F-104 STARFIGHTER

This particular craft, sporting a special rocket engine in its tail, was used in high altitude research.

It was in such a craft on Dec. 10, 1963, that famed test pilot Chuck Yeager narrowly escaped death when his rocket-assisted NF-104 went out of control nearly 21 miles up.

First flown at Edwards on March 4, 1954, with test pilot Tony LeVier in the cockpit, the F-104 became NATO's front-line fighter in the 1960s. More than 2,500 Starfighters were built.