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INTERNATIONAL F-104 SOCIETY

“Zipper” is a magazine fully dedicated to the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. It is published once and a while by the IFS, the International F-104 Society. The contents of “Zipper” may not be reproduced in any way anywhere, in

whole or in part, without prior written permission of the IFS. The IFS, including the publication of "Zipper", is entirely run by volunteers and

has no commercial objectives.

IFS HOMEPAGE http://www.i-f-s.nl/ IFS BULLETIN BOARD http://www.forum4free.com/ifs.html

Introduction

Hello all,

It has been quite some time that a ZIPPER magazine has been released. As you all know the International F-104 Society changed its focus from communication via the ZIPPER magazine to the more up-to-date medium the internet. This means that the ZIPPER magazine which was already modified into a downloadable version, is now only containing stories, reports and other time-less information. This ZIPPER nr 70 is the first issue showing this new layout. We hope you enjoy this ZIPPER!!!!

Kind regards Harry

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USA-Canada tour By Mark Wassenaar

In April this year, Mark Wassenaar travelled to the USA and Canada for business purposes. But aside work he found time to meet some 104s. Here his report with some very nice pictures. I had a long flight to Seattle ahead. Fortunately the airspace above Europe is back to normal (no Iceland volcano ash clouds) and we could even fly over Island on our way to the US. After 10 hours reading, working and watching movies, I landed at SEATAC airport (Seattle-Tacoma). Weather wasn’t that nice and it was rather cold. I have some appointments this afternoon and first was a special one. I had been in contact with Ed Shadle of “The North American Eagle”. Ed is of course famously known due to the documentary on Discovery channel about that project. On my way, I passed Mc Chord AFB, where a lot of C-17’s could be seen, but were not that of interest for me. The NAE has a small hangar at a small airfield in Spanaway. It is a funny sight to see those small aircraft standing in front of home where normally cars are parked. Ed was working in the hangar and while it was pouring outside, we had time to admire the F-104 and talk about the project. It is great to see the effort and time (and money!) they put into this project. They have done 28 runs with the F-104 so far and went to a maximum speed of 400 mph. In some week time, they want to go for MACH 0.85!!

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It was great to meet Ed personally and hear him talk about this project. He bought the aircraft from Steve Alex and is still a lot in contact within the 104‐community for spare parts etc. After the North American Eagle visit, I had made an appointment at Olympia to see their stored F‐104A 56‐0786 in Jordanian AF colors. I had miscalculated the time it

took me to get to Olympia and due to a sudden back problem, I decided to skip this visit and head straight to the Museum of Flight in Seattle at Boeing Field. It is an impressive museum, but due to my soar back it was a hit and run action. In that museum is of course the F‐104C 56‐0394 as “N820NA” on display. This is a well

known one. A shame that it is in these fake colors! Beside the museum there was a nice E‐3C, a brand new P‐8A Posseidon and a B737 wedgetail of the Australian Air

Force outside.

After spending a day at our US head office, I had to take an early flight to Toronto in Canada the next day. I was beautiful weather in Toronto when I arrived and decided to drive to the Canadian command and Staff College located in North York, which is some 15 minutes drive from the international airport. On Google Earth it looked like CF‐104D 104652 was easy accessible, but it is placed in a closed of park within the college. After asking nicely, it was no problem to take some pictures.

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While leaving the college, the security personal called me back. What is wrong, I thought, but they wanted to know if I would have any F‐104 pictures in tiger c/s…….

Off course!! They asked me to send them a nice collection of tigermeet F‐104’s!!

As my congress started in the afternoon, I had some time on this Saturday morning to go to Markham. I had made contact with Allan Rubin and made an appointment with him. While entering the small airfield you directly encounter two CF‐5D’s, a CT‐133 and …. Starfighters…

After meeting Alan, he first showed his office c.q. museum. He had some nice ejection seats on display, but also a rare VICON reconnaissance pod.

After that we had to hurry to the airfield as a storm was approaching. Very impressive is the line of stored CF‐5 fuselages. He still has plans to bring some of those (especially the CF‐5D) into the air one day. It was no problem to take some pictures of these CF‐5’s, but the one behind this line which were in a worse state were not allowed to photograph, together with some dumped CT‐133… Also there are the remains of a DC4, a Norseman and a Cornell. At the end of these CF‐5’s are the stored F‐104’s. On the next pages photos of them being the Turkish CF-104D 104658 as “8-658”, the ex Belgium Air Force F-104G FX-99 and finally two BDRT CF-104D fuselages of 104643 (camouflaged) and 104644 (bare metal).

