NASA research pilot Tom McMurtry advanced the throttle of the sleek F-104 as it streaked across Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, barely a few hundred feet above the lakebed. With hundreds of employees gathered atop the main administration building and the ramp area, McMurtry piloted NASA 826 toward NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, with the airspeed indicator reading 450 knots.
At the last moment, he switched on the fuel flow to the afterburner and a vapor trail of fuel streamed out behind the screaming jet. A second or two later, the burner lit, leaving a tongue of flame as the sleek jet roared over the center in its final flyover salute and pulled up and away.
That was the scenario on Feb. 3, 1994, 20 years ago this week at NASA Dryden. After 1,415 flights, NASA 826, one of three F-104G aircraft obtained by NASA from the German Luftwaffe in 1975, had flown its last. It would soon be retired and placed on display outside the center than had been its home for the preceding 19 years. It remains on exhibit today.