Volkel says goodbye to the F-104 Starfighter in Dutch service


On 13th June 1984 at Volkel Air Base, during a small ceremony, the last (16-ship) F-104G formation flight of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) was made. Being the last RNLAF squadron to convert to the Starfighter in March 1966, 312 Squadron was also the last fighting unit to fly the F-104. In 1983, they were the highlight of the Air Force Open Days at Deelen, with a 18-ship Starfighter formation flight and subsequent “base attack”.

The event at Volkel officially marked the last operational day of 312 squadron on the Starfighter, after which the Starfighters were passed on to the UFO flight (UFO meaning Uit Faserings Onderdeel, Dutch for Phasing-Out Unit). UFO was a merger of the two remaining RNLAF units flying the Starfighter at Volkel air base, being 312 Squadron and the training flight called CAV (conversion all-weather flight). The UFO unit continued to fly the Starfighter until November 1984, to allow pilots who were not converting to the F-16 and pilots who had yet to start conversion training to keep up their flying skills for as long as possible.

UFO was an unofficial name, an initiative by some of the 312 ground-crew. The day after 312 had stood down both 312’s round and CAV’s triangular squadron markings were sprayed over in orange with black ‘UFO’ lettering. D-8091 was the only F-104G to carry a triangular UFO emblem.

Unfortunately, the weather was against the organisers, with very low hanging clouds and some drizzle, resulting in poor visibility. Still it was an awesome sight to see the rollertrack leading to the runway completely filled with Starfighters one last time. Also scheduled to perform a demo on this day were the USAF Thunderbirds, who only did a single flypast after which they returned to their temporary home at Soesterberg air base.

Despite of the weather, many visitors from other NATO air forces came over for the farewell (and hangar party afterwards...). The highlight of the day was the moment that sixteen Starfighter's came howling by in one formation. The squadron managed a 16-ship formation, who overflew the base at low speed, with gears down. After the split, several smaller groups overflew the field, “attacking” at will.

On 21st November 1984 the very last RNLAF Starfighter unit (UFO-flight) at Volkel sent five F-104’s on a farewell trip overflying all Dutch air force bases. All remaining Starfighters were flown off to reserve base Ypenburg the very next day. They would spend the rest of their lives idle at Ypenburg, waiting for a buyer that never came.