The F-42 Spacefighter was a fictional high performance jet fighter which featured in the derivative work Operatie Spacefighter, a comic strip published by the Antwerp based Studio Vandersteen in the Dutch language in 1967. The aircraft, as drawn, closely resembled the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and even the name bore a family resemblance. However, according to the references in the book, the Spacefighter was not an American design and was built and flight tested in Ireland. This makes the choice of the name an unusual one, as Britain does not use the American alpha-numeric scheme for naming military planes, and during the 1960s American fighter designations numbered in the hundreds (F-104, F-105, F-06, etc.). It is possible that F-42 was a manufacturer's designation rather than a military designation.
The Spacefighter and Biggles[]
In the story, Biggles investigates the mysterious crashes of several Spacefighter prototypes during flight tests. The test pilots who survived the accidents, including Ginger and Len Curtis, suggested that this could be because the aileron controls had jammed. Sir Foster Dungham, the manufacturer of the aileron system disputed this but it was later found that some enemy agents had infiltrated his factory and had poured some substance into the alloy used to make the ailerons. This additive caused the metal to soften when heated, as happens during flight, and could lead to random instances of structural failure. However the metal would revert to its original state upon cooling if the aircraft didn't crash and landed successfully. This made the sabotage hard to detect.
Vandersteen's drawing of the Spacefighter. It bears a superficial resemblance to the F-104 Starfighter except the Starfighter did not have a swallow tail as drawn. The R.A.F. never operated any Starfighters, but see comments related to the Lockheed T-33 which also appears in the story. Perhaps it was Belgian Air Force theme month for this Belgian-based team of artists. The F-104 was operated by Belgium.