Few Jet enthusiasts will not be fascinated by the iconic short, winged F-104 Starfighter. It is no different for me, somewhere around the turn of the century I had one once. It was one made by Arno Donath, it had an epoxy fuselage and foam / balsa wings. Powered by a 90mm EDF back then with a brushed motor and if I remember correctly 14 NiCd cells. The Wingspan was not fully to scale but it was unmistakably a Starfighter. Due to a stupid accident, I did not enjoy it for a long time, but the model flew very well.

Almost twenty years later, inspired by the F-104 from Jetworks Online and Causemann Modellbau, I thought it was time for a new version. Both are mainly built from depron and according to the comments and YouTube videos they both fly very well. Another small push from a friend was enough to get started on the F-104. As always, the F-104 would be built entirely from XPS CNC cut segments, here and there provided with the necessary wood for strength and 3D printed parts for the shape. No compromise would be made in terms of wingspan, so this is full scale and the airfoil also had to look sharp, unlike the commercial F-104 from a well-known Foamie manufacturer with its Clark Y look alike airfoil. Because a Starfighter is supposed to fly as it looks, fast and powerful, that was also a requirement with my F-104. A powerful EDF setup, clean air intakes with no cheater holes and a uncompromising low weight would be my allies to achieve this.

Before building comes designing, it was soon clear that the 104 would get a 90mm EDF with a 6s battery. After some measuring and fitting in Fusion 360 the wingspan was fixed at 75cm without tip tanks, making the 104 about 190cm long, at this size there was also no need to adjust the inlets much for the 90mm EDF. To keep the weight as low as possible, my 104 would not get any landing gear, strictly speaking this is not needed for flying and is therefore unnecessary ballast. What is necessary to fly a plane is the take-off, although the videos of the Causemann 90mm version show that it can be started by hand without any problems, I did not want to count on that too much. A Bungee start is also an option, in my first EDF period in the mid 90's I did it a lot with my EDF jets but that's so nineties and the hassle with the bungee, I just do not want it anymore. So, there is only one option left that is to start on the belly. Due to the long fuselage of the 104, the angle of attack when it is on the ground is small, which is why I had my reservations about rotating during take-off. To raise the nose slightly during take-off, I placed a small retractable wheel at the height of the nose wheel. It weighs almost nothing and turns out to be the ideal solution afterwards.

I can be brief about the construction. Fuselage of XPS segments covered with fiberglass. The wing XPS core as always covered with paper for torsional stiffness. As always, I spend a lot of time working out the construction and preparing the data files for CNC cutting and milling. As a result, I lose little time during cutting, the machine runs for hours and hours but requires little intervention. This also makes models easy to reproduce. Once the parts have been cut, building is very quick and easy, because everything fits together almost like a puzzle, little must be adjusted and measured by hand. The 104 was soon ready for its maiden flight, the weight was barely 2.6 kg unpainted and with a power setup that delivers 3.15 kg thrust according to the specs, the expected performance was very promising.

The day of the maiden flight, almost perfect weather with little wind. I must admit that before the maiden flight of the 104 I was a bit more tense than with the maiden of my other models, I wonder if the small wing had anything to do with that? Dauntlessly, I gave full throttle and the 104 took off like an arrow straight ahead and after fifty meters it was already airborne. Just a few klicks on the elevator needed and the 104 flew like on rails. After a few circuits I became used to the model, the first rolls and loops soon followed. It all seems relaxing but although the 104 flies flawlessly, flying it is quite challenging due to the visibility in the air, probably better with tip tanks mounted. Either way the model looks breath-taking in the air and I absolutely love it. After about four minutes it was time for the landing, I must admit again that before the first landing I was a bit more tense than usual. The 104 approached for landing with an angle of attack as if it were a delta, completely unspectacularly and relatively slow the model landed on its belly. Very satisfied, I carried the model back to the pits. Right now, I have more than 20 flights with the Starfighter, it still looks spectacular in the skies I enjoy flying it low and fast and I'm sure it's one of my favourites for next season. With warm batteries the 104 goes vertical almost immediately after take-off and I love it sooooo... much, YEAH!