Spinners

I've been hit by a big wave of nostalgia!

Sister Squadrons

I didn't get on board until early 2008 when I saw a copy of Strike Fighters Gold (with an F-4E on the cover) in a local department store. My PC at that time was far from being a gaming machine but SFG worked just fine and I quickly caught up with WoV and WoE. This was a great time as WoI came out soon after and Strike Fighters 2 came in at the end of the year. From the very start I just wanted to modify the game to my own tastes and have the ability to place, say, an F-105D in service with the RAF and give it contemporary markings still gives me a kick. This nudged me in the direction of making my own decals and then making my own skins, mainly from templates but sometimes from scratch. I have tried other flight sims but I still find that SF best suits my interests. It's a pity that Third Wire did not continue to support SF on PC as I liked the direction they were going with DLC's and I'm convinced that SF2:Korea was on the horizon. Hey ho.

The Chase

Californication

North American F-107C Ultra Sabre - 196th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, California ANG, 1977

North American F-107C Ultra Sabre - 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Massachusetts Air National Guard, 1974

"Mercy sake's alive, looks like we got us a convoy!"

General Dynamics Falcon FG.3 - No.41 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1988

Dhimari Starfighter

Republic Thunderjet FB.2 - No.33 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1952 Skin Credit: yakarov79

Northrop/McDonnell Douglas F-23E 'Karish' - 119 Squadron, Israeli Air Force, 2011

Eyes Over Egypt

North American F-109A Retaliator Development of the North American A3J-1 Vigilante progressed well during the late 1950's and the first flight of the YA3J-1 prototype in August 1958 revealed it to be a real thoroughbred, packed from nose to tail with outstanding technology. However, a strong faction against the Vigilante was forming within the USN arguing that strategic bombing was not part of the USN's business and North American decided not to assume that large orders for the 'basic' A3J-1 would follow and they began to look at other roles for the Vigilante. One line of development would eventually lead to the reconnaissance Vigilante (RA-5C) but another line of development transformed the A3J-1 into various fleet defender and ADC fighter options. Fortunately, the wing of the A3J-1 was designed for zero wind over deck launches and this resulted in a wing too large for low-level attack missions but ideal for a fighter. During early 1959 North American offered a long-range fighter version to the USN and USAF but had only a lukewarm response. However, following the cancellation of their F-108 Rapier in September 1959 things now became a bit more urgent for North American and they schemed a revised A3J-1 Fighter with uprated J79 engines and semi-recessed Sparrow missiles. Trying again in 1960 they received a firm no from the USN (who by then knew they had a winner in the F4H-1 Phantom II) but the USAF agreed to a detailed analysis of an optimsed land-based interceptor fighter (named Retaliator in May 1960) and in June 1960 they announced that the Retaliator was to be ordered as an immediate follow-on to the F-106 programme with 350 ordered although this figure was later reduced to 240. The prototype YF-109 flew on April 30th 1962 and production F-109A's entered service in late 1964 with the 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Minot AFB, North Dakota. The only export order was from Canada who ordered 60 in 1968 and these entered service with No.409 squadron in 1969 remaining in service until 1990. 3D Model & template Credit: Julhelm

A Great Dane

Bear Hunt

North American F-109A Retaliator - 101st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Massachusetts ANG, 1977

Gloster Meteor F.8 - Armament Practice Station, RAF Acklington, 1956

North American A-5D Vigilante - No.6 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1972

