Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Your Sunday Morning Jet Noise

F-104:



There's the usual airshow announcer chatter and music, but still, you can hear that awesome sound.

5 comments:

Tod Germanica said...

I get it that following Korea the USAF wanted to prioritize high performance, stung that the MiG-15s (built by lousy commies!) showed speed parity and absolute altitude superiority. And, this was one of those era's whose recurring meme was'dogfighting is dead, it is all missiles from now on'. So the plane set many records for speed and altitude performance but was a dud at the air superiority role because, with the razor sharp truncated wing, it took 34 counties to turn around in. NASA used them for special purposes like chase plane (killed the XB-70) and a brief tour in Vietnam but rightfully declined large orders. Lockheed's financial bacon was saved when the new reconstituted Lufftwaffe and the Italian AF ordered it as an anti-shipping strike aircraft. Hard to determine if it would have been successful since the Cold War stayed cold. It was a difficult plane to fly though, with a high landing speed necessitating blown flaps, which dictated ejection on engine failure. So, like the Harrier, the F-104 won a 'widowmaker' reputation. Brilliant work by Kelly Johnson negated by initial USAF specification errors.

Old NFO said...

Still seems odd to see them with 'tip' tanks. I remember them with missiles on the tips and two tanks on inboard pylons.

BadTux said...

Oooh, it's the Lawn Dart! Saying in Germany was that if you wanted a F-104, just buy a big pasture and wait. Sooner or later a Luftwaffe F-104 would end up pointy nosed first in it.

Great looking plane tho!

Comrade Misfit said...

My recollection was that the Luftwaffe, in particular, took a daylight interceptor and tried to make it into a strike aircraft. That was after large bribes were paid, not only to key German politicians, but to Dutch and Japanese officials, as well.

There also was a joke that the F-104 killed more Luftwaffe pilots than any other American fighter.

Tod Germanica said...

Downward ejection seats. Cockpit placard: Prior to Ejection at Low Altitude 1st Roll Inverted