Flight in Starfighter Jet Said Fast, Astonishing Page in History
I plane
Lt.
run away with him " Ihis plane, grinned. And I
Sensen. standing beside I think he winked.
(Editor't not: From iha
waspish Messtrschmitts of
Hitler's Air Force to American-built
Starfighter Jets
flown by West Germany's
1962 aces is a fast. - and
astonishing page In the
history of our times. In
this dispatch a UPI reporter
tells of a flight with one
of the new German mill
tary pilots in a Starfighter.
in which he took oyer con
trol of the plane for a time,
and what German fliers
think of the plane).
MEDFORDJSiTRIBUNE
SECTION B MEDFORD. OREGON, THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1962
PAGES 1 to 8
By CAY BROCKDORFF
United Press International
Noervcnich. Germany-flJPD-Licut.
Hermann Sensen, con
fident, crewcut and 24 years
old, gunned the jet engine.
Quieting, as if about to take
his automobile around the
corner, he said "Let's go."
He unlocked the brakes and
with a roar the Luftwaffe jet
shot forward.
Barely 90 seconds later the
American-designed jet fight
er, its iron cross glinting in
stark contrast to its silver
fuselage, was gliding smooth
ly above the Rhine river at
nn altitude of 26,000 feet.
Found Out
I had always wondered
what it was like to fly in a
supersonic jet. I found out in
those 90 seconds.
At takeoff the plane had
moved a few feet down the
runway when something hap
pened that slammed me,
strapped into the co-pilnts
seat, back into my seat with
nearly crushing force.
Pushing the throttle to its
most forward position, Sen
sen had ignited the two-stage
afterburner in split second
intervals. Then, long flames
spouting from its tailpipe,
the needle-nosed F104 "Star
fighter" raced screaming
down the runway.
After a short, 1, 700-foot
run, it was airborne. Sensen
retracted gear and flaps and
nosed us up into the sky like
a rocket-
There was continuous
acceleration as the plane
zoomed up and up, increas
ing speed like a race car on
a flat road.
The altimeter needle, indi
cating the plane's climb,
circled madly as the jet
crashed the sound barrier
even before reaching the peak
of its skybound trajectory.
Leveling off in a deep blue
sky, Sensen, his even breath
ing sounding reassuring
through the supersensitive
communication system, an
nounced "You have just wit
nessed what we call a full
afterburner's climb out."
The Lockheed-d e s i g n e d
F104, picked by West Ger
many to become its standard
jet interceptor and tactical
nuclear strike bomber, estab
lished a world record with its
incredible one and one half
minute performance from
standstill to 26,000 feet.
The airplane was chosen by
German Air Force Chief of
Staff Gen. Joseph Kammhu
ber for its outstanding per
formance and ability to carry
an enormous quantity of elec
tronic gear.
The young pilots of the
new Germany call it a "pilot's
plane."
"She handles beautifully
and when it comes to per
formance there is nothing,
just nothing like it," Sensen
said.
Germany's still fledgling
Luftwaffe will eventually
fly 12 interceptor, fighter
bomber and reconnaissance
wings equipped with the bullet-shaped
Starfighter, whose
short trapeze-shaped wings
feature razor-sharp edges pro
tected on the ground by felt
lined metal covers.
Sensen, one of the best su
personic pilots of the Luft
waffe, was picked to check
out German pilots with ex
perience on slower jets and
get them used to the hot new
plane.
Mach Two Run
Our jet had hardly leveled
off at 26,000 feet when Sen
sen's voice was again over
the intercom. "Here comes
the Mach two run," he an
nounced. Hardly had he spo
ken before the afterburner,
spouting more flames, kicked
the F104 through the sky In
another fantastic hurst of
acceleration.
The Machmeter, indicating
the plane's velocity relative to
the speed of sound, hit Mach
1.6 and Mach 18 in barely a
few seconds.
"Mach two (twice ti e speed
of sound)," Sensen said
through his microphone. 'I'll
cut out the afterburner."
Hurtling through the wild
blue yonder at 1.400 miles per
hour, we might have been sit
ting in a glider as far as rim
fort and sense of motion was
concerned.
Climb Mora
"We'll use our speed to
climb some more," said Sen
sen. And again we nosed
upward until the plane's al
timeter needle indicated 50,
000 feet.
"If you want to lake her
now go ahead," said Sensen.
"And don't worry. I'll help
you before you get into
trouble."
Timidly, but with a feeling
of immense exhilaration, I
"took her." With Sensen giv
ing tense attention I guided
the plane through several
careful banks.
My confidence built up by
Sensen's encouraging "try
some more," I rolled the Star
fighter. first slowly, then fas
ter. The plane responded
smoothly under my inexperi
enced hands.
"Now climb," Sensen or
: dered- At the same time he
I indicated that I should jerk
the stick back. I did and the
stick started bucking wildly.
Sensen later explained that
the "bucking" was a built-in
automatic warning.
"It tells us in time of a full
power stallout common in
some of the very fast jets," he
said.
The plane, meanwhile, had
slowed 'under Sensen's guid
ance to just under the sound
barrier.
"We must not go through
the sonic barrier at under
36,000 feet or hell is breaking
loose when we get back,"
Sensen said. "We will have
complaints over windows bro
ken by the iconic boom."
lt was the smoothest land
ing I had ever experienced,
scores nf airline landings in
cluded. Major !i;tns Ulrich Flarie,
the squadron leader, was
waiting as the canopy was
opened and our oxygen masks
unfastened for the first gulps
of fresh air. We had been up
and down in just 43 minutes.
"The men we need to pilot
this airplane must stay on
top of it," the major said.
"This is a psychological pre
requisite to which pilot skill
is secondary. Never must the
pilot let this extraordinary
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