About This File
The F104L by CAF team, 3d work by Cocas, skins by Nyghtfall, other ini work by Coupi, testing by Stratos, Coupi, Wrench, Nyghtfall.
Some small whatif background:
The Lockheed F104L was a 1950s company-funded proposal for an embarked Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. It was intended for both the USN and Lockheed hoped to capitalize on its F-104 production experience through commonality of parts and systems, and minimize expenses by reusing tooling, jigs and existing factory facilities.
Borrowing heavily from the F-104 design the new type featured a strenghtened landing gear, corrosion portection, increased span wing and of course catapult and arreting gear additions.
The F104L was a specific product for the USN and the USMC, trying to sell it as a fast interceptor with better payload and range than the USAF F104. Both USN and USMC bought a good amount of planes and it saw service in both forces during the Vietnam war as a fighter for the USN and as a STRIKE and CAS airplane for the MARINES. Both services praised the speed and capability of the new planes, but also criticized the slow speed handling, that posed serious problem for a carrier aircraft.
After getting several kills and a good service record in Vietnam, planes were retired froma ctive duty in 1972, altought USMC used the plane for fast Strike for more several years.
Included: Skins for USN VF162 and for USMC VMFA311
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