Large Fierce Mammal

For the benefit of those of you unfamiliar with the history of Canadian military aviation, the CF-104 Starfighter, built by Canadair under license from Lockheed, was Canada’s front line fighter deployed to European bases as part of our NATO commitment during the latter part of the cold war. Officially adopted in March 1962, it replaced the Canadair Sabre Mk.6 in 1968 and served until itself being replaced by the CF-18 Hornet in 1987 after which most surviving CF-104′s were sold to Turkey.

A Challenging aircraft to fly, 46% of Canadian Starfighters were lost in accidents. This was a very fast airplane being operated at low altitudes in European weather conditions where, if you don’t fly in crap, you don’t fly. Even so, those who flew and maintained the Starfighter thought highly of it and, by the time it was replaced with the CF-18 Hornet, the average CF-104 airframe had 6000 hours on it as compared with the 2000 hours of the next highest time air force, the German Luftwaffe.


I am presently in the pre-production and screen testing phase of a documentary film called “The F Word”, commemorating the 2009 centennial of powered flight in Canada. Flight sequences are being shot using flight simulation software, specifically Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and X-Plane by Laminar Research. As screen tests proceed, I will be posting the results here, as well as on YouTube and SimTube, just for fun.

So, if you enjoy history, airplanes, things that go fast, and loud noises, not to mention kick-ass travelling music, try on The F Word – Screen Test 1 featuring the exceptional and accurately modelled Captain Sim “Legendary F-104″ wearing my personally applied RCAF colours based on the black and white photo below courtesy of the Canadian Starfighter Association. Click on the photo to view it full size, and turn up your sound before watching the movie.