Northrop F-5F-20T-38

108 Pages·2006·70.153 MB·English

by  Frederick A.Johnsen

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S E R I E S
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BY FREDERICK A. JOHNSEN
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5 E R I E 5
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44
VOLUME
FREDERICK A. JOHNSEN
COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY FREDERICK A. JOHNSEN -
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ISBN-13 97-8-1-58007-094-2
ISBN-10 1-58007-094-9
All rights reserved. No partofthis bookmaybereproduced ortransmitted in anyform orby any means,
electronic ormechanical, includingphotocopying, recording, orby any information storage
and retrieval system, withoutpermission from the publisherin writing.
Material contained in this bookis intended for historical and entertainmentvalue only,
and is notto be construed as usable for aircraftorcomponentrestoration, maintenance, oruse.
Printed in China
Cover: Brazilian F-5Ewas photographedwithenlargeddorsalfin visible. (NorthropviaCraigKaston collection)
Title Page: The first and third Freedom Fighters settled in to land at Williams AirForce Base, Arizona. Both leading and trailing
edgeflaps are deployed. (AirForcevia Challen "Choni" Irvine collection)
BackCover:
Top: Canyinganair-to-surfacemissileshapeonthecenterline, F-20 N4416Temployedatwo-tonegraycamouflageschemeatthe time
ofthis photograph. ThesmallF-20 testanddemonstrationfleet underwentseveralpaintchanges. (AFFfC/HO collection)
Middle: All the glamour ofhigh-speedjetfighter flight test programs comes to life in a brilliantcolor photo ofthefirst N-156F (59
4987) bankingoverEdwardsAirForce Base, itsventral speed brakes deployed. lears later, this sameFreedom Fighter prototype, again
paintedsilverandorange,wouldbedisplayedintheMuseumofFlightinSeattle, Washington. (NorthropviaCraigKastoncollection)
Bottom: Head-on view ofaT-38A shows stand-offinletsfar enoughfrom thefUselage surface to avoid boundary layerairturbulence.
"Coke bottle"area-rulephenomenon isclearlyvisiblein narrowingoffUselage atwingjunction. (AFFfC/HO collection)
..
WARBIRDTECH
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
NORTHROP F-5/F-20/T-38
Preface .............................................. 4
Chapter 1 The F-5 Freedom Fighter Premise: Simply Capable 5
Chapter 2 Foreign Clients: F-5 Service Around the World 23
Chapter 3 Skoshi Tiger: USAF Takes the F-5 Into Battle 39
Chapter 4 The T-38 Talon: Hot Rod Trainer for the USAF 52
Chapter 5 Late Developments: The F-5E and F-5F 62
Color Section The Northrop F-5/F-20/T-38 in Color 65
Chapter 6 F-20 Tigershark: One Engine Wonder 92
Appendix 1 Specifications and Significant Dates 99
Appendix 2 From the Laboratory: Radical Experiments . . . . . . . . . . 100
Endnotes ............................................. 102
F-5/F-20/T-38
PREFACE
Its curvy good looks set the Some ofthe people who helped
diminutive F-5 ahead ofthe pack. deserve a bit more than just the
In an era when some Cold War appearanceoftheirnamehere. Specif
allies of the United States still flew ically, it has been a big help to have
cast-offWorld War II propeller-driven NorthropprofessionalslikeBillFlana
bombers and fighters, in the late gan, Tony Chong, Craig Kaston, and
1950sNorthropseizedontheneedto Ron Gibb run their eyes over this A few well-placed strokes ofIndia ink
deliver modem warplanes with mod manuscript.Theirenthusiasticsharing rendered this flight view ofthefirst N
est maintenance requirements, to ofF-5 knowledge is reassuring. Tony 156F. (Northrop via Craig Kaston
enable the shapers ofAmerican for and Craig bring the additional cre collection)
eign policyto economicallygive allies dentials ofbeing world-class photo
supersonic performance. Ifthe U.S. collectors. Ron Gibb has an amazing uctofonrushingtechnological break
Air Force and Navy only tangentially 40years ofF-5 engineeringexperience throughs that shaped, and were
used the F-5, decades of new Ameri to hiscredit. BillFlanaganisaremark shaped by, world events. The global
can fliers honed their skills on the ableRenaissancemanofaviation. acceptance of the F-5, and the
similarT-38variant. While completing this manu remarkable longevity ofthe T-38,
The compilation ofthis account script, itwas myverygood fortune to stand in tributeto thevision thatcre
was boosted by many people (some have a long lunch with retired Air ated this cost-effective series ofsleek
now deceased) from many disci Force Gen. Bob Titus, who com speedsters.
