You'll get some disagreement about how cool it was to fly 104s. We never used the term 'widowmaker'. We called them 'flying lawn darts'.
They were more difficult to fly because of their small wings. They had a glide ratio of 1 to 14 because of the small wing surface. As a result, it made them more difficult to turn and they had a higher stall speed. These things made it difficult for pilots to maneuver them, especially when you consider that they were originally built to be high speed, high altitude interceptors. Canada used them in two distinct roles - nuke delivery, and later ground support a/c.
He is not a friend, but Kerry Cranfield, crashed two 104s, and lived to tell about it. The first accident occurred in the summer of 1981, when he flew through the Black Forest and tree parts lodged in his leading edge flaps. He couldn't extend the leading edge to land and lost maneuverability, so he had to punch out. The other time was a year later, but this second time was determined to be an on board fire.
I put a red circle at the corner of the flap. Pine tree parts were also jammed along much of the leading edge from the wing root to the tip tank.
I was in Baden when Cranfield flew through the Black Forest. He was in another sqn, but when he flew through the trees, routine orders said, paraphrased, the CO of 421 Sqn is pleased to announce the following promotion - Lt K. Cranfield to captain.
Needless to say, he had a hard time living that down.
There were lots of crashes with that plane from the1960s until the 1980s when it went out of service. Over 100 pranged, of the 240 we bought. Flying a 104 was the cream of the crop. The best pilots flew 104s. There was an unwritten hierarchy. CF104s at the top and a toss up for bottom spot. The Sea King or transport planes.
