Flight 3 of the F-104 Trilogy has landed. ALL JETs ORDERED ON 10/31 COME WITH A BONUS STICKER.
Each F-104 Flight (release) celebrates a different chapter in the F-104's remarkable legacy. Collect all three JETs or all three Air Drops (at shopairdrops.com) and we'll include a special bonus item with your Flight 3 shipment. The bonus item(s) for JETs and Air Drops are different. The bonus item will be available until Flight 3 ships.
Flight 3 celebrates the F-104's flight-test/Edwards AFB history.
The F-104
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a lightweight, high-performance fighter developed by Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works. First flown in 1954, the Starfighter’s slender fuselage, razor-thin wings and powerful General Electric J79 engine gave it exceptional climb performance and speeds exceeding Mach 2. The “missile with a man in it” entered service in 1958 and served as both an interceptor and tactical fighter - later becoming an important Cold War aircraft for numerous allied air forces around the world.
Flight 3 is cut from a horizontal stabilizer we dug out of the sand earlier this year. It still wore its original exterior grey paint and Lockheed C/N 1043: F-104A 56-0755 (FG-755), an Edwards chase plane confirmed on both the X-15 and XB-70. The jet itself survives at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA. We’re working to pin down exactly which X-15 flights 755 chased, and we’ll publish what we find.
JETs Vol. 26–30 comes in five variants: Thin (single layer grey or raw), Riveted (full rivets through the tag), Structured (thick with fasteners and additional structure), Trailing Edge (double sided cut right at the trailing edge of the stab), and Leading Edge (featuring solid steel elements).
You can’t do a chase plane without featuring what it chased. 8380 Laboratories drew up the 104 chasing an X-15 and an XB-70. Choose your card and tag art before adding the JET to your cart. Tag art options: Color Printed, Planform, or Sketch.
*Trailing Edge come with art on both sides: Planform on one + the art you choose on the other.
*Color Printed art is only available on the Thin, Stencil, and Trailing Edge tags.
TRAPs
TRAPs (smaller unserialized tags) are for sale as well with the choice of Color Printed or Sketch Art. Or, buy any combination of F-104 JETs on 10/31 and get a free TRAP in your Flight 3 order (max of 2 per customer, will come with laser etched Sketch art). All Flights are eligible (Flight 1: F-104J, Flight 2: USAF F-104A, and Flight 3: F-104A Flight-test).
The artwork on the TRAPs hang card will primarily be X-15 with a few holographic XB-70 cards fulfilled randomly.
Flight 3 is limited to 300 JETs.