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As it can be seen, it is far from complete and is to be used as sparesource for the 62‐0658 which they still want to take into the air someday. That one has not been de‐militarized. Only the engine is missing.

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This one is quit complete and looks very good. Alan is planning in repainting this one.

Here some other rare birds in the collection of Allan

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Then I was just back in time with my car before it started raining very hard. That is also the reason that some pictures are quit dark, but you don’t hear me complain. A great set of nice aircraft here in one place. I knew that on the other end of Toronto, there was an airshow at Hamilton airport, where of course also two CF‐104’s can be found, but duty was calling again and I

headed back to downtown Toronto. It was a nice opportunity to visit this part of the US and Canada and with a very good result.

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Crashsite visit By Laura Mowry (Edwards AFB News)

On May 5th, 2010, Norvin “Bud” Evans visited the crashsite where he ejected from his F-104A back in 1959, after encountering technical problems..

When Norvin "Bud" Evans' F-104A chase aircraft went down in 1959, he was dragged 40 yards through the Pancho Barnes' Happy Bottom Riding Club dump. In April 23rd, the retired Air Force major returned to Edwards to visit the crash site to recover a recently found section of the aircraft. It was Mr. Evans' first visit to the site in 51 years. Although most of the downed aircraft had been recovered during the accident investigation, a well preserved piece of the wing with most of its paint still intact had recently been found just north of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, approximately five miles short of Edwards' main runway.

Accompanied by his family, he recapped the events and emotional details of the crash at the impact site. At the time of the incident, the exact location of the crash site was unknown. Fifty-one years later, "It was interesting to see where the aircraft hit," Mr. Evans said. Still, what matters most for him is that he survived. "Once I realized that I was alive, that was the main thing," he said.

"As a test pilot, you realize that there are going to be some close calls. If you can't handle that, you need to get out of the business," said Mr. Evans.

Bud Evans at Edwards stepping in an F-104 Starfighter for a test flight.

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Although there have been a variety of in-flight emergencies throughout his 38 years of flight testing, this was the only time Mr. Evans had to eject. The Rogers and Rosamond dry lakebeds play a substantial role in providing a safer alternate landing surface for pilots with IFEs, according to Mr. Evans.

"The lakebeds save lives, and a bunch of time and money," he said. The one time Mr. Evans ejected from his aircraft, it was using the Stanley C-1 egress system. The Stanley C-1 was responsible for claiming the lives of 21 pilots. He was the last person to survive the C-1 downward ejection. Two weeks after the incident, it was replaced by the Lockheed C-2 upward ejection egress system. "I'm just glad I lived to complain about it," Mr. Evans said with a big smile.

Retired Maj. Norvin "Bud" Evans stands in front of a piece of his F-104A, which crashed in 1959. Major Evans visited the crash site April 23 to recover the recently found section of the aircraft. It was his first visit to the site in 51 years. (Air Force photo by Laura Mowry)

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At the time of the crash, he was flying a chase mission for an F-11F because the F-104A was the only aircraft capable of Mach 2, or just shy of 1,500 mph. During takeoff, he said he noticed some slight irregularities.

"The engine was a little rough and the takeoff wasn't as smooth, but I didn't think much of it, that's just how the F-104 is." About 60 miles west of Edwards, Mr. Evans began to experience abnormal vibrations in the aircraft and a loss of oil pressure at Mach 1.87, so he decided to return to the base. The malfunction that occurred was not unusual for the early models of the General Electric J79 engine that both the F-11F and F-104A used. After experiencing his in-flight emergency, Mr. Evans prepared to land at Edwards. Traveling at an altitude of approximately 15,000 feet and a speed of 450 mph, he realized that the aircraft was going to overshoot the runway. To slow his speed, he tapped the speed brake. "That was a big mistake, that's when everything went wrong," he said. Almost immediately, the engine stopped, radio contact was lost, the fire warning light came on, and smoke filled the cockpit. The aircraft suddenly fell 7,500 feet and the speed dropped to 275 mph. Seconds later, he was able to see the ground through the top of the canopy. At approximately 4,000 feet above ground level, only one thought crossed Mr. Evans' mind, he said. "I have to eject-now." The ejection and subsequent touch-down caused him to break multiple vertebrae. His flight suit was practically shredded after being dragged 40 yards through broken bottles and tin cans in the dump at Pancho's. Mr. Evans took several weeks to recover from his injuries.

Looking out at the remains of the Happy Bottom Riding Club dump, 51 years later, glass bottles and rusted tin cans still mark the site where Evans ejected. Amongst the rubble was an oxygen hose from the 1950s. Could it be? Fifty-one years later, Mr. Evans has survived the crash and is still able to pick up the pieces, laugh, joke, and even complain a little. .

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