916 Starfighter

YF-104A "52956" in clean configuration

YF-104A, construction number 1002, serial number 55-2956, built by Lockheed

On February 16, 1956, the second YF-104A (55-2956) was used for a media-covered official roll-out ceremony at Lockheed's Burbank factory. This was the first display of the Starfighter to the public.
Before that, there had been only rumours in the aviation press about the existence of a truly revolutionary new fighter aircraft, plus a few speculative drawings.
The engine air intakes were covered with temporary fairings, since the Air Force didn't want people to see the half-cones in the air intakes. The first Starfighter photographs were released in the spring of 1956.
These were limited to air-to-air shots of the prototype and ground photos of YF-104A 55-2956 with the intake fairings still fitted. It was not until mid-1956 that the J79-engined F-104 intakes were finally revealed to the public.

The seventeen YF-104A service test aircraft (serials 55-2955/2971) were powered by early experimental versions of the General Electric J79 engine
instead of the J65 engine which powered the XF-104s. The YF-104A aircraft were initially fitted with the General Electric XJ79-JE-3 turbojet, rated at 9300 lb.s.t. dry and 14,800 lb.s.t. with afterburner
The YF-104A differed from the XF-104 in having a 5 feet 6 inch extension in the length of the fuselage to accommodate the new J79 engine. The vertical fin was slightly taller, raising the overall height from 12.7 feet to 13.49 feet.