Modified with rockets and reaction controls, the NF-104A climbed to 118,000 feet in half an hour, training pilots for spaceflight. Chuck Yeager, Jack Woodman, and Robert Smith pushed the Starfighter ...

The man / by Dominick A. Pisano -- The aircraft / by F. Robert van der Linden -- The engine / by Frank H. Winter -- The flights / by F. Robert van der Linden -- The celebrity hero / by Dominick A.

Armed with Sidewinders and radar, the F-104 was designed to launch from the edge of the stratosphere. It didn’t turn well, but it got there faster than anything else on Earth. Trump promised lower ...

The Pentagon funded the YF-22 over the cheaper YF-23 when they knew it was a far more problematic warplane—purely out of a desire to keep Lockheed Martin alive. The late United States Air Force ...