Lockheeds F-104G, a brand-new sleek jet design of the early 1950s, was a dream bird with a flying performance well beyond imagination. Despite its widow maker reputation in Germany during the early years of operation, the F-104 gained cult status and pilots became addicted to flying it.In his book, Rolf Stünkel takes us back to his training days and cold-war flights over the Baltic sea and along the East German border - a gripping, thought-provoking journey through time, not without a self-critical look at the past and present.

Rolf Stünkel, born in 1954 and a native of Hildesheim, Germany, joined the navy at the age of 18. After officers training, sea duty, fighter pilot training in the USA at Britain and years on Starfighter and Tornado jets, he joined Lufthansa and flew long haul as an Airbus captain until retirement. The sevenfold father runs seminars on relaxed flying and works as a freelance author for aviation, naval and military history magazines. His books focus on fighter planes, air traffic control, airports and airline flying.