bernd1151 Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 When I served in the Luftwaffe, I was fortunate to have been invited twice to fly in one of our 30 training F104G (which had a twin cockpit) from Decimomannu, Sardinia to Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria. Prior to that I had undergone a rigit training, which gave me the Jet Passenger Card. Without that card, such endeavour would not have been allowed. The F 104 was powered by a single General Electric J79-GE-11A engine capable of generating in excess of 17,000 lbs of thrust and exceeding Mach 2. In non-pilot terms, that's roughly equivalent to 36,000 hp. A typical training flight will expose you to a force or 5Gs or greater, a pull toward earth equal to five or more times your bodyweight. The Starfighter, introduced in 1958, can out-perform many current frontline fighters, including the F/A-18. This plane here is the fantastic SSW trainer F 104, which is available here at the Orbx store. We take off from Miramar Fightertown and fly to Edwards AFB, famous test center of the USAF. With the afterburners just slightly engaged, even with full brakes applied, you cannot stop the plane from going forward But of course we are here to apply full afterburners. The brutal force that pushes you into your Martin Baker seat needs to be experienced, you just cannot describe it. And when you switch off the afterburner at level flight, you will be pushed forward so hard as if somebody had applied full brakes Having a look around near Carlsbad, north of San Diego at 7000 ft Let’s bring her up to 40,000 ft. Do this kind of flying for more than 14 minutes and you’d run out of fuel. Btw, with afterburners engaged it usually takes you around 1 minute and 30 seconds to reach 30,000 ft At 61.000 ft, which is the plane’s service ceiling. That contrail below the plane’s nose is a commercial airliner, probably flying at half our height I cheat now a little bit and, by using keys “Y” and “F4”, bring her first up to 77,000 ft The same location, this time with the clouds removed And now at almost 80,000 ft Looks like outer space Ok, back to reality, we are close to Edwards Now the fun part starts: landing. You enjoy flying in the Starfighter tremendously, at least at altitude. But when it comes to landing, the problems come and they concentrate on the compromise of getting this bird as slowly as possible, but above 170 knots, onto the runway If you go below 170 knots, this glorious aircraft will become vicious. The widowmaker does not forgive you the mistake of crossing boundaries Luckily today all went well, I was even a bit too fast And what is your business here? 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 Great shots and post, you certainly took that F104 to its limit and more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted December 6, 2021 Share Posted December 6, 2021 Obviously Bernd , you have the "Right Stuff" .......... Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mac Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Outstanding Bernd, great shots and commentary! John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Great post. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted December 7, 2021 Author Share Posted December 7, 2021 15 hours ago, lifejogger said: Great shots and post, you certainly took that F104 to its limit and more. Thanks a lot John 13 hours ago, BradB said: Obviously Bernd , you have the "Right Stuff" .......... Cheers John Thank you very much, John. I think I need to watch that movie again. Has been years... 2 hours ago, John Mac said: Outstanding Bernd, great shots and commentary! John. Many thanks for commenting, John 1 hour ago, Iain Emms said: Great post. cheers Iain Thank you very much 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerTigerM Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Fascinating Great set, great story, & BTW, Jankees & a few others have put out some more stunning liveries for this aircraft. Cheers TTM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJohnJohn Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 Great set of shots!!! Very impressive! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 superb shots... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted December 7, 2021 Share Posted December 7, 2021 A fantastic post & flight with the widowmaker, Bernd. Thanks a lot! 22 hours ago, bernd1151 said: When I served in the Luftwaffe, I was fortunate to have been invited twice to fly in one of our 30 training F104G What a great occasion! You lucky guy... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLouis Posted December 8, 2021 Share Posted December 8, 2021 A nice set Bernd. SSW TF104 is a must ! Richard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted December 8, 2021 Author Share Posted December 8, 2021 6 hours ago, RichardLouis said: SSW TF104 is a must ! Thanks Richard. It's almost addictive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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