Congratulations, flow, on your choice of fighter for the top 100 military aircraft in history!
The F-5 in all it's variants, was the most widely produced military jet in history. No wonder it's "nomme-de-gurre" was "F-5 Freedom Fighter". Over 2000 of these little jets were produced and exported all over the world near the end of the Cold War.
Very easy to fly, maintain, and a great close-air-support jet. It, for it's day, was also quite stealthy (very, very, low engine and air noise) and could quickly and quietly, enter a zone and clear it out.
It, like the F-4 Phantom, became obsolete because it could not turn to the same standards of the next generation of jets that came along. Some air forces still use them! NASA also uses them in the T-38 version. (Same airframe, different tail, no weapons, and other 'upgrades'.)
But it was a great jet to fly! I know, I flew them.
And, by the way, the last one I flew, I landed at Payne Field (now Boeing Field) in Seattle, where they removed the engines and suspended it from the ceiling, where, for all I know, it may still be hanging on display. Yes, my DNA, (possibly in the form of a few tears) is in that very jet. It was hard to part with.
To all you pilots out there, have a Blue-Sky day!
SPOOKY