04.01.05 Special Edition: The United States Air Force took delivery of the last Lockheed F-104D Starfighter in ceremonies that were conducted late Friday, April 1st, 2005.

Rumored for weeks, an OMB and DoD investigation finally revealed that Lockheed had actually been paid for, but never delivered, the final F-104D (a two seat version of the F-104C) in the final delivery cycle that was concluded in August of 1959. The F-104D (Lockheed Model 383-04-06) was the two-seat combat trainer version of the F-104C, bearing the same relationship to the F-104C as the F-104B did to the original F-104A.

When the discrepancy was brought to the attention of Lockheed-Martin officials (and later disseminated to the American Public via an ANN reporter), it was discovered that returning the funds expended for the aircraft for the aircraft had compounded (with interest) to a fairly astronomical sum of money... but that some vague wording in the contract allowed Lockheed to go ahead and deliver the final aircraft instead (for a total expenditure that wound up being considerably less than the estimated refund would have cost them).

The F-104D was the last USAF version of the speedy Starfighter to built. Some 21 F-104Ds were delivered from November 1958 to August of 1959. Each of these aircraft were delivered to four squadrons of the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing that were already flying F-104Cs. An additional 83 F-104Ds were ordered under FY 1957 funding... an order that was almost completely cancelled when the USAF was forced to terminate Starfighter procurement -- sans one airframe.

Surprisingly; the Air Force is thrilled with the news. "We have pilots lining up around Edwards AFB to fly this thing," noted Brigadier General Charles "Yuck" Cheager. "There is serious consideration being given to using this aircraft as a recruiting vehicle... for every pilot that wants to fly this beast, he or she has to agree to re-up for another 6 years. So far, we have more takers than we can accommodate... so much so, that we're thinking of asking Lockheed-Martin to build us a few more. Hell, we're even thinking of asking for a few new F-105s, to boot. 'Can't wait to get my hands on that SOB..."

The Air Force is currently collecting training docs and records for the F-104 in order to qualify the first series of IPs for the bird. The first class will be taught by Brigadier General Robert A. "Bob" Hoover, who was recently called back to active duty, and promoted, in order to get the first class of F-104 Starfighter flyers off to a good start. Hoover notes that he's looking forward to returning to active duty for a few months and appreciated the chance to enjoy his new rank among his friends... many of whom retired with the rank of Colonel...

FMI: www.starfightersRus.com