Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - Warbird Tech Vol. 38: Jim Upton: 9781580070690: Amazon.com: Books

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Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - Warbird Tech Vol. 38 Paperback – January 1, 2004

by Jim Upton (Author)

4.7 14 ratings

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The F-104 Starfighter was one of the most successful and prolific jet fighters of the late '50s and early '60s - and one of the most beautiful. It was the first production Mach 2 aircraft, and it rewrote the performance books for speed, altitude and time to climb. Aircraft enthusiasts called it "the missile with a man in it". After its initial flight in 1954, the F-104 program produced more than 2,500 aircraft, making it one of the largest military aircraft programs ever. F-104s flew for the US and many NATO allies, and were eventually produced under license in Canada, Japan, and several European countries. In fact, Italy is still flying updated F-104s in 2003. This book covers this revolutionary aircraft's design and development, its weapons and other systems, and all 18 models of the F-104, complete with photos of each variant. NASA-modified research craft are also discussed, along with several formerly classified programs based on the F-104. Author Jim Upton was one of the F-104 program's flight test engineers, so he knows the aircraft and the people involved. Includes a foreword by Dick Heppe, retired president of Lockheed California, and chief aerodynamicist of the F-104.

About the Author

Jim Upton holds a bachelor of science degree in Aerospace Engineering. He worked as a flight test engineer at Lockheed for 35 years and was test director and crew member on 18 aircraft flight test programs. He is a Fellow and past international president of the Society of Flight Test Engineers. Upton's previous books include "AirlinerTech Boeing 777", "AirlinerTech Lockheed L-188 Eelectra" and "AirlinerTech Lockheed L-1011 TriStar," all published by Specialty Press. His work has also appeared in numerous magazines and periodicals, including "Air Forces Monthly Magazine", "Aviation History Magazine," "Aviation Journal," "Flight Test News," " Flying Magazine," "In Flight USA," "Lockheed Martin Star," "Pacific Flyer" and "U.S. Aviator Magazine." Upton has been an active pilot for 45 years.

Print length

104 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers
Publication date

January 1, 2004
Dimensions

8.25 x 0.25 x 10.5 inches
ISBN-10

1580070698
ISBN-13

978-1580070690
See all details

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Specialty Pr Pub & Wholesalers; First Edition (January 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 104 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1580070698
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1580070690
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.25 x 0.25 x 10.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,376,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,689 in Aviation History (Books)
- #5,042 in Military Aviation History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.7 14 ratings

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4.7 out of 5

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Amazon Customer

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2020

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Well written.

F104 Story and history:

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2009

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I was lucky enough to fly several models of this wonderful aircraft over the period of several years. It was a joy to fly. Faster than a speeding bullet nothing was even close in its day. The book does a really good job of explaining the aircraft and cablabilities complete with pictures and all the specs. A great read for one interested in reading about jet combat aircraft of that era.

7 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018

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Glad I got mine, always was a great aircraft. Man in a rocket.

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2018

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Found my uncle in this good..what a great book

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2012

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I liked this book, because it has same new informations about the F104. I recommend this book to everyone that whant a little bit more about F104.

Great reference on the -104

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2004

This book is a great overview of the F-104s history. The author's work at Lockheed put him in a great position to locate several unusual photographs and drawings of the F-104s development. It also gave him access to many personnel at Lockheed who were involved in flight test and other design aspects, whose anecdotes spice up the book.
The descriptions of systems are on the short side, but well written and make it easy for the neophyte to understand how the systems work, yet have enough detail to satisfy most more advanced readers.
For the modeller there are several photos of unusual stores and experimental equipment that will come in handy. The photos cover many different air forces too.

