Mounted F-104

This is an Air Force F-104, mounted on a pedestal at Edwards. The airplane is probably most famous for another Chuck Yeager flight, in which he broke the world altitude record, hitting 103,395 feet before losing control of the plane, which plummeted to the ground. Yeager was able to escape and parachute to safety, another episode chronicled in "The Right Stuff."

The F-104A "Starfighter" "was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude, and time-to-climb, most of which were established at Edwards AFB," reads a plaque on the base.