An aircraft that was in service in the Spanish Air Force between 1965 and 1972

A Spanish F-104 Starfighter pilot shows us this exceptional supersonic fighter

Esp 1·07·2025 · 21:08 0

Of all the fighters that Spain has operated, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is one of those that left the best memories in its pilots.

The history of the F-104 Starfighter that the Spanish Air Force keeps at Torrejón Air Base
El Basilio: an incident that tested the cutting wings of a Spanish F-104 fighter

The F-104 Starfighter made its first flight on March 4, 1954, a few months after the end of the Korean War and taking on some of the lessons learned from pilots who fought in air battles over that peninsula. The F-104 was a supersonic aircraft capable of reaching 2,125 km/h (Mach 1.7) and with a flight ceiling of 15,000 meters. The aircraft entered service in 1958 in the US Air Force. Its last operator, the Aeronautic Militare Italiana, had it in service until October 2004. 2,578 units of this fighter were built.

The Lockheed F-104G Starfighter preserved at Torrejón Air Base. This aircraft was built in Montreal, Canada, by the Canadair company. It arrived at Rota Naval Base on June 6, 1965 and received the Spanish military registration C.8-12. During its operational life it wore the numbers 161-22, 104-22 and 104-12. It was retired from service on May 31, 1972. Returned to the USAF, it was delivered to the Greek Air Force on June 14, 1972, receiving the number FG-643. It made its last flight on May 20, 1992. In October 2017 it was recovered by the Spanish Air Force and underwent a restoration process that culminated in April 2018 (Photo: Ejército del Aire).

The Spanish Air Force took delivery of 21 F-104s (18 single-seater F-104Gs and 3 two-seater TF-104G trainers). The first seven (5 single-seater F-104Gs and 2 two-seater TF-104Gs) arrived at Rota Naval Base on 15 January 1965, aboard an American aircraft carrier. The Spanish pilots demonstrated great skill with this fighter, as they did not lose any of the 21, unlike what happened in Germany: the Luftwaffe lost 292 of its 916 F-104s in accidents (with 116 pilots killed), receiving the nickname "Witwenmacher" (Widow Maker).

The Lockheed F-104G Starfighter on display at the Cuatro Vientos Air Museum in a photo taken in April 2011. Coming from the Luftwaffe's JABoG 36, the starboard half of the aircraft was initially painted with the decoration that the C.8-15 / 104-15 had when it served in the Spanish Air Force's Wing 12, based in Torrejón de Ardoz. The port half is preserved with its German decoration and the numeral 26+23. In 2017 this aircraft was restored, being decorated in both halves as a Spanish fighter with the numeral 104-02 and registration C.8-02 (Photo: Elentir).

Spain only had its F-104s in service for seven years (1965-1972), being replaced by the more modern McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II, a model that arrived in Spain in 1971. Today, the Association of Friends of the Air Museum has published an interesting video of the F-104 of the Cuatro Vientos Air Museum in Madrid (registration C.8-02 and number 104-02), in which one of the former Spanish pilots of this fighter model, Captain (R) Rafael de Madariaga Fernández, talks about this exceptional fighter (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

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Main photo: Peitzmeier Archive.

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