elements that carry on to this day. The Trapezoid thin leading-edge design never gained popularity, nor did the T-shaped flight control system.
In the end, the F-104 was like the overpowered muscle cars of the 60’s and 70’s, but despite the concept, its faded into obscurity, unfortunately known more for its safety record then its out of the box, almost science fiction like design.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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