Editing Lockheed F-104 Starfighter (section)

===Background and early development===
{{main|Lockheed XF-104}} Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, vice president of engineering and research at [[Skunk Works|Lockheed's Skunk Works]], visited USAF air bases across South Korea in November 1951 to speak with fighter pilots about what they wanted and needed in a fighter aircraft.<ref name="Upton2003p7">Upton 2003, p. 7.</ref><ref name="Pace1992p10">Pace 1992, p. 10.</ref> At the time, the American pilots were confronting the [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15|MiG-15]] with [[North American F-86 Sabre]]s, and many felt that the MiGs were superior to the larger and more complex American fighters. The pilots requested a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance, especially high-speed and high-altitude capabilities.<ref name="Bowman2000p26">Bowman 2000, p. 26.</ref> Johnson started the design of such an aircraft upon his return to the United States. In March 1952, his team was assembled; they studied over 100 aircraft configurations,<ref name="Upton2003p8">Upton 2003, p. 8.</ref> ranging from small designs at just {{convert|8000|lb|kg|abbr=on}},<ref name="Upton2003p9">Upton 2003, p. 9.</ref> to large ones up to {{convert|50000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Upton2003p10">Upton 2003, p. 10.</ref> To achieve the desired performance, Lockheed chose a small and simple aircraft, weighing in at {{convert|12000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} with a single powerful engine. The engine chosen was the new [[General Electric J79]] turbojet, an engine of dramatically improved performance in comparison with contemporary designs.<ref name="Bashow1986p13">Bashow 1986, p. 13.</ref> The small design powered by a single J79, issued Temporary Design Number L-246, remained essentially identical to the prototype Starfighter as eventually delivered. Lockheed designated the prototype Model 083.<ref name="Pace1992pp12,15">Pace 1992, pp. 12, 15.</ref>

Johnson presented his new fighter concept to the United States Air Force on 5 November 1952, and they were interested enough to create a general operational requirement for a lightweight fighter to supplement and ultimately replace the yet-to-fly [[North American F-100]]. Three additional companies were named finalists for the requirement: [[Republic Aviation Company|Republic Aviation]] with the AP-55, an improved version of its prototype [[Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor|XF-91 Thunderceptor]]; [[North American Aviation]] with the NA-212, which eventually evolved into the [[North American F-107|F-107]]; and [[Northrop Corporation]] with the [[Northrop N-102 Fang|N-102 Fang]], another J79-powered entry. Although all three finalists' proposals were strong, Lockheed had what proved to be an insurmountable head start, and was granted a development contract on {{nowrap|12 March}} 1953 for two [[prototype]]s; these were given the designation "[[Lockheed XF-104|XF-104]]".<ref name="Bowman2000p32">Bowman 2000, p. 32.</ref><ref name="Pace1992pp12–15">Pace 1992, pp. 12–15.</ref>

Work progressed quickly, with a mock-up ready for inspection at the end of April,<ref name="Bowman2000p32">Bowman 2000, p. 32.</ref> and work starting on two prototypes soon after.<ref name="Pace1992p15">Pace 1992, p. 15.</ref> Meanwhile, the J79 engine was not ready. Both prototypes were instead built to use the [[Wright J65]] engine, a license-constructed version of the [[Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire]].<ref name="Bowman2000p31">Bowman 2000, p. 31.</ref> The first prototype was completed at Lockheed's Burbank facility by early 1954 and [[Maiden flight|first flew]] on 4 March at [[Edwards AFB]].<ref name="Kropf2002p11">Kropf 2002, p. 11.</ref> The total time from contract to first flight was less than one year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/fun-facts/happy-birthday-lockheed-f-104-starfighter.html|title=Sixty years of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter|access-date=7 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811223357/http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/fun-facts/happy-birthday-lockheed-f-104-starfighter.html|archive-date=11 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Though development of the F-104 was never a secret, only a vague description of the aircraft was given when the USAF first revealed its existence. No photographs of the aircraft were released to the public until 1956, even though the XF-104 first flew in 1954. At the April 1956 public unveiling of the {{nowrap|YF-104A}}, the engine inlets were obscured with metal covers. Visible weapons, including the [[M61 Vulcan]] cannon, were also hidden.<ref name="Upton2003p20">Upton 2003, p. 20.</ref><ref name="Donald2003p138">Donald 2003, p. 138.</ref> Despite the secrecy, an artist's rendering of the yet-unseen F-104 appeared in the September 1954 edition of ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' that was very close to the actual design.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Mechanics|author=Hearst Magazines|title=Air Force Puts Supersonic XF-104 Through Its Paces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AeADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA104|date=September 1954|publisher=Hearst Magazines|page=104}}</ref>

The prototype made a hop into the air during taxi trials on 28 February 1954 and flew about {{convert|5|ft|spell=in}} off the ground for a short distance, but this was not counted as a first flight. On 4 March, Lockheed test pilot [[Tony LeVier]] flew the XF-104 for its first official flight. He was airborne for only {{nowrap|21 minutes}}, much shorter than planned, due to landing gear retraction problems.<ref name="Pace1992p16-17">Pace 1992, p. 16-17.</ref><ref name="Upton2003p37">Upton 2003, p. 37.</ref><!--Pace 1992 states the first flight was on 5 March, but of the ten references that I have access to with first flight dates, nine of them say 4 March, while only two say 5 March (one has both 4 March and 5 March in different places). I've listed one of the nine here.--> The second prototype was destroyed several weeks later<!--Sources pretty evenly disagree whether it is 14 April or 18 April 1955--> during gun-firing trials when the hatch to the ejector seat blew out, depressurizing the cockpit and causing the pilot to eject in the mistaken belief that a cannon mishap had crippled the aircraft.<ref name="Pace1991p20">Pace 1991, p. 20.</ref> Nevertheless, on 1 November 1955 the remaining XF-104 was accepted by the USAF.<ref name="Pace1991p131">Pace 1991, p. 131.</ref>