Stock F-104 Starfighter Replica

SpaceTrashCan · August 1, 2017

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Hi, a couple of days back i built a stock Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. I thought i could share it in the forums. I think it's the best plane i've built so far (my others were... well, let's say "alright"), from the looks to the handling and speed, it is pretty close to the original (maybe a little too fast if you push it).

This Plane:

I tried to built it as close to the original as possible. Didn't get it perfect matched in terms of size but i think it is alright. I spend a lot of time to get the nose the way i wanted it. The fairing was the best way to get it realistic, since all the tanks and nose cones were to round in my opinion. I used to solar panels and batteries to model the windshieldm since there was no stock part that looked like the fighters windshield. the plane doesn't go straight from front to back with tanks etc. I tried to model this sort of "belly" the real F 104 has. To get that hull realistic i had to build things a little complicated. I used autostrut to avoid doubling the part count. In the end i think not goint the easy way but to make things more complicated worked good, since it is stable in flight but does also look more realistic than a F 104 where i would have build the hull by just putting parts at the end of parts. It technically seats 2 kerbals. I used to cockpits to make it look like one long one, but since their was a real 2 seated version of this plane i guess it's alright To get the fighter stable in slow flight i used a hidden "wing" in the front.

Handling:

Flying this is quit easy (for a starfighter) i guess. It is better to have SAS on from liftoff to landing. Lifting off must be done gently to not have the engine touch the ground (putting the rear wheels to further back would've made the liftoff speed to high). Generally the plane lies stable in the air at any speed. It is no friend of a lot of yaw tho. Due to the short wingspan it rotates really fast, so hitting the right angle can be tough. besides that it really handles well for such a neelde of an aircraft. Reaches it's topspeed at about 15,000m and its highest altitude is about 23,000m. Landing speed should always be between 75m/s and 120 m/s. This is where it touches down the most gently. It should be relatively horizontial as well (max. 15% pitched up). It might need some distance to roll out safely.

Craft File to download: https://kerbalx.com/SpaceTrashCan/Lockheed-F-104-Version-2

I hope you like the craft, check it out if you like to

Here are some inflight pictures: