The Ejection Site
Lockheed F-104 C-2
Click here for the complete story of the ejection seats of the
F-104 Starfighter
These photos of a pair of Lockheed F-104 C-2 ejection seats come from
Mark Verbeek. He took them at an airshow in Europe. The seat is
interesting in its color scheme, and parachute pack. The thigh guards are painted red and marked with
NO STEP type warnings. They attached arm nets are not fully stowed, so they are partially visible, as
is the way it is attached to the thigh guards. This is particularly evident in the TF-104 seat photos.
Since this seat is an evolved version of the C-1 seat, I will refer you to the
C-1 seat page for details.
One major item more clearly visible is the seat separation strap. This is the dark colored strap extending
from the headrest down to below the survival kit. On seat separation, this strap is withdrawn back into the
headrest area by a gas driven rotary actuator. The lower portion of this strap is a 'Y' configuration where
the two ends connect to the front of the seat pan. As this is one of the last actions of the separation, this
causes the crewman to be pushed away from the seat to achieve positive separation.
The parachute pack is a European version made by EFA. Note the red painted rip cord handle.
The second seat is the front seat of a TF-104G. The primary difference is in the canopy breaker headrest.
Although some people have refered to this version as the S/R-2, that is not the case. The S/R-2 is a C-2
which has a Stabilization/Retardation (S/R) drogue parachute attached. It also has a larger version of the
oxygen bottle to allow for higher altitude survival.
These photos of a pair of Lockheed F-104 C-2 ejection seats come from
Mark Verbeek. He took them at an airshow in Europe. The seat is
interesting in its color scheme, and parachute pack. The thigh guards are painted red and marked with
NO STEP type warnings. They attached arm nets are not fully stowed, so they are partially visible, as
is the way it is attached to the thigh guards. This is particularly evident in the TF-104 seat photos.
Since this seat is an evolved version of the C-1 seat, I will refer you to the
C-1 seat page for details. 
