The Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the United States, beginning in the 1960s. Hundreds remain in service in air forces around the world in the early 21st Century, and the type has also been the basis for a number of other aircraft.

The F-5 started life as a privately funded light fighter program by Northrop in the 1950s. The first generation F-5A Freedom Fighter entered service in the 1960s. Over 800 were produced through 1972 for U.S. allies during the Cold War. The USAF had no need for a light fighter, but it did specify a requirement for a supersonic trainer and procured about 1,200 of a derivative airframe for this purpose, the T-38 Talon.

The improved second-generation F-5E Tiger II was also primarily used by American Cold War allies and, in limited quantities, served in US military aviation as a training and aggressor aircraft; Tiger II production amounted to 1,400 of all versions, with production ending in 1987. Many F-5s continuing in service into the 1990s and 2000s have undergone a wide variety of upgrade programs to keep pace with the changing combat environment. The F-5 was also developed into a dedicated reconnaissance version, the RF-5 Tigereye.

The F-5 serves as a starting point for a series of design studies which resulted in the twin-tailed Northrop YF-17 and the F/A-18 series of carrier-based fighters. The F-20 Tigershark was an advanced version of the F-5E that did not find a market. The F-5N/F variants remain in service with the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps as an adversary trainer

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale rendition of a US Navy Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter, which was on piloted by Bob Hoover at the Le Bourget Airport, 1973 Paris Air Show. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-3/4-inches
Length: 4-1/2-inches

Release Date: November 2011

Historical Account: "Show Ponies" - At the Paris Air Show on June 3rd, 1973, the first Tupolev Tu-144 production aircraft (registration 77102) crashed. While in the air, it undertook a violent downward maneuver. Trying to pull out of the subsequent dive, the plane disintegrated and crashed, destroying 15 houses and killing all six on board and eight on the ground.

The causes of this incident remain controversial. Theories included: The Tu-144 was forced to avoid a French Mirage chase plane which was attempting to photograph its canards, which were very advanced for the time, and that the French and Soviet governments colluded with each other to cover up such details; that the cause of this accident was due to changes made by the ground engineering team to the auto-stabilization input controls prior to the second day of display flights. These changes were intended to allow the Tu-144 to outperform Concorde in the display circuit; the deliberate misinformation on the part of the Anglo-French team. The main thrust of this theory was that the Anglo-French team knew that the Soviet team were planning to steal the design plans of Concorde, and the Soviets were allegedly passed false blueprints with a flawed design.