plines, spanning decades. Thanks manded the 10thFighterCommando Readers familiar with the War
especiallyto theAbbotsford Interna Squadron, flying F-5Cs, in Vietnam, birdTech series know that a key fea
tional Air Show Society (and Ron and ChallenW. Irvine (Martini), who ture ofthese volumes is technical art
Thornber), Air Force FlightTest Cen flew with General Titus. I came away and information from official manu
ter History Office (and Jeannine impressedwiththe irrepressiblefight als and sources. In this F-5 story, offi
Geiger and Freida Johnson), Peter er-pilot independence, nonetheless cial reports are sometimes quoted
M. Bowers, Canadian Air Force, wrapped in graciousness, exhibited directly at length, to further enhance
Experimental Aircraft Association bythesetwotigers-SkoshiTigers. the reader's sense ofseeing the same
(EAA), Flight Test Historical Muse Diligent volunteers with the information decision-makers had
um (and Doug and Ilah Nelson), Dutch Aviation Society/Scramble access to during the development of
Dennis Jenkins, Kenneth G. have compiled an extensive web site this remarkable series ofaircraft. Por
Johnsen, John Lisella, LCDR Chad characterizingmanyoftheworld's air ing over reams ofdocumentation, it
Mingo, Pacific Northwest Aviation forces, including users ofF-5s, which has become evidentthat even official
Historical Foundation (and Harl V. provedmostinterestingand helpful. sources disagree on some points.
Brackin, Jr.), Bill Rippy, Barrett Till The pleasure ofresearching his Effort has been made to keep statisti
man, and Terry Vanden-Heuvel torical events is enhanced by review cal dataas accurate as possible inthis
(AMARCPublicAffairs). ing literature contemporary with the volume, butsomevariation occasion
And my wife Sharon proved to topic under discussion. For the F-5 ally occurs. Nonetheless, what
be more than a good sport about the story, the authoritative, concise,work emergesisachronicleofanoutstand
demands ofthis project. The Skoshi manlike reportage in professional ing, forward-looking series ofsuper
Tigerchapter is possible onlybecause trade publications likeAviationWeek sonic jet aircraft from Northrop that
ofher tireless copying ofhundreds of & SpaceTechnologymagazine dating first took wing in the late 1950s.
pages ofsource documents at the Air back to the late 1950s is neatly sur Some members ofthat family tree
Force Historical Research Agency rounded by advertisements touting still serve as this is being written. It
(AFHRA) duringawhirlwindresearch Cold War necessities, and stories of has been a fast, and long, ride
visit. AFHRA's affable Archie Difante political realities that sometimes throughhistory.
and the agency staff once again seem archaic, and othertimes remain
proved to be crucial to the success of startlingly germane. The F-5 did not -FrederickA. Johnsen
thatvisit. incubate in avacuum. Itwas a prod- December2005
WARBIRDTECH
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#III
THE F-5
FREEDOM FIGHTER
SIMPLY CAPABLE
W:
th the sleek F-5 series,
Northrop executed an aes
thetic blend of simplicity
and capability that ultimately gar
nered customers from around the
world. The F-5 bucked military air
craft design rationale when it was
conceived in the mid-1950s, but
that is not surprising-it came from
Northrop, a company known for
innovation. As early as 1954,
Northrop's deputy chief engineer
(and later Northrop chairman),
Tom Jones, espoused the concept of
"life cost" to explain and define the
true value of an aircraft. Jones rea
soned the actual cost ofan airplane
is not its initial purchase price, but
the cost of using it throughout its
service life.
This notion was particularly
important for countries with
defense budgets smaller than those
committed annually by the United
States and the Soviet Union. In the
heady urgency of the Cold War
arms race, many American"designs
strove for highest performance,
regardless ofcost, during the life of
the system. This could lead to super
aircraft that were too expensive for
less wealthy allies to buy or main
tain. It was the era of the Century
Series ofjetfighters, beginningwith
the F-lOO. A gulf was widening
between the capabilities of the
front-line fighters ofAmerica and
the aging second- and third-string
warplanes ofU.S. allies.
The Northrop philosophy of
simple, lightweight fighters was
brought to bear on a company
study designated N-102, and called
"Fang." The brainchild of Early Northrop drawings depicted F-5A and B-model airframe structure. B-mod
Northrop's chief of preliminary els did notcarry20-mm cannons. (Northrop viaAFFTCjHO collection)
ID]f(Q)1ffi.1rJHI1ffi.(Q)JP
F-5/F-20/T-38 5
tially more expensive per pound of
airframe than traditional designs,
but in keeping with Northrop's life
cost philosophy, the company fore
cast a lower cost throughout the N
102's life because ofits designed-in
convertibility. AFangtenet that sur
faced in the F-5 program was easy
access for servicing via hinged or
removable panels.1 Subsequently
the F-5's progenitors, the N-156Fs,
had more than 25 percent of the
fuselage area made up of doors or
removable panels. In Northrop
genealogy, the unbuilt N-102 is a
conceptual milepost that fostered
subsequentF-5 creation.
Embracing life cost tenets,
Early silver F-SAs each lugged a l,OOO-lb centerline-mounted bomb plus fuel Northrop designers sought a way to
tanks and smaller ordnance. F-SA coating ofsilver paint generally gave way to create a competitive jet fighter that
camouflage schemes desired bycustomers. (Challen Irvine collection) was affordable for America's allies.
