Aircraft Photo Book N°1 : Lockheed NF-104A

Volume 1 of the series "Aircraft Photobook". In October 1961, just six months after the first manned space flight by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the U.S. Air Force converted its test pilot school on the Edwards Air Force base into the "Aerospace Research Pilots School" (ARPS), which clearly expresses the increasing importance of manned space travel. In order to enable its pilots to conduct flight training in the upper layers of the atmosphere, the U.S. Lockheed Air Force developed a rocket-powered version of the Starfighter, resulting in the NF-104A Aerospace Trainer. Between 1963 and 1971, more than 50 student pilots took the opportunity to use this aircraft to advance to altitudes of 100,000 feet. The volume presents the development, construction and technology of the Lockheed NF-104A in many details