Product Details
Northrop F-5/F-20/T-38 - WarbirdTech Volume 44

Northrop F-5/F-20/T-38 - WarbirdTech Volume 44
By Fred A. Johnsen

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Product Description

In the late 1950s, an era when some Cold War allies still flew cast-off World War II propeller-driven bombers and fighters, Northrop seized on the need to deliver modern warplanes with modest maintenance requirements. The shapers of American foreign policy needed an economical way to give allies supersonic performance. The U.S. Air Force and Navy only tangentially used the F-5, but decades of new American fliers honed their skills on the similar T-38 variant, a high-performance training aircraft. The F-5, an all-out air superiority fighter, possesses remarkable performance to match its classy good looks. It has served U.S. allies (and a few former allies like Iran) for decades. Many still fly, including F-5Es, F-5Fs, and modified F-5Ns used by the U.S. Navy as aggressor training aircraft at its famous Top Gun school. The T-38 carries the sleek lines into the training world. And the powerful single-engine F-20, the ultimate iteration of this Northrop line, brought the basic F-5 premise forward into a new era. Vintage and modern photos in this WarbirdTech volume depict F-5s, T-38s, and the few F-20s in many guises; technical drawings and detail photos show the inner workings. Declassified documents illuminate the story of USAF F-5s combat-tested in Vietnam. Color photos capture variations in camouflage and markings since 1959. The enduring story of the Northrop F-5 series and the aircraft it spawned is overdue and timely for an audience that increasingly seeks reliable information and photos about Cold War aircraft.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #539943 in Books
  • Published on: 2006-10-15
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 108 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

Review

-Wings & Airpower Magazine
, February 2007, reviewed by Mike Machat
 
"Whether you're a devoted Northrop fan or someone who appreciates classic aeronautical design, this book will provide many hours of enjoyable reading and serve as a valuable research source as well."


-IPMS
, December 2006, reviewed by Mike Howard
 
"For anyone interested in this very significant aircraft, this book comes highly recommended."


About the Author

Frederick A. Johnsen has written more than 20 historical aviation books. He served as editor of Western Flyer as well as the Journal of the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation. His articles and photos have appeared in aviation periodicals worldwide. He holds degrees in history and journalism from the University of Washington, and is currently an aerospace public affairs officer.

Customer Reviews

Great fighter jet, little publicity4
The f-5 Norththrop fighter jet was developed as an alternative to super power big expensive mach 2 fighters. What emerged was a classic, highly capable, lighweight, inexpensive fighter-bomber that went to many US allies and gave great service there.

What I liked: This book has tons of excellent photos (10 pages in color) of all aspects of the F-5, F II, considerably less of the T-38 trainer and of the F-20 Supershark.

What I did not like - not a lot of facts concerning how many US allies bought this extremely capable, cheaper fighter-bobmer. Indeed, the US used it to train US pilots against a plane with the capabilities and turning power of the MIG-21. That is a real compliment to this bird, but you won't find it here.

It's almost as if the authors described this plane in a vacaum. The US built it, it was good, but others were better and some other nations used it, and yeah, it trained 30 years of US piolts as a trainer.

I would have loved to see a chart of how this plane stacked up against the more expensive "capable" (read, more expensive) bretheren of the time. MY bet is there was little to choose from.

Still a very good book on a leesser known plane. I would recommend for both aviation enthusiasts and modlers.

skoshi tiger forever¡¡¡5
My Son loves the F-5 in all it's iteration's, here in Mexico the F-5 is our primary Air defense asset, and many boys like him grew up watching the sleek Tiger and dreaming in geeting on the cockpit one day.