View File [Fictional] Lockheed F-104H Starfighter for SF2 Lockheed F-104H Starfighter for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of the stock F-104G to create a fictional F-104H in service with Air/Aerospace Defense Command in the 1966-1986 timeline. Markings are provided for the following squadrons; 111st Fighter Interceptor Squadron (Texas Air National Guard) 178th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (North Dakota Air National Guard) 186th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (Montana Air National Guard) 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (a regular USAF unit attached to the 25th Air Division) BACKSTORY On March 15th 1963, two Soviet bombers overflew Alaska and despite a desperate chase the F-102A's of Alaskan Air Command were unable to intercept them. The immediate response to this embarrassing intrusion was to deploy ten F-106A's drawn from various Air Defense Command Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons to Alaska and to recall the remaining F-104A's that had previously been transferred to the Air National Guard back in 1960. Despite the excellence of the F-106A it did come with a pretty hefty price tag (and was actually out of production) and Air Defense Command realised that in order to replace the earlier F-101's and F-102's a cheaper alternative was required. With Lockheed's multi-role F-104G Starfighter in a high-rate of production the relatively low unit cost attracted the attention of the US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara who authorised production of the F-104H a dedicated interceptor version based on the F-104G and an initial order for 200 was made. The F-104H was powered by the uprated General Electric J79-GE-10 engine rated at 11,905 lbf dry thrust and 17,844 lbf thrust with afterburner although initial deliveries were powered by the earlier J79-GE-8B. The F-104H incorporated the advanced Litton LN-3 inertial navigation system and also featured the Autonetics NASARR F-15J-50 radar and fire control system optimised for the air-to-air mode with all ground-mapping, contour-mapping and terrain-avoidance modes deleted. After some debate, the M61 20mm cannon was retained but the main armament for the F-104H was the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active homing missile, the AIM-9 Sidewinder infra-red heat-seeking missile and the AIR-2 Genie unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt nuclear warhead. Entering service in April 1965 the F-104H eventually served with nine squadrons. Whilst the USAF's F-104A's and F-104C's had suffered the highest accident rate of any of the USAF Century Series fighters (25.2 aircraft destroyed per 100,000 flight hours) the F-104H's fared much better and were second only to the Spanish Air Force who actually achieved the perfect safety record of losing none of 21 F-104's over a total of 17,500 flight hours. The F-104H was gradually withdrawn from Aerospace Defense Command service from the late 1970's onwards although two Air National Guard units soldiered on until 1986 when the type was finally retired. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the F-104H folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the F-104H folder into your Decals folder. That's it! CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Thanks to bobrock for the excellent F-104G template. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - December 30th, 2023 Submitter Spinners Submitted 12/30/2023 Category What If Hangar  

Lockheed F-104H Starfighter - 318th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, Aerospace Defense Command, USAF, 1971 On March 15th 1963, two Soviet bombers overflew Alaska and despite a desperate chase the F-102A's of Alaskan Air Command were unable to intercept them. The immediate response to this embarrassing intrusion was to deploy ten F-106A's drawn from various Aerospace Defense Command Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons to Alaska and to recall the remaining F-104A's that had previously been transferred to the Air National Guard back in 1960. Despite the excellence of the F-106A it did come with a pretty hefty price tag and Aerospace Defense Command realised that in order to replace the earlier F-101's and F-102's a cheaper alternative was required. With Lockheed's multi-role F-104G Starfighter in a high-rate of production the relatively low unit cost attracted the attention of the US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara who authorised production of the F-104H a dedicated interceptor version based on the F-104Gand an initial order for 200 was made. The F-104H was powered by the uprated General Electric J79-GE-10 engine rated at 11,905 lbf dry thrust and 17,844 lbf thrust with afterburner although initial deliveries were powered by the earlier J79-GE-8B. The F-104H incorporated the advanced Litton LN-3 inertial navigation system and also featured the Autonetics NASARR F-15J-50 radar and fire control system optimised for the air-to-air mode with all ground-mapping, contour-mapping and terrain-avoidance modes deleted. After some debate, the M61 20mm cannon was retained but the main armament for the F-104H was the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active homing missile, the AIM-9 Sidewinder infra-red heat-seeking missile and the AIR-2 Genie unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt nuclear warhead. Entering service in April 1965 the F-104H eventually served with nine squadrons and was gradually withdrawn from Aerospace Defense Command service from the late 1970's onwards - a relatively short service life. Template Credit: bobrock (you'll find it in the SF1 downloads section). Stock decals apart from the 318th FIS' tail marking. 318STARFIGHTERTAIL.TGA DECALS.ini

I did look at the 'S' but prefer the load outs built into the 'G' including the M61 which I think is covered up in the 'S' conversion I looked at. I also looked at the 'C' as I fancied the refuelling probe but prefer the broader fin on the 'G'. So, for me, the 'G' hit the spot!