Blame my ongoing War Thunder gaming for this if you will, but the new update to that online multiplayer dogfighting/tank fighting/ship battling game brings a Cold War classic to the fight: the Missile With a Man in It, Lockheed’s famous F-104, seen here in Norwegian colors at an airshow two years ago.
Here in the United States, Starfighters Aerospace operates a small fleet of F-104s from Kennedy Space Center, where they serve as chase planes, carry small scientific payloads, and may also be used for flight training. Now there’s a type rating I wouldn’t mind having in my logbook! The Starfighters aircraft have also been proposed as launch aircraft for a small air-launched space vehicle, although I don’t believe that’s gotten anywhere past the prototype proposal stage.
Finally, in its surprisingly long and varied military career (Italy retired its final Starfighter squadrons in 2004), the F-104 was subject to some… unique Cold War ideas. For example, this German experiment in zero length launches.
Finally, for some gorgeous pictures of Italy’s special Starfighter liveries, be sure to check out this article at The Aviationist!