11 people found this helpful

Robert C. Livingston

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - Warbird Tech Volume 38

Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2009

Having read an earlier title in the series on the F-4 Phantom, I felt this would be a good addition to my library as I have a keen interest in the F-104, and I'm big on things like technical details. In short, the book is pretty good for the price you pay though there are some odd errors for a book of such detail.
The technical/engineering elements of the book really stand-out. Lots of drawings of the early studies done to create the F-104 are included as well as various diagrams from the flight manual. This all serves to give a very hardcore technical edge to the book that many aviation related books often ignore. The development history is well documented as are various trials and tests that the F-104 has been used in over the years.
Another strong point is the selection of photographs, many of which I'd never seen before. There is a picture of just about every version of the airplane that was produced. There is also a great color section in the middle of the book that contaians additional outstanding color photos.
The area where the book seems to fall short of is namely in areas such as captions for pictures, several of which are just reused from a paragraph somewhere on the same page. Also, the ending paragraph in each chapter seems unnecessary (it's only a few sentences long) and often doesn't serve to really "close the chapter out." Also, many of the captions seem to misidentify some of the versions of the aircraft, which can seem trivial, but I would imagine that most people who would purchase this type of book will notice the errors.
All in all, this is a great book, especially for the price you pay. In my opinion, the errors in captions and the odd ending to a few of the chapters is greatly outweighed by the great technical detail that is presented in some sections as well as the outstanding selection of photographs.

3 people found this helpful

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Steve77

Starfighter.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2017

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A good interesting read on the missile with a man in it !!.

Fede

Lo Spillone in 104(!) pagine descritto da chi lo ha sviluppato

Reviewed in Italy on August 21, 2014

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Questo volumetto della serie WARBIRDTECH descrive sinteticamente lo sviluppo e l'impiego di quello che è probabilmente il più noto dei "Century Jets".

Per il lettore italiano premetto che lo spazio dedicato ai velivoli italiani è limitato a poche fotografie e poche righe nel capitolo dedicato agli operatori internazionali, vi è inoltre un paragrafo relativo al F-104S con un accenno alla versione ASA (Aggiornamento Sistema D'arma), ma niente di più.

Per i modellisti "puri" sottolineo che, a parte la copertina, NON ci sono fotografie a colori, infatti manca la sezione centrale a colori, che per esempio è presente nel volume dedicato allo F-4E/G.

Il pregio maggiore del volumetto è che l'autore è stato parte del team di ingegneri della LOCKHEED che ha progettato e sviluppato questo rivoluzionario velivolo; per questo la descrizione dello sviluppo dai primi studi alla versione di produzione è nel complesso chiara ed efficace (sono anche riprodotti i disegni dei progetti preliminari dalle prime ipotesi alla soluzione definitiva).
Anche la descrizione del velivolo e dei singoli elementi (fusoliera, ali, prese d'aria, circuiti ecc.) è completa e ricca di spunti tecnici interessanti circa le soluzioni tecniche adottate, i relativi problemi ed i (pochi) compromessi fatti per risponedere a requisiti contrastanti.

Quello che mi ha in parte deluso è la qualità della carta e delle (numerose) fotografie: la carta è opaca e sottile, i disegni sono nel complesso OK, a volte un po' piccoli, ma le foto sono spesso eccessivamente contrastate e scure nelle ombre (ho il sospetto che si tratti di una ristampa economica dell'edizione originale).

In conclusione consiglierei il volume a chi è particolarmente interessato allo sviluppo del velivolo e desidera (iniziare) a capire il perchè di certe scelte tecnologiche e le difficoltà incontrate quando l'aviazione si è spinta decisamente oltre il muro del suono, aspetti che solo gli "insider" dell'epoca possono comprendere e descrivere, in questo caso in modo asciutto ma interessante, com e J. Upton.

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Amazon Customer

Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

Reviewed in Italy on October 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

Interessante volume della serie Warbirdtech sul Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.Il volume traccia la storia e lo sviluppo dello Starfighter, le versioni e l'impiego nelle varie aeronautiche militari. DIsegni e foto completano il volume. L'unica pecca la non recente data di pubblicazione (2003).

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