XF-104 FG-786 (37786) during pre-flight preperations

XF-104, construction number 083-1002, serial number 53-7787, built by Lockheed

The second prototype 53-7787 was fitted with the afterburning J65 from the start.
Since it was to be the armament test bed, it was fitted with the 20-mm Vulcan cannon and was equipped with an AN/ASG-14T-1 fire control system.
Initial aerial firing tests with the Vulcan cannon were successful,
but on December 17, 1954 there was an explosion during a firing burst (supersonic at 43,000 feet), and the J65 engine started to run rough.
Test pilot Tony LeVier immediately shut down his engine and glided back to make a successful dead-stick landing at Rogers Dry Lake.
An investigation later showed that one of the 20 mm cannon rounds had exploded in the breech,
blowing the bolt out the rear of the gun and into the forward fuselage fuel cell.
Jet fuel gushed into the gun bay, and leaked out of the gun bay door joints and into the left engine air intake.
The engine immediately flooded with fuel, choking it to death. Tony LeVier was lucky to be alive.

Tony LeVier note: This was the most difficult and stressful forced landing of my flying career, gliding 50 miles!

copyright © Lockheed archive