PHOTO OF THE DAY: November 13, 2007

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE AIRSHOW
November 2007

Sigh ... If money were no object!

This is a Lockheed F-104 "StarFighter." Although it first entered service for the US Air Force in 1956, it is still being flown by a few foreign countries. (The USAF stopped flying it over 20 years ago.) From the F-104, Lockheed substantially modified it for high altitude flying and renamed it the U-2. (Remember the spy plane: U-2?)

When originally built, it was called "The Missle With A Man In It," because it was actually faster than a shell fired from a battleship! The speed is over Mach 2.5 and, in fact, is the still the fastest ever flown by an aircraft at low altitude. At high altitude, only the SR-71 was faster. If the wings look stubby, it's because they are only 7' long! Landing speed is around 200 knots!

The aircraft in the photo is probably the only privately owned F-104.