F-104A "60863" S.C. AIR GUARD 157 Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (ANG), Congaree AP, South Carolina 1960

F-104A, construction number 183-1151, model 183-93-02, US serial number 56-0863, built by Lockheed
delivery date October 1958; 56th FIS October 1958-November 1959; 538th FIS November 1959-May 1960
157th FIS May 1960-June 1963; 331st FIS ADC June 1963-November 1963; crashed November 26, 1963 with 331st FIS Webb AFB, Texas
56-863 "City of Dallas" which crashed on November 26, 1963, four days after Kennedy was killed. Each of the 104's at Webb was named after a Texas city. 
Just a few days after President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, the F-104 "City of Dallas" was experiencing landing gear problems 
ilot McDowell encountered "Split Flaps" due to a failed flap motor and broken crossover shaft, the pilot McDowell was killed.
The plane crashed inverted, in full burner at about a 60 degree angle. Crashed on Webb AFB damaging also 2 other aircraft on the ground being 56-866 and 56-849.

After rolling out on final he went to the land position and experienced a BLC roll off which he couldn't trim out, but was controllable.
He elected to go around, and this is where his fate was sealed. He added power, retracted the gear, and went from Land flaps to TO flaps.
Mobile control said that both trailing edge flaps appeared to be in the land position. This is when the failure occurred.
One side stayed somewhere between land and TO, and other side went to TO. The aircraft crashed inverted in front of the ops building about 300 feet out.

copyright © Boyd Waechter