recognisable by a small fuselage protrusion
under the nose. From the mid-1960s the
overall grey paint scheme was very gradually
replaced with the more familiar grey, green
camou age and light grey undersides.F-104 CONVERSION
AND TRAINING
The rst group of Dutch instructor pilots
were trained by the Luftwaffe at Nörvenich
in the then West Germany, and theyformed 306 Sqn at Twenthe in early 1963.
The rst two-seat TF-104Gs arrived in
June 1963 and, as more were delivered,
No.306 converted experienced Republic
F-84, F-86K and Hawker Hunter pilots to
the Star ghter.
Soon pilot training became the
responsibility of the ‘Dutch Masters’ unit,
which acted as the KLu’s Star ghter
operational conversion unit (OCU), until the
task was largely completed during 1968.
From then the requirement was mostly for
replacement pilots, with training split between
the KLu’s two main F-104 operating bases.
For the ground attack pilots responsibility
passed to the Conversie and All-weather
vlucht (Conversion and All-weather Flight)
based at Volkel. At Leeuwarden the training
of air defence pilots was performed by the
Training en Conversie Afdeling (Training
and Conversion Unit). Later it became the
Transitie en Conversie AWX to re ect its all
weather interception training role.
Volkel, in the south of the country,
became home to 311 and 312 Sqns. The
former unit received its rst F-104Gs in
June 1964 while the latter was the last KLu
Star ghter component to form, and received
its initial aircraft during April 1965. Both
were committed to conventional groundattack and nuclear
strike roles and
aircraft were pooled
for maintenance
and servicing. Their
F-104Gs sported
both squadrons’
markings and most
usually ew tted
with wingtip and
wing pylon-mounted
fuel tanks.
When going to
the ranges, bombs
or rockets were
loaded onto the
wing stations and
centreline position
and the latter
could be used for
additional fuel tanks,
ordnance or Sidewinder missiles. The Volkel
squadrons maintained aircraft on NATO
24-hour quick reaction alert (QRA) in the
nuclear strike role carrying a single centre-
mounted US free-fall nuclear bomb.LIFE WITH THE STARS
Aviation News spoke to retired KLu captain
Hans van der Werf, a 20-year veteran F-104
instructor, squadron and display pilot for
six seasons about his experiences with
this aircraft. After ying the F-84F with
315 Sqn at Eindhoven AB and reaching
the 700 jet hours mark, Hans moved onto
the F-104G in 1969. The initial conversion
was just 12 hours, own from Leeuwarden.
Pilots destined for the air defence role
remained there while ground attack pilots,
who included Hans (and after 1969, photo-
reconnaissance pilots), moved to Volkel.
He told how the 55-hour transition course
was split into two phases. The rst covered
basic handling, formation and night ying,
plus the pilot’s rst Mach 2 run. He recalled
his rst Star ghter ight: “Wow. Everything
went so fast, I did what the instructor told
me, but didn’t really get it, because it all
happened so quickly. It was amazing. The
take-off in afterburner gave you a kick in the
pants; we didn’t have that on the F-84F,http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 37Main photo: Prior to
its restoration
D-8114 starred at a
night photo shoot at
Vokel. HVV/Theo van
den Boomen
Right: Hans van der
Werf at the Coventry
airshow in 1977.
Roger Wright via
Hans van der Werf
Below: A TF-104G,
still in its overall
grey scheme at
Soesterberg, in
September 1970.
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