I’ve been picking through the rags lately, grabbing some to unload, and have been scanning like mad. This shot of the eight remaining FAM Tigers came from the July 2004 ish of Combat Aircraft…
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Beautiful pic of the F-5.
Great pic. Thanks for posting.
Regards, Rick
but i only see 5
[#ditto]
Thanks, Max!!! I cleaned my glasses THREE times and still kept coming up with 5!!!
D’oH! Math never was my strong suit… neither is typing what I’m thinking, sometimes… okay it SHOULD say, ‘five of the eight remaining FAM Tigers’.
All better now? [:p]
The jet at the back of the shot is an F-5F, for anyone who may give a hoot…
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I’m glad you mentioned that. Apparently, I didn’t get my glasses clean enough. I just thought there was something wrong with the canopy on the fourth bird!!! [%-)]
Not having done any research, what is the difference between the F-5 and the T-38, or is there any?
Depends on which variant(s) of the F-5 you’re comparing the T-38 with. It gets kinda confusing when trying to describe all the ins and outs, especially when it comes to the F-5… so I’ll try and keep it simple…
The F-5 was built in two basic forms; the F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and the F-5E/F Tiger II, and both were significantly different as regards capability. The F-5A/B was primarily an air to ground aircraft while the F-5E/F was built with an increased air to air capability. There have also been recce variants of both incarnations of the F-5.
The T-38 and the F-5 (both incarnations), although similar in appearance, are significantly different aircraft. While the F-5 is a combat aircraft, the T-38 is a pure trainer with no combat capability whatsoever. (I believe that Portugal modified some of its T-38s for air defense, but I’m not sure)
The external visual differences between the F-5 variants may be subtle to the casual observer but they really are quite marked differences. The T-38 looks most like the F-5B but, again, the differences are there.
Some places to look for these differences are:
Nose - the F-5A/B/E/F all have differently shaped noses. The F-5E’s nose was originally fairly similar to the F-5A but was wider to accomodate a radar. (I think it was also longer, but am not sure) Development of what has come to be known as the ‘shark nose’ came about as a result of testing nose shapes for the RF-5E and this was included on aircraft destined for several foreign customers. Many if not all F-5s that were procured by the USN had the ‘shark nose’ retrofiited, although the jets that were later acquired from the USAF did not. The T-38 and F-5B have almost identical noses. There are a few different noses for the recce jets, depending on the variant and user.
Intakes - the F-5A/B have slightly more rounded and slightly smaller intakes than the F-5E/F. The T-38’s intakes are completely rounded and have a totally different overall shape and different contours.
Wing LERX - LERX = Leading Edge Root Extension; the F-5A/B runs straight from the wing to the intake, the F-5E/F extends forward and then angles inward. The T-38 has no LERX.
Here’s a comparison of the LERX on the F-5A and F-5E…
F-5A
F-5E
Vertical Fin Leading Edge - the leading edge of the vertical fin on the F-5A/B and T-38 is faired into the spine of the aircraft. The fin on the F-5E/F is not faired in at all. Some F-5E/Fs have a large fin fillet, depending on the user.
Exhausts - there are very slight differences between the exhausts of the T-38 and the F-5s, not really worth mentioning. However, all F-5s have a housing of some sort on top of and between the exhausts. Most T-38s lack this housing. A very few that I’ve seen do have a housing but it is a different shape than that found on the F-5s. I confess total ignorance as to what the housing is for. Electronics of some sort, perhaps.
Landing Gear - the T-38 and F-5 have slightly different gear, with some F-5s having different nose gear from what I understand. The wheels and tires on the T-38 are narrower than those on F-5s.
Wingtips - If the jet has tip tanks, it’s an F-5A/B. If it has missile rails, it’s almost always an F-5E/F. Some F-5A/Bs have been seen with missile rails on the wingtips, but this is something of a rarity. You will never see any fuel tanks or missile rails on the wingtips of a T-38.
Here’s an example of an F-5A with AIM-9s on the wingtips…
There are also a number of electronics packages, chaff dispensers and other equipment that have been added to various aircraft, some of which alter the appearance a bit. The presence of these is usually wholly dependant upon the user… ie: some air forces have added chaff dispensers, some have not.
I believe that all F-5Es and F-5Fs have arrestor hooks, while only certain users of the F-5A/B had hooks installed as per their specs. I believe that no T-38s have hooks, but could be mistaken.
The gun armament is also different for certain variants. The F-5A has two guns while the F-5B has none. The F-5E has two guns as does the F-5F. The T-38, of course, has no internal armament. I believe that there’s a variant which only has one gun instead of two and I think it may be the RF-5A and RF-5E, but I’m just not sure.
Here’s some more shots of F-5s and T-38s…
F-5A
F-5B
F-5E
F-5F
RF-5A
RF-5E
T-38
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Wasn’t the F-20 and F-5 with an F-16 engine?
The F-20 was powered by the General Electric F404-GE-100 which was the same engine used in the F/A-18A .
Although the aircraft was first designated ‘F-5G’, and was somewhat similar aesthetically to the older F-5s, it was a far more technologically advanced design and was considered to be a totally new aircraft in many respects.
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