Serving with 191Filo and TDY at Akhisar due to runway maintenance at Balikesir, F-104S 6897/9-897 (delivered to Turkey on 7 May 1976), doesn't show its age at all. Despite its good looks, it was retired the same year and flown to Eskisehir for storage. Scrapped there in 1995.

The F-104S was an interim solution and stop-gap for the TuAF. Only 40 were ordered and of these no less than 26 crashed in less than 20 years of active service. Despite a better engine and improved avionics and thus offering superior operational capacities compared to the F-104G, the F-104S suffered from more technical problems. Due to the (Italian) build quality and reliability the F-104S was considered inferior to the older F-104G.