Typed caption glued on verso: "News Bureau. Lockheed, Burbank. ST 7-2711, Ext. 8-1815. Release PM Thursday, January 17, 1957. Starfighter unwrapped -- Here is the first unrestricted photo of the newest and fastest weapon in the U.S. Air Force jet age arsenal, Lockheed's F-104A Starfighter -- shown here free of hoods used to conceal the shape of its air scoops in previous pictures. Featuring stubby, knife-thin wings and a high, T-shaped tail to provide optimum performance at high Mach numbers, the Starfighter can zoon to the attack as fast as it flies straight and level. It flies so high so fast that pilots seem to be running out of flying room, compared to experience with other planes, according to A. W. (Tony) LeVier, Lockheed's director of flying operations. Now in quantity production at Lockheed's California Division, along with a two-seater fighter version designated the F-104B, F-104A Starfighters are being readied to enter service with key Air Defense Command squadrons in the near future. From nose to tail the lance-like Starfighter measures 54 feet, 9 inches. Its height is 13 feet, 6 inches. From wingtip to wingtip the span is only 21 feet, 11 inches."Creation Date1957-01SubjectLockheed F-104A StarfighterUnited States. Air ForceAirplanes, MilitaryOriginal Formatphotographic printsBibliographic CitationThe Peter M. Bowers Photograph Collection and Papers/The Museum of FlightRightsNo copyright - United States
Lockheed, [Lockheed F-104A Starfighter aircraft], [2008-03-31_image_090]. Museum of Flight Digital Collections, accessed 15/04/2026, https://digitalcollections.museumofflight.org/nodes/view/10253
![[Lockheed F-104A Starfighter aircraft]](/img/placeholder.gif?1773952131 "[Lockheed F-104A Starfighter aircraft]")