The Starfighter recently arrived at Canada's British Columbia Aviation Museum – it will now be repainted

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter 731 has arrived at Canada's British Columbia Aviation Museum following an epic two-night 152-mile road journey from its previous home at the Comox Air Force Museum on Vancouver island.

The jet spent its entire operational career at CFB Cold Lake in Alberta, where it was used to train new Starfighter pilots from 1962 to 1983. It came to be regarded as one of the fastest CF-104s in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), having achieved a speed of Mach 2.4 during a test flight on November 4, 1974.

Eighteen former Starfighter pilots were on hand for a short arrival ceremony, including 100-year-old Maj Gen Ken Lett, who began his career flying Supermarine Spitfires with the RCAF’s 402 Squadron during World War Two. A new paint scheme will be chosen once the CF-104 has been stripped and surveyed.