Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA1069
F-104G Starfighter 4301, 7th FS., ROCAF, CCK AFB, early 1990s
 
General Background
The F-104 Starfighter was the first aircraft to be able to maintain Mach 2 not just in short bursts. The Starfighter shattered speed and rate of climb records that still are impressive today. This extremely high speed earned the plane the nickname “The Missile With A Man In It”. The F-104 was operated by approximately 15 countries. The Starfighter first flew with the USAF in 1958 and the last airplane was decommissioned in Italy in 2004.
 
The Aircraft 
The first F-104 delivered to the ROCAF was F-104G Starfighter 4301 c/n 683C-4054, model 683-10-19, U.S. serial 62-12250. In 1963 the aircraft received an ROCAF code of 4301 and assigned to the 8th TFS / 3 Wing CCK (Ching Chuan Kang) AB. Later the aircraft was transferred to the 7th TFS “Wolf” Squadron where it operated until March 1991 when it was withdrawn from service with 5,317 flight hours. A decommissioning ceremony for ROCAF F-104s was held on May 22, 1998 at CCK AB where 4301 is the Gate Guard.