Stratos

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

The F104M 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 F104M was a 1960s company-funded proposal for an improved air superiority Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. It was intended for both the USAF and the export market and was in direct competition with the Northrop F-5E Tiger II, Dassault Mirage F1 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. 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 new high-mounted, increased span wing and low-mounted, enlarged tailplanes. Both features were incorporated to improve flight handling characteristics and short-field performance. The F104M was heavily focused for the USAF, trying to sell it as a improved dogfighter variant of the F104 interceptor. Seeing how the F104 small payload and relatively low agility can be a problem If dogfight capability ever arise, the USAF decided to try several prototypes. They liked the plane so much that several squadrons were equipped with the plane that formed part of the USAF until mid 70's. Included: One plane with several skins and variations.