The n"ew fighter would be light
,., * ... ... weight, low in initial price as well
.'.l2~5101---, ••6.11133 3_31601 ____ 2_3101129* as ongoing costs, and powered by
All.E.ROMTRAILlMCSECTIOIl COHTROLT1.lHHEL VERTICALSTAIULlZ::'RTIP VERTICALSTABILIZER
1"4HELASSfliBLT ACCESSDOOR ASSEJtBLY-PLAST1CKOHEYCOIllB TRAILIHGEDGE engines that produced a high
m '"
**6.23111 , 4-34600•• thrust-to-weight ratio. The notion
IlIHGTRAll1MGSECTIOM RUDOERU5EltBLV
P...MEL,l,SSE.MBLY
STA,lllS.1.ST014UQ ofhigh thrust-to-weight was anoth
**A6l-L2E"4R"~O3HM-ECttUl-lSltOUT-8Q.I,RD" er concept not universally appreci
ACC£UDOOR.llS~'LT ated in the 1950s. It could keep
Northrop's new fighter nimble
enough to hold its own even in
combatswithfaster Mach2 fighters.
As Northrop continued to
*3_7'0"32J ~~· ". evolve its fighter premise, General
CP"RHEAIlSESJE!:MCBTLIOYHSEAT '-./7--6_23211** Electric was busy perfecting the rel
IlIHGUPPfR5KIMAILEROH
AACSSTEUliABTlYOIIB"YP4HEL atively small SJ-110 turbojet engine
4·''".260*. thatwould become the reliable J85
LEJ,OIlGEDGEAUE.ltIlLY
no OUTacMRt' high thrust-to-weight powerplant
6.1072&
I0IO00SlElCAUUJEI:JWlIlLHYEEL of the F-5 and the T-38. Evolved
F-SA HONEYCOMB ASSEMBLIES
from a turbojet conceived for mis
sile applications, two of the effi
cient J85s could be nested side by
The F-S pioneered extensive use ofhoneycomb structure, as detailed in Northrop side in the F-5. Another contender
drawings ofA- and B-model Freedom Fighters. (AFFTCjHO collection) briefly mentioned for the T-38
engine in 1957-1958 was
design, Welko Gasich, and Edgar concept promoted a host of swap Fairchild's competing high thrust
Schmued, Northrop vice president out options including changing the to-weightJ83.
engineering, the N-102 never went kind ofguns and even the model of Northrop's rationale for using
beyond a mock-up that depicted a jet engine in the field; the later F-5 two J85s can be visualized by com
diminutive high-wing, single-tail, project would be more modest in paring other jet engines ofthe peri
single-engine speedster. The N-102 this area. Fang was said to be ini- od, as seen in thefollowing table:
.W..A..RBIRDTECH
6
:MIl
Jet Engine Thrust-to-Weight Ratio Data2
Weight (lbs) MaxThrust (lbs) ThrustjWt. Ratio
J47 w/afterbumer 3,200 7,650 2.4
J79-7 w/afterbumer 3,375 15,800 4.7
Two J85-13sw/afterbumers 1,195 8,160 6.8
As Northrop was refining the while, the N-156 design matured 1950s to replace the older subsonic
small airframe, ittook advantage of with features including an area-rule T-33, Northrop further evolved its
the small, yet powerful, J85s. Dis fuselage design to facilitate accelera N-156 design to create what
cussions with General Electric led tion from subsonic to supersonic became the successful and long
to redesigning parts of the J85 to speeds. This gave the F-5 its charac lived T-38 Talon. The Air Force
relocate some engine-mounted teristicslim-waisted appearance. issued, in May 1955, its general
accessories beneath the engines When the U.S. Air Force sought operation requirement (GaR) for a
instead of atop them, to better a newsupersonictrainerinthe mid- trainer referred to as TZ. Variously
accommodate available space inthe
F-5 fuselage.'
Northrop's first iteration ofthis
lightweight fighter, bearing compa
ny designation N-156, was a 1955
T-tail speedster weighing less than
10,000 lbs. It was pitched to the
U.S. Navy as an ideal jet for use on
small so-called jeep carriers. A sub
sequent decision to take the jeep
carriers out of service ended this
developmental avenue for Northrop
before an aircraft was built. Mean-
To make the F-5 required master tool
ing, as depicted in a Northrop draw
ing for the F-5B. Items with single ••*CCOOIMlMIIOONNTTOOFT--S3,aI,"
asterisks beside their number were
common also to the T-38A; items with
double asterisks were common to the
F·SS MAJORMASTERTOOLS
F-5A. (AFFTC/HO collection)
The second F-5B (63-8439) in take-offview shows scalloped F-5 engine inlet that is a quick recognition tool to differenti
ate two-seatF-5Bsfrom similarT-38s, as is the presence ofarea-rule tip tanks on F-5Bs. (USAFvia Challen Irvine)
F-5/F-20/T-38 7
identified as N-156T in company Northrop's design team to continue Mojave Desert, 987 first flew 30 July
nomenclature, and thenTZ-156, the pushing for a lightweight fighter 1959, with Northrop's Lew Nelson
Talