Lockheed F-104 Starfighter: Illustrated History Books & Guides

German Starfighters (Volume 1) - The Story in Colour: Introduction and Units

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an American single-engine, supersonic interceptor that saw wide use during the Cold War, mainly as a fighter-bomber.
Designed by Lockheed as a day fighter for the US Air Force and part of the "Century Series, " it was further developed in the early 1960s into an all-weather, multi-role aircraft. Production was shared with several other countries, and the type entered service with 15 air forces worldwide.

Despite its advanced performance, the Starfighter gained a poor safety reputation, especially in German service. Between 1961 and 1989, the Luftwaffe lost 292 of 916 aircraft and 116 pilots. This high accident rate led to strong public criticism in Germany and earned the aircraft the nickname "Widowmaker."

This illustrated work, published in two volumes, documents the full history of the F-104 in German service, covering its introduction, operational use, losses, and eventual withdrawal.

Product details

Author:	Klaus Kropf
Details:	96 pages, 8.7 x 0.8 x 5.51 in (22 x 2 x 14 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	extensively illustrated
Language:	English
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2024)
Series:	Historic Military Aircraft
ISBN:	9781802824742

German Starfighters (Volume 2) - The Story in Colour: Training and Service

This second volume on German Starfighters examines the training and operational service of these fighter aircraft. It is written by Klaus Kropf, who accumulated almost ten years of flying experience on the F-104 with around 1.900 flight hours.

After completing basic flight training in Texas, he attended Starfighter training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, from June 1971 to February 1972. He then underwent conversion training in Jever before serving for several years as an F-104G fighter-bomber pilot with Jagdbombergeschwader 31 at Nörvenich. At the end of 1980, he transferred to the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment at RAF Cottesmore in the United Kingdom, where he served for three years as a Tornado instructor pilot.

Although his Starfighter flying career ended many years ago, his professional and personal connection with this aircraft has remained strong.

Product details

Author:	Klaus Kropf
Details:	96 pages, 8.7 x 0.8 x 5.51 in (22 x 2 x 14 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	extensively illustrated
Language:	English
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2024)
Series:	Historic Military Aircraft
ISBN:	9781802824759

F-104 Starfighter - Lockheed's Sleek Cold War Interceptor (Legends of Warfare)

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, developed in the late 1950s, was designed as an all-weather interceptor with a focus on speed, climb, and altitude. While it became known for its impressive speed, this came at the cost of its low-speed handling and landing abilities. The F-104 had a relatively short service life with the U.S. Air Force but remained in use with several NATO countries for decades. When deployed abroad, the Starfighter gained a reputation for being challenging to fly and had a high accident rate.

Today, many F-104s are displayed in museums and have become popular "gate guards" at military bases. This book offers a detailed photographic history of the Starfighter, featuring chapters on the prototype versions and various models, including the A, B, C/D, G, N, Canadian CF-104, Japanese F-104J, and F-104S.

Product details

Author:	David Doyle
Details:	144 pages, 9.25 x 10 x 0.83 in (23.5 x 25.5 x 2.1 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	210 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Schiffer Publishing Ltd (USA, 2023)
Series:	Legends of Warfare
ISBN:	9780764367861

F-104 Starfighter - Flying with Air Forces around the World (Duke Hawkins)

This huge book - 180 pages!! - brings a complete portrait of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. Types include the early versions, but mainly the F-104F/ G/J/S and even the F-104S-ASA/M. Of course, the two-seat TF-104G isn't forgotten.
The Starfighter has been active for exactly 50 years, but even today, some are still flown in the USA. These aircraft, flown by Starfighter Aerospace, are not forgotten in this book.

In this book, we show you all the differences between the subtypes. Detailed photos of the fuselage, wings, landing gear, vertical and horizontal tails are mixed with spectacular action photographs from active aircraft from many countries.
An important chapter in this book is dedicated to the cockpit of the Starfighter. We show every detail of the single seat F-104G, the S and both cockpits of the two-seat Starfighter!
As with every of the Duke Hawkins books, an extensive maintenance chapter is included, showing some rarely seen details!

Starfighters from the following countries are included in this book: USA, Canada, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Japan, Turkey, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Taiwan and Spain. With over 450 photos!
We cooperated with several organizations restoring one or more Starfighters, such as the Friends of the Starfighter in Norway, the Dutch Starfighter Association and the Canadian Starfighter Museum.

Product details

Author:	Robert Pied, Nicolas Deboeck
Details:	180 pages, 9 x 9 x 0.39 in (24 x 24 x 1 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	HMH Publications (B, 2022)
Series:	Aircraft in Detail (25)
ISBN:	9782931083178

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter : A History

The F-104 Starfighter is quite possibly one of the most photographed aircraft of all time. It is certainly one of the most iconic. Here, Martin Bowman offers up a well researched, comprehensive and thoroughly entertaining history of this impressive interceptor aircraft and fighter bomber.

First-hand insights gathered from pilots who have flown the Starfighter in a variety of international contexts make for a rich and diverse narrative, interspersed throughout with a good selection of black and white and colour illustrations that really bring the story to life. Over the course of an eventful history, the Starfighter has been caught up in an extensive variety of conflicts across the world.

