F-104A of the SC Air National Guard
F-104A vs the U-2:
"Maj Gen Stan Hood, then Starfighter pilot with South Carolina ANG (SCANG) recalls a high-altitude sortie on which he was launched from five-minute alert status to intercept an ‘intruder’. Not informed of its identity, Hood’s ‘target’ was being trailed by an F- 101 that was flying at 56,000 ft — the Voodoo’s maximum altitude;
`I went by the F-101 at Mach 2. If I’d had communication with that airplane I could have contacted him, but I had no reason to. I could have gone up another 10,000 ft with no trouble at all, but I slowed down with a split-S maneuver at 63,000 ft and returned to base, as I was getting too far south. When I got back I called the F-101 pilot and he said, “Was that you that went by me?” I said, -Where was the real target then?” He replied that it was 15,000 ft above him and 20 miles in front. We were sworn to secrecy, but were later told that the target was a U-2, probably a CIA one, and we had been sent, without partial pressure suits, to establish what it was.
‘Later, Gen Curtis LeMay from the USAF operations staff said, “What is the Air National Guard doing with our only high altitude interceptor? I want those airplanes back on active duty with or without the pilots”. We had recently returned from a nine-month tour in Europe, and as reserve pilots we didn’t want to go back on active duty just so he could have our airplanes. He was told that he could have the airplanes without the pilots, so they gave us the F-102A Delta Dagger instead.’" (ref 1)
The wingtip AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles are from the Monogram 1/72nd scale F-4C/D kit.
Bluntly, this is not one of better efforts. I wanted to gain some more experience with a natural metal finish (NMF) before I tackle a bigger project. Let's call it a 3 footer and enjoy from a distance. 😏
2. History of the South Carolina Air National Guard
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