The Northrop F-5 was spot on for a market needing low cost supersonic fighters and is the only major programme to have passed its genes on across the generations, right up to the Super Hornet of today. If you get it right, you get staying power, and the F-5 stock has this in wings the world over.

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

Great stuff Spooky - another anecdotal classic post.

SPOOKY:

The F-5 in all it's variants, was the most widely produced military jet in history....... Over 2000 of these little jets were produced and exported all over the world near the end of the Cold War.

Weren't there something like 10,000 MiG-21s built? And to I wouldn't be surprised to find out that that number was dwarfed by the MiG-15 or MiG-17.

SPOOKY:

The F-5 in all it's variants, was the most widely produced military jet in history. Over 2000 of these little jets were produced and exported all over the world near the end of the Cold War.

I know, I flew them.

Wrong again.

Batfink already pointed out that the production of the MiG-21 ran to over 10,000 frames.  MiG-17 production ran to about the same number of frames, and (including the license-built examples) the MiG-15 line produced a staggering 18,000 aircraft.

You might wanna try doing some research before you post yet more inane drivel about how you've achieved flights in every aircraft known to man....

Oh, by the way - it was Paine Field that became Boeing Field, not Payne.  But I guess you knew that already. 

Ummm....... Okaaaay...............!!!

In the heat of writing my post and getting my daily routine done in an orderly fashion, I INADVERDENTLY FORGOT ONE LITTLE WORD in ONE OF MY SENTENCES on this SUPER IMPORTANT, MISSION SPECIFIC post!

What I meant to say was, "The F-5 in all it's variants, was the most widely produced WESTERN military jet in history."

S o o r r y y ........!! 

You might try Midol, I hear it works wonders. By the way, I GUARANTEE that I have shot down more MiG 21's (and other MiG's) than you have seen (in real life, not on TV, a video, or in a book) in your entire life!

Meanwhile, to all you REAL military pilots out there, have a Blue Sky day! 

SPOOKY

SPOOKY:

Ummm....... Okaaaay...............!!!

In the heat of writing my post and getting my daily routine done in an orderly fashion, I INADVERDENTLY FORGOT ONE LITTLE WORD in ONE OF MY SENTENCES on this SUPER IMPORTANT, MISSION SPECIFIC post!

What I meant to say was, "The F-5 in all it's variants, was the most widely produced WESTERN military jet in history."

S o o r r y y ........!! 

There were nearly 10,000 F-86 Sabres?

SPOOKY:

In the heat of writing my post and getting my daily routine done in an orderly fashion, I INADVERDENTLY FORGOT ONE LITTLE WORD

Yeah, one little word that changed the entire context of the point you were trying (and failing) to get across.

SPOOKY:

You might try Midol, I hear it works wonders.

Cool.  Cheers for the advice.  It's much appreciated.

SPOOKY:

By the way, I GUARANTEE that I have shot down more MiG 21's (and other MiG's) than you have seen

Well, excuse me, O Mighty One.  Want me to get down on my knees and worship you now?

Seriously, Spooky - get a clue.  If you're gonna spout verbal diarrhea like this all the time, don't expect the majority to buy into it.

Now, where's that Midol..........

Now Now people let's keep it clean, a debate is all well and good but let's keep it constructive  

Spooky

I may be wrong on this Spooky and this one may be a row of reds on the approach but did you course at Pax River back in the 70s

You sound like a someone I knew  from that era

Accept my apologies if I am bingo on this one

 I will pull the yellow and black handles on this one but its Mark isnt it ?

I have noticed an appalling lack of knowledge of both spelling and punctuation, in this entire thread. I hope that most members of this forum are not indeed dole-scrounging chavs, who have nothing better to do than sabotage a valuable means of communicating with other enthusiasts. Ian, I thought you would have known better!