Honolulu, HI — The Lockheed F-104A Starfighter, Serial No. 56-817, arrived at Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor May 9, joining the museum’s expanding collection.
The Starfighter is on long-term loan from the Museum of Aviation Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia, and is the 43rd aircraft to join the museum’s collection of historical aircraft. It was transported by Pasha Hawaii and will be displayed in Hangar 79.
“This record-breaking aircraft has quite the history and we’re pleased to give it a new home,” said Museum Executive Director Kenneth DeHoff.
The Starfighter went into production in 1956 and was the first combat aircraft capable of easily sustaining twice the speed of sound. It held simultaneous world records for speed, altitude, and rate of climb. Due to its length of 54’ 9” and wingspan of only 21’ 11,” it was dubbed the Missile with a Man in It. The Starfighter served in the USAF from 1958 through 1975, as well as with several allied air forces around the world, including Japan.
Gen. Chuck Yeager famously displayed the “right stuff” during a high-altitude, record-breaking ascent in a rocket-assisted F-104, climbing to the edge of space at more than 100,000 feet.
Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor is open 9 am to 5 pm daily except Christmas, New Year’s and Thanksgiving days, and is accessed by shuttles from the USS Arizona Memorial/Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Visitors from all over the world view the 40-plus aircraft in the museum’s two World War II hangars, see the Ford Island Control Tower and Luke Field, enjoy hands-on technology experiences including combat flight simulators, hear stories told by aviation docents, and see historic films and video displays.
For more information: 808-441-1000 or PacificAviationMuseum.org