The KF Centre for Excellence has purchased a former Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-104 Starfighter and it will be displayed at Kelowna airport. KF Centre for Excellence found the Starfighter in the hands of a private owner in Mesa, Arizona, and, through Platinum Fighter Sales brokerage, bought it for an undisclosed amount in 2022. Recently, it made the trip from Arizona to the Okanagan, but not by flying it, although it is considered in ‘near-airworthy condition.’
Lockheed built this specific aircraft at their factory in Palmdale, California in 1961. She was the third of 38 such two-seat trainer variants which Lockheed delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), who assigned her the serial number 12633. The RCAF trained their initial cadre of Starfighter pilots in this and a handful of other such variants at Palmdale before formally accepting the airframe in March, 1962 and assigning it to No.6 (Saint/R) Operational Training Unit at RCAF Station Cold Lake, which sits about halfway up Alberta’s eastern border with the neighboring province of Saskatchewan. Here the aircraft took part in pilot training and flight test duties. When the RCAF lost its independence with the merger of Canada’s military branches into the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in May, 1970, the remaining aircraft within the air arm underwent serial number changes; 12633 becoming 104633.
We published the complete story of this airplane HERE.T
The main fuselage was put on one flatbed truck and the wings were taken off the plane and put on another flatbed to make the journey. KF’s renovation of the plane here in Kelowna might or might not mean it will fly again, according to Abrey.
The KF Centre for Excellence, located at 5800 Lapointe Drive, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 am to 5 pm, for people to check out the aircraft exhibited, including the Starfighter. KF Centre for Excellence is the museum, showroom and special event space of KF Aerospace (formerly Kelowna Flightcraft), the city’s largest private-sector employer that does aircraft retrofitting and maintenance for a roster of domestic and international airline and military clients from WestJet to Icelandair. For more information, visit www.kfcentre.ca
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