This book not only acquaints us with the landmark milestones of a widely utilised aircraft type, it also illuminates our understanding yet further of the dynamic history of aviation in the second half of the twentieth century.

Product details

Author:	Martin W. Bowman
Details:	256 pages, 9.7 x 6.7 in (24.5 x 17 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	200 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2018)
ISBN:	9781473863262

F-104 Starfighter Special Camouflages

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, supersonic jet interceptor aircraft originally developed for the United States Air Force by Lockheed. One of the Century Series of aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004.
A total of 2,578 Starfighters were produced and deployed, mostly by NATO members.

This second title in the new 'Spotlight On' series presents detailed scale drawings and colour profiles of the F-104 Starfighters in their special camouflage schemes. The book contains colour plates and highly detailed profiles with comprehensive captions showing the variety of the F-104 family special camouflages schemes.

A rarely documented aspect of post-war aviation history. Mushroom Model Publications feature superb colour illustrations of camouflage and markings.

Product details

Author:	Lieuwe de Vries
Details:	48 pages, 11.6 x 8.25 in (29.5 x 21 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	b&w and color photos, profile illustrations in color
Language:	English
Publisher:	MMP Books (PL, 2015)
ISBN:	9788363678586

F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat (Osprey)

This title covers the technical characteristics of the F-104 Starfighter, one of the most widely-used and popular aircraft in history. Although built in small numbers for the USAF, the F-104C fought and survived for almost three years in Vietnam. There, it was engaged in some of the war's most famous battles including the legendary operation Bolo, where seven North Vietnamese MiGs were destroyed without the loss of a single US fighter.

This small, tough and very fast fighter, dubbed 'The Missile with a Man in It', was called upon to do things it was not specifically designed for, and did them admirably. Featuring illustrations and photographs detailing the variety of nose-paint schemes and weapons configurations, this comprehensive appraisal of the F-104 Starfighter is ideal for modelling and aviation enthusiasts alike.

Contents: Basic outline of chapters: - Design and development - April-November 1965 - Vietnam June 1966-July 1967, 435th Tactical Fighter Sqn - Combat in Indo-Pakistani Wars - F-104s and Taiwan - Appendices.

Product details

Author:	Peter Davies
Details:	96 pages, 9.8 x 7.3 x 0.28 in (25 x 18.5 x 0.7 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	photos and drawings (in b&w and color)
Language:	English
Publisher:	Osprey Publishing (GB, 2014)
Series:	Combat Aircraft (101)
ISBN:	9781780963136

F-104 Starfighter (Pilot's Flight Operation 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, trapezoidal wing provided extremely low drag with terrific acceleration and rate of climb.

Unforgiving and sensitive to control inputs, the F-104 killed many pilots and developed a reputation as a "widow-maker". Despite its shortcomings, the Starfighter enjoyed a long career.
It flew in the air support role during "Rolling Thunder" in the Vietnam War. It also saw extensive service in foreign air forces and NATO. NASA continued to use the F-104 as a support aircraft until 1995.

This pilot's flight operating handbook was originally produced by the USAF. It has been slightly reformatted but is reproduced here in its entirety.

Product details

Author:	United States Air Force, NASA
Details:	292 pages, 10 x 8.1 x 0.59 in (25.5 x 20.5 x 1.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many photos and drawings
Language:	English
Publisher:	Periscope Film (USA, 2011)
Series:	Pilot's Flight Operation Instructions
ISBN:	9781935700470

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - Interceptor, Strike, Reconnaissance Fighter (Profiles of Flight) (Profiles of Flight)

The Starfighter was once described as 'a delight to fly, but one mistake and it will kill you'. It is one of the world's fastest fighters with a top speed of Mach 2.2 and a service ceiling of 58,000 feet.

First delivered to the USAF in 1958 it was also sold to the Dutch, German, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Italian Air Forces. It could carry a variety of air to air and air to surface missiles and was powered by a single General Electric J79 turbojet that developed 17,900 lb of thrust with afterburner. The Italian Air Force continued to fly it into the 21st Century.

This book contains the world famous colour profiles created by Dave Windle of the type in different operational modes, configurations and colour schemes. Martin Bowman has written detailed descriptions and photographs to create the perfect enthusiast's reference.

Product details

Author:	Dave Windle, Martin Bowman
Details:	88 pages, 7.1 x 9.8 x 0.47 in (18 x 25 x 1.2 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	30 profile illustrations in color, 50 b&w photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2011)
Series:	Profiles of Flight
ISBN:	9781848844490

F-104 Starfighter

The name Starfighter is legendary! The rocket-like fighter flew for the first time in 1954 and soon afterward all previous climb time, altitude and speed records were shattered, because the machine consisted almost entirely of an engine and razor-sharp stub wings.

Pages of the book "F-104 Starfighter"

The German Bundeswehr also flew the model as the F-104G. The Starfighter's reputation is still legendary and Gerhard Lang has erected a monument to it here.

Product details

Author:	Gerhard Lang
Details:	144 pages, 8.7 x 9 in (22 x 24 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	160 b&w and color photos
Language:	German
Publisher:	Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2019)
Series:	Die Flugzeugstars
ISBN:	9783613042285