Birds of Prey: Missile With A Man In It

Few aircraft embodied “the future” like the F-104 Starfighter. The shining needle-like gleaming metal fuselage and pressure-suit clad crew evoke spaceships more than aircraft. Lockheed’s legendary designer Kelly Johnson interviewed fighter crews during the Korean War and created a simple fighter that maximized performance. His team conceived of the smallest aircraft they could wrap around a powerful engine. The Starfighter served with many air forces around the globe, in roles from interceptor to nuclear bomber.

But reality was harsher than space age dreams. The F-104 gained its Missile With A Man In It nickname in an era when many spacecraft exploded in the first moments of flight. The Starfighter’s cutting-edge design and all-for-performance approach led to a career marred by far too many losses of aircraft and life.

Missile With A Man In It contains every F-104 Starfighter combat variant, plus the proposed CL-1200 Lancer. The included opponents promise a wealth of Zipper-centric mayhem. Scenarios includes every known historic F-104 encounter, struggling over Hainan Island during the Vietnam War, battling between the two Chinas across the Formosa Strait, or soaring against the backdrop of the Himalayas in the Indo-Pakistani Wars.

Learn to fight the Starfighter from Killjoy, teaching players to employ the aircraft’s unique “double-attack” fighting style. Explore the Starfighter’s achievements in the USAF’s Operation Feather Duster evaluations, and about the Starfighter’s infamous safety record, digging into the history, causes and myths.