F-104N "NASA 812" chasing lifting body "NASA 803", simulating future shuttle landing 19725, gliding to a landing on Rogers Dry Lake, adjacent to the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB after a research flight

F-104N, construction number 683C-4053, model 683-10-19, a F-104G model, built by Lockheed, registered N812NA
NASA 812 [N812NA] F-104N was officially delivered to the NASA in July 1963 but was added to the official NASA list on September 30th, 1963
and eventually flown over to the NASA facility (by Joe Walker) on October 1, 1963 for high speed chase flights coded NASA 012
from the beginning it flew with code "012" and very bright NASA color scheme. In 1970 it was resprayed into the well known white-dark blue-light blue
scheme which later on changed into white-blue-white. It got also recoded into N812NA
The last big project for N812NA as chase plane was the X-29 development program which was in 1985. Its operational career ended on December 29, 1986
when NASA pilot Einar Enevoldson made the last flight and wrote the last of 4.442 flights in total in the aircraft logbook.
The NASA stored the N812NA at Edwards and used it also for spare parts to keep the other 104s in the air
After the last Starfighter operations within the NASA ended also this N812NA was dropped from the inventory and was prepared to become a display aircraft
First at USAF Flight Test Museum at Edwards AFB till at least 1997, then it moved to Lockheed-Martin in Palmdale as Gate Guard where they converted
the aircraft into an XF-104 replica by removing some vital parts including inlet-cones and top fairing
It was put on display in 2002 near Plant 42 "Skunk Works" in bare metal with no markings, with intake cones removed; September 2005 preserved repainted as NASA 812 at Palmdale
carrying the old NASA colors with code "012". They did not change it back to standard F-104G/N but the inlet cones were just painted instead, August 2, 2009 noted
Gate Guard at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co, Palmdale, CA May 2021 noted; August 2023 last noted.

34°36'34.26"N118° 6'59.59"W

copyright © NASA archive