Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter – Marineflieger MFG 2, NAS Eggebeck, Germany, 1985

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA1062: Lockheed TF-104G 2 seat Starfighter 27+79 of Marineflieger MFG 2, NAS Eggebeck, Germany, 1985. Production run of 700 models.

Length 9.25 inches  Wingspan 3.75 inches

Of the 916 F-104s Germany received 137 of the 220 TF-104G variants produced. The TF-104G was designed as a training aircraft that had no cannons, no center-pylon and reduced internal fuel. About 151 F-104Gs were assigned to the Marinefliege’s two naval attack squadrons, Marinefliegergeschwader MFG 1 and 2 for maritime strike and reconnaissance roles. Both squadrons were based at Naval Air Station Eggebeck. Deliveries of the F-104 took place from 1960 until 1973. F-104G 27+79 was manufactured as 5908 and at the end of its German service it went to Greece.

Designed to meet a need for an aircraft that could successfully compete against the MiG-15 in Korea, the F-104 Starfighter was first flown on February 20, 1958. American pilots believed that the F-86 Sabre was too large and complex to outmaneuver the lighter MiG, and they wanted a smaller, simpler, high-performance aircraft to replace it. The resulting design was a light, aerodynamic airframe wrapped around a powerful J79 turbojet engine. The F-104C was used by the USAF from 1958 until 1967, but most of the 2,578 production Starfighters were built and flown by members of NATO, including the Italian Air Force, which didn’t retire it until 2004.