Problems with the Flying Lab

The U.S. Air Force rates Lockheed's needle-nosed F-104 as its finest interceptor. But in West Germany, the Starfighter has won a different label: "the flying coffin."

The Luftwaffe's fleet of some 700 modified Lockheeds has been decimated by crashes. Last week the 60th and 61st went down. The losses--26 alone in 1965--have created a public furor in West Germany, and subjected the Luftwaffe to severe criticism.

The trouble dates back to 1958, when former Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss, hoping to win a bigger voice for West Germany in NATO, picked the free world's hottest plane. In order to stretch the F-104's capabilities into those of a bomber, the Germans installed so much additional electronic gear that pilots called the plane "a flying physics laboratory."

It has proved far too sophisticated a plane for West Germany's fledgling 100,000-man air force. The new Luftwaffe pilots were either overage World War II veterans with almost no jet experience or untried youngsters. A greater problem was maintenance personnel. More than one-third were draftees, who barely learned their jobs before their 18 months' service was finished. Poor maintenance has kept an average two-thirds of the Starfighters grounded, and pilots have not gotten sufficient practice to master the plane. While NATO procedures recommend 20 flying hours per month for F-104 pilots, the Luftwaffe average has been 13 or less.

The Luftwaffe's problems have been compounded by its NATO-assigned mission: to fly under the Soviet radar net and toss 100-kiloton U.S.-owned A-bombs on tactical targets. Such a mission calls for great skill in low-level flying, the most dangerous altitude for speedy jets. Germany's poor weather has made learning the art especially hazardous.

Pay Raise. Under prodding from outraged politicians, the Luftwaffe is working at top speed to improve its safety record. Pilot training has been transferred to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, where in clear skies seasoned U.S. instructors are teaching German cadets how to handle one of the world's most unforgiving airplanes. The Luftwaffe is setting up a new maintenance system in Germany that will depend heavily on private German aerospace companies to service the Starfighter's electronic gear. Pilots' pay has been almost doubled, to $137.50 a month. The improvements are coming none too soon. The number of volunteers for Luftwaffe pilot training has nosedived from 471 in 1957 to only 134 last year.

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