Lockheed's F-104 Starfighter was sleek, sexy, and difficult to fly. Essentially a J-79 turbojet with tiny wings and a place for the pilot to sit, it had a poor turning radius and very unpredictable behaviour at high angles of attack along with very high takeoff and landing speeds. Yet, with modifications such as blown flaps and a stick shaker that pushed the nose down in a stall, the plane proved quite capable. Its strength was never in its agility, but rather in its speed. The type was the only aircraft in existence at the time that could sustain speeds of over Mach 2.0, and it had a stellar rate of climb. A good airplane, it sold well to foreign forces after being phased out of active USAF service in 1967. The Starfighter was an icon among jet interceptors throughout the 1970s, serving in large numbers in the US Air National Guard as well as with the German, Italian, and Canadian air forces. The last Italian Starfighters were retired from active service in 2004.
For FSX and FS2004
Features
- 5 loadout variations with 3 detailed texture sets:
- 1. F-104G, Luftwaffe Air-to-Air (Sidewinders)
- 2. F-104G, Luftwaffe long range (wing tanks and tip tanks)
- 3. F-104G, German Navy, strike (tip tanks and Bullpups)
- 4. F-104G, German Navy, interceptor (Sidewinders and wing tanks)
- 5. F-104S, Italian AF (Sidewinders and Sparrows)
- includes four seperate flight models, unique handling and range to each
- FSX version has working radar system, capable of tracking unlimited targets and providing ID, aircraft type, heading and altitude. Several range settings and dimmer provided, available in v-c and on 2D panel as icon pop-up panel
- FSX version include full FSX effects - bump-mapping, self-shadowing and bloom flash.
- simulated F-104 soundset included, optional 'howl' effect
- authentic virtual cockpit with animations and mousable controls
- very high quality authentic all-xml 2D panel, custom pop-ups for autopilot and radios
- automatic (on throttle) animated afterburner visual effect with corresponding performance boost and automatic smoke trail
- wing surface vapour flash and wingtip vortices effects
- animated tailhook, speedbrakes, togglable pilot figure
- animated canopy (shift-e)
- v-c rain effects (FS9 only)
- realistic, animated crew figure
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