Although Teuge Airport, a general aviation airfield in the centre of the Netherlands, only features a 1,200 m runway, a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter was based here from 2013 to 2022!
Text and photos: Emiel Sloot
Obviously, it was a non-flying airframe, since beside the runway being far too short, the Starfighter had long since retired from operational service although a few civil-operated examples exist today. The aircraft in question was a former West German Air Force airframe, destined to become an exhibit at the yet to be opened local Cold War museum.
Built in 1963 by Fokker at Schiphol airport, the aircraft with construction number 683D-8190 was part of a batch of 350 Starfighters assembled for both the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force) and the Luftwaffe (West German Air Force). After its first flight on 4 December 1963, it was delivered to its new owner with factory code KG+290. On 13 November 1967, it was reserialled 24+46. During most of its twenty-four years of active duty, it was operated by Jagdbombergeschwader (Fighter Bomber Wing) 34 that was based at Memmingen. Here, it carried out its missions between 1969 and 1987. It would eventually log some 3,406 flying hours, and following its withdrawal from service, the airframe suffered a decade of severe mistreatment as a training object for battle damage repair at naval air bases Eggebek and Schleswig.
In 2002, the battered remains were sold to a private collector in Moers, Germany, but the owner apparently lacked the time to properly restore it. Then, in 2013, Teuge's Cold War Museum took over the aircraft. After its arrival in The Netherlands, a long and detailed restoration process started. The museum staff went to great length to get the job done. The goal was to display it in a Koninklijke Luchtmacht-outfit, representing the all-weather air defence variant that operated from Leeuwarden air base from 1964 to 1980. This version included a pair of belly-mounted Sidewinder launch rails, and following a thorough search, these were eventually found at and retrieved from an aviation museum in Denmark.
After most of the restoration was completed, the aircraft was resprayed in KLu-colours, featuring the air defence grey scheme used in the 1960s. A fake registration D-8060 was adopted; the real D-8060, also built by Fokker in 1963, did indeed see service at Leeuwarden, but was handed over to the Turkish air force in January 1982 after retirement from Dutch service. Finally, 322 squadron emblems were fitted to both sides of the tail, while all original stencillings was applied in detail, resulting in one of the best-looking preserved Starfighters worldwide. A remarkable, impressive job by everyone involved!
Despite ambitious plans, the Cold War Museum would eventually never materialize as it was originally envisaged, although a number of contemporary aircraft had been acquired over the years including a MiG-21MF, a MiG-23MF, a CL-13 Sabre Mk.6 and an An-2. Most of these were sold after it was decided to pursue the museum no longer. The immaculate F-104G – if it wouldn't have lacked an engine, it could have been offered as a factory-fresh, fully-operational aircraft – was obtained by a private collector nearby, and the Starfighter left Teuge in July 2022. ■