916 Starfighter

YF-104A "52961" FG-961 of NACA High-Speed Flight Station (HSFS) on Rogers Dry Lake (Edwards AFB) July 9, 1957

YF-104A, construction number 1007, serial number 55-2961, built by Lockheed

ready for delivery April 12, 1956, acceptance by USAF July 31, 1956, delivery date August 21, 1956, NASA 961 arrived on loan at NACA High Speed Flight Station (HSFS) on August 23, 1956.
First flight with NACA August 27, 1956, piloted by the famous Joe Walker. It was re-designated to JF-104A; it flew various test missions including tests for the X-15 program
used as reaction control system (RCS) test aircraft. The NASA obtained the aircraft officially in 1971 and the aircraft got NASA registration "818" which changed into N818NA soon after.
Put in storage on December 7.1973. It was put in storage at Edwards between December 7, 1973 and early 1974 since the NASA had enough more modern F-104N and G aircraft in operation.
Last Flight with NASA August 26, 1975. On November 18, 1975 it was officially withdrawn from use.
Pilot Don Mallik delivered the aircraft on November 18, 1975 to Andrews AFB for the Smithsonian Institution National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Washington DC, for permanent display,
where it arrived in April 1976; delivery flight by NASA pilot Don Mallik to Andrews AFB, Maryland, which was the 1.444 flight of the airframe; 2007 noted
stored in the closed "America by Air" Gallery, July 15, 2020 last noted.

It was Monday, August 27, 1956, at the NACA High-Speed Flight Station (HSFS) located at Edwards Air Force Base. Several employees anxiously watched as crew chief Dick Payne made sure that chief test pilot Joe Walker was properly
strapped in the cockpit of the HSFS's newest research aircraft, the No. 7 F-104, SN 55-2961.
As Walker taxied the aircraft off the ramp onto the dry lakebed runway for take-off, anxiety began to build. Soon the canopy closed, the pilot moved the throttle forward and the aircraft responded to the thrust of its powerful
state-of-the-art jet engine.
This first NACA flight lasted approximately 30 minutes, and it ushered in a legacy that would span portions of five decades, ending February 3, 1994. It was the legacy of the "Starfighter.