F-104G and "The Right Stuff"

[Old Viper Tester]

May 1982: The Ladd Company was at Edwards AFB to shoot some local exteriors and the interiors of the Test Pilot School, control tower and some hangars. An F-104G also came in from the 69th Tac Fighter Training Squadron out of Luke AFB. They wanted the '104 to play the role of the NF-104 "aerospace trainer", re-enacting Chuck Yeager's mishap where he had to bail out after missing the re-entry attitude after the high-altitude zoom climb. The Luftwaffe and the USAF agreed to supply an F-104 from the German training unit at Luke. I think the squadron sent their flagship, hoping to get some screen time for the squadron. The tech advisor noted they couldn't do anything to simulate the rocket motor at the base of the NF-104 vertical tail, but the large "69" on the F-104G tail had to go. Here we see a technician removing the "69" from the tail of 63-13269 on the Edwards AFB transient ramp.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking,

Sven

[Red Dot]

Interesting story Sven, thanks

 

Andy

[Andre B]

I always wanted to build the NF-104. The Right Stuff is still one of the best movies ever. And amazingly Chuck Yeager still lives!

 

/André