Ready Zippers _F-104_Circa 1958
Twenty-two single-seat Lockheed F-104A and a pair of two-seat F-104B Starfighters are readied for delivery at the Lockheed Aircraft facility in Palmdale, California, in January 1958. In two of the aircraft on the left, the General Electric J79-GE-3A engine has been removed, while one of the 9,300 pound thrust engines is readied for installation in another. Curiously, the removable one-piece tail section for one of the F-104As (56-0818) appears to have been pulled (or is being installed) on the aircraft bearing a different buzz number (FG-793, i.e. 56-0793). A total of 153 F-104As and twenty-six F-104Bs were built for the US Air Force. The Starfighter was unofficially—but widely known—as the Zipper for its Mach 2 top speed. lockheedmartin/codeone