Hobby Master HA1008 1:72 F-104G German Air Force, Jabog 31 "Boelcke"

Hobby Master HA1008 1:72 F-104G German Air Force, Jabog 31 "Boelcke"

The F-104 Starfighter was a revolutionary design with short razor-sharp wings. It was the first aircraft to be able to maintain Mach 2 not just in short bursts. The Starfighter shattered speed and rate of climb records that still are impressive today. This extremely high speed earned the plane the nickname “The Missile With A Man In It”. Because of financial considerations 15 or more countries purchased the F-104. The Starfighter flew with the USAF in 1958 and the last airplane was decommissioned in Italy in 2004.

The German Air Force purchased about 1/3 of all F-104s produced, 915. The first
operational unit to receive the Starfighter was Jagdbombergeschwader 31 "Boelcke"
(JBG31), in 1961. This is the oldest flying unit in the present day Luftwaffe and named in memory of Hauptmann Boelcke who was a WWI ace many times over. He also helped develop many of the fighter tactics still used today. April 1982 Luftwaffe F-104Gs surpassed 200,00 flight-hours. Because the F-104 was such a difficult aircraft to fly JGB 31 lost 18 planes killing 14 pilots.