AviTech Reader

On this day, though back in 1958(Taiwan), is the day when Lockheed announced the first delivery of the Lockheed F-104.

The Lockheed F-104 was largely an engineering marvel but due to multifarious internal and external reasons, it ended up being called the “the widomaker”. Still, it was a record breaker that had homes away from home, in several army bases around the world. It was a product of a fragment of the creativity of Clarence “Kelly” Johnson at the Lockheed “skunk Works” facility in a project he began in 1952. It was the first operational fighter to make it above Mach 2 and also simultaneously held a speed record and set a new ceiling in terms of height during its introduction period. You can read more about its aerodynamic design here.