Lockheed NF-104A

NF-104A
Lockheed NF-104A, 56-0756, climbing with rocket power
Role	Aerospace trainer
Manufacturer	Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
Designer	Clarence "Kelly" Johnson
First flight	9 July 1963
Introduction	1 October 1963
Retired	June 1971
Primary user	United States Air Force
Number built	3
Unit cost	$5,363,322 (modification cost for all three aircraft)
Developed from	Lockheed F-104 Starfighter

The Lockheed NF-104A was an American mixed power, high-performance, supersonic aerospace trainer that served as a low-cost astronaut training vehicle for the North American X-15 and projected Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar programs.

Three aircraft were modified from existing Lockheed F-104A airframes, and served with the Aerospace Research Pilots School between 1963 and 1971, the modifications included a small supplementary rocket engine and a reaction control system for flight in the upper atmosphere. During the test program, the maximum altitude reached was more than 120,000 feet (36,600 m). One of the aircraft was destroyed in an accident while being flown by Chuck Yeager. The accident was depicted in the book The Right Stuff and the film of the same name.

With the advent of human spaceflight in the early 1960s, the United States Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot's School at Edwards Air Force Base was renamed the Aerospace Research Pilots School (ARPS), with the emphasis on training moving away from the traditional test pilot course to a more spaceflight-oriented curriculum.

A number of standard production F-104 Starfighters were obtained (including F-104D two-seat versions) and used by the ARPS to simulate the low lift/high drag glide approach path profiles of the X-15 and the projected X-20 Dyna-Soar program. These maneuvers were commenced at 12,000 ft (3,700 m) where the F-104 engine was throttled back to 80% power; and with the flaps, speedbrakes and landing gear extended, the aircraft was established in a 30˚ dive with a pull-out for the landing flare starting at 1,500 feet (500 m) above the ground. These glide approaches gave little room for error.