Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-5>HA3350
Northrop F-5F Tiger II BuNo 840456, VFC-111 Sundowners, NAS Key West, Florida
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
F-5F 84-0456 was one of only two Tiger IIs operated by the USAF 425 Squadron. On
August 23, 1989 it was transferred to the USN 127 Squadron and numbered NJ 730. In
October 1996 it was transferred to VFC-13 as AF 30 before transferring to VFC-111
"Sundowners" on February 27, 2007 as AF 30. On May 13, 2007 the aircraft was changed
to AF 100 still with VFC-111. 84-0456 is one of three F-5F in USN service dubbed
"Franken-Tiger" because they were created by grafting the older front half fuselage of the
F-5Fs with the back half fuselage of low-hours ex-Swiss Air Force F-5Es.
Specifications :
| Specification for the Northrop F-5E/ F-5F Tiger II | |
| Number Built: | 1,400 + E/F |
| Role F-5F: | Two-seat Combat Trainer Version Of The F-5E Tiger II |
| Dimensions | |
| Length (F-5E): | 47 feet 4.75 inch (14.65 m) |
| Length (F-5F): | 51 feet 4 inch (15.65 m) |
| Wingspan F-5E & F-5F: | 26 ft 8 in) |
| Height (F-5E): | 13 feet 4 inch (4.06 m) |
| Height (F-5F): | 13 feet 1.75 inch (4.01 m) |
| Weight | |
| Empty Weight (F-5E): | 9,723 lb (4,410 kg) |
| Empty Weight (F-5F): | 10,576 lb (4,797 kg) |
| Max Take-off Weight (F-5E): | 24,722 lb (11,214 kg) |
| Max Take-off Weight (F-5F): | 25,152 lb (11,409 kg) |
| Performance | |
| Powerplant: | 2 x General Electric J85-GE-21B Turbojets With 5,000 lb.s.t. With Afterburning |
| Maximum Speed F-5E: | Mach 1.64 @ 36,000 ft |
| Maximum Speed F-5F: | Mach 1.55 @ 36,000 ft |
| Range (F-5E): | 1,545 nm (2,863 km) |
| Range (F-5F): | 1,270 nm (2,353 km) |
| Service Ceiling (F-5E): | 51,800 ft (15,780 m) |
| Service Ceiling (F-5F): | 50,800 ft (15,484 m) |
| Max Rate of Climb (F-5E): | 34,500 feet/min |
| Max Rate of Climb (F-5F): | 32,900 feet/min |
| Armament | 1 x In-Nose 20mm M39A2 Cannon With 140 Rounds |
| 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinder Missiles On Wing Tips | |
| 5 x Pylons Capable Of Carrying Up To 7,000 lbs. Of Ordnance Or Fuel | |
| 1 x Under Fuselage Center-line | |
| 4 x Under Wing (2/Wing) |