F-104 Starfighter in Jackson, NJ

[Robbie Roberts]

OK, Seemed kinda odd to me, but I was driving out Rt 537 in Jackson, NJ this morning, and noticed, about 1/10 mile before the Service Entrance for Great Adventure(Six Flags) an F-104 Starfighter just sitting in a yard! I don't recall ever noticing this before: It was about 25-50 yards in, just appeared to be sitting there, possibly on its belly, and maybe without wings.(I couldn't see well enough. As I was en route to a clinic on the oscilloscope, I didn't have time to stop & investigate. But I did take a look on the way back, and, yes, it IS an F-104! Does anybody have any info on this craft? I did not notice markings, numbers, etc., and it was fairly wooded around it, so it may have been there for a time...

Scott

[lmritger]

Robbie, I did a quick Google search on Monmouth Rd and it looks like there's some sort of salvage facility in that area (not sure if this is the right direction though):

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Great+Adventure,+Jackson,+NJ&aq=0&sll=39.776353,-74.879208&sspn=0.060292,0.175781&ie=UTF8&hq=Six+Flags+Great+Adventure&hnear=Six+Flags+Great+Adventure,+1+6+Flags+Blvd,+Jackson,+New+Jersey+08527&ll=40.140573,-74.448402&spn=0.003543,0.010986&t=h&z=17

No sign of a 104 in the overhead view though. Is this the right area?

Lynn

[TAdan]

Robbie I seem to remember SIx Flags having a fighter pilot themed ride/movie. Perhaps this was a prop used with that ride. I know there was a jet pictured on the building. I never checked it out I prefer the roller coasters.

[wls3]

From International F-104 Society website,

F-104D (c/n 5032) 57-1320, USAF, preserved inside the Jackson (New Jersey) Six Flags Park in silver color scheme. Currently in storage

photo from their website here, http://www.i-f-s.nl/pres/USCA/57-1320.jpg

[eze240]

Hey guys.....check out bing maps.....on the birds eye view.....
In the area he's describing, theres something that looks like, possibly, maybe a cylinder/tube shaped body that might be it..... I tried spinning the map around but,
unfortunately, the zoom doesn't go close or clear enough for a good ID, but most of the photo was done in winter or fall, so there's less covering it. It appears to be about 100 ft off the road near what appears to be a salvage yard.

[Cherrybomber13]

As per the Col.

The F-104 is an ex Dutch 104 one of the six or seven that Steve Alex had purchase a many years ago the planes were rebuild up in Bangor Maine three of them went for static display he had one that was in taxing condition. The one in NJ was the first to be build for Six Flags they have two other one also.

For those who don't know who Steve is he is the guy who broker the deal to get the B-17E out of the scrap yard in Medybumps Maine that we all know as Desert Rat, he also at one time owned the #4 Harrier prototype along with a Fairy Firefly.

[wls3]

Here is a photo of it sitting in the woods from over on ASB website.
It was part of the "Right Stuff Mach 1 Adventure" at Six Flags.

http://ww.asb.tv/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=59309

57-1320 is listed as being with Puerto Rico ANG. 156th Tactical Fighter Wing.
Photos on Airliners.net show it in DM from 1976 and 1984.
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=57-1320

Joe Baugher shows 57-1320 as being at Travis AFB.
International F-104 Society website and others says 57-1320 in Jackson NJ
So go figure

To add insult to all this, "The Right Stuff Mach 1 Adventure" at Six Flags was replaced by Sponge Bob.

[K5DH]

Many years ago, Six Flags in Arlington, Texas, had an F-104 stored behind a warehouse along I-30, right out by the park's perimeter fence, along the I-30 frontage road. It was there for a while, but then disappeared. It was complete, sitting on its gear, but the wings were off and stored nearby. I don't know what happened to it, but I'm sure some WIXer does. . .

[Robbie Roberts]

Robbie, I did a quick Google search on Monmouth Rd and it looks like there's some sort of salvage facility in that area (not sure if this is the right direction though):

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Great+Adventure,+Jackson,+NJ&aq=0&sll=39.776353,-74.879208&sspn=0.060292,0.175781&ie=UTF8&hq=Six+Flags+Great+Adventure&hnear=Six+Flags+Great+Adventure,+1+6+Flags+Blvd,+Jackson,+New+Jersey+08527&ll=40.140573,-74.448402&spn=0.003543,0.010986&t=h&z=17

No sign of a 104 in the overhead view though. Is this the right area?

Lynn

Looks to be the right area:You can see the proper entrance to Six Flags- The buildings nearest the entrance are about the same depth back into the woods: and about the same distance from the house as the house is from the Six Flags road... If it was a winter photograph, we'd have no trouble seeing it!

Scott

[Robbie Roberts]

Hey guys.....check out bing maps.....on the birds eye view.....
In the area he's describing, theres something that looks like, possibly, maybe a cylinder/tube shaped body that might be it..... I tried spinning the map around but,
unfortunately, the zoom doesn't go close or clear enough for a good ID, but most of the photo was done in winter or fall, so there's less covering it. It appears to be about 100 ft off the road near what appears to be a salvage yard.

Sounds like it- You have a url?

Scott

[Robbie Roberts]

Here is a photo of it sitting in the woods from over on ASB website.
It was part of the "Right Stuff Mach 1 Adventure" at Six Flags.

http://ww.asb.tv/forums/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=59309

57-1320 is listed as being with Puerto Rico ANG. 156th Tactical Fighter Wing.
Photos on Airliners.net show it in DM from 1976 and 1984.
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=57-1320

Joe Baugher shows 57-1320 as being at Travis AFB.
International F-104 Society website and others says 57-1320 in Jackson NJ
So go figure

To add insult to all this, "The Right Stuff Mach 1 Adventure" at Six Flags was replaced by Sponge Bob.

From the way it is sitting, I am pretty sure we have Bingo! I swear- you could post a left aileron from an aircraft found in the desert on here, and someone would identify the a/c number, date of incident, crew, and current descendants of said crew within two days...

So, now we know, who can rescue it?

Scott

[wendovertom]

How cool is that?! Hopefully someone can talk them out of asking an arm and a leg for a cool old airframe just sitting around!

Tom P.

[old iron]

wls3 wrote:

Here is a photo of it sitting in the woods from over on ASB website.
It was part of the "Right Stuff Mach 1 Adventure" at Six Flags.

http://ww.asb.tv/forums/index.php?act=a ... t&id=59309

but should have included warning that that is a very LARGE picture...

Fuselage looks to be in fairly good condition, but what is that damage near the nose? What kind of spar might be included in these wings (were they taken off or cut off?)?

[ArtS]

I am interested in buying it. How do we figure out who owns is. Is still USAF property, does a scrapper own it or is it still owned by Great Adventure?

Regards,

Art S.

[robkamm]

im going to have to run down this weekend to check it out. thyanks for posting this