In the tradition of the "In Action Series" these titles provide outstanding photographic coverage over a wide range of aircraft types. Images are drawn from many private collections and archives to depict the title feature in its historical surroundings. In addition, each volume features original cover art, full color profiles, detailed scale drawings, scrap art and essential descriptive text to bring these histories to life. This book tells the story of the the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter which was a single-engine, high-performance, supersonic interceptor aircraft originally developed for the United States Air Force by Lockheed at their famous Skunk Works. One of the Century Series of aircraft, it served with the USAF from 1958 until 1969, and continued with Air National Guard units until it was phased out in 1975. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flew a small mixed fleet of F-104 types in supersonic flight tests and spaceflight programs until they were retired in 1994. USAF F-104C's saw service during the Vietnam War, and F-104A aircraft were deployed by Pakistan briefly during the Indo-Pakistani wars.