Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-5>HA3302

General Background

The Northrop F-5 tactical fighter was designed as an extremely maneuverable, supersonic fighter with a high rate of reliability at a low operating cost. The F-5 first flew on July 30, 1959 with the first customer delivery in 1964. The last of more than 2,600 F-5’s was produced in 1989 and about two-thirds of these are still in service with 26 countries more than 4 decades later. The F-5 was manufactured by Northrop Grumman and under license in Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.

The Aircraft

An agreement was reached that allowed Taiwan’s AIDC Company and Northrop to jointly produce the F-5E. The first AIDC-built F-5E rolled off the production line on October 30, 1974. This was one day prior to the Taiwan President Chiang Kai Shek’s birthday so the aircraft was name “Chung Chen” (an alias of President Chiang). By the end of November 1977 100 aircraft had been completed. Later an additional 208 aircraft were produced in five batches but this was increased as time went on. The last F-5 of the program was completed on December 9, 1986 with a final total of 242 F-5E and 66 F-5F.

Specifications :

Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter – later variants became the F-5 Tiger II
Performance
Engines:	2x General Electric J85s, each producing 4,080 lbs. of thrust with afterburner
Maximum speed:	925 mph
Cruising speed:	575 mph
Range:	1,100 miles
Service ceiling:	50,700 ft.
Dimensions
Wing Span:	25 ft. 10 in
Length:	47 ft. 2 in.
Height:	13 ft. 6 in.
Weight:	20,576 lbs. loaded
Armament:	2 x 20mm cannons, rockets, missiles and 5,500 lbs. of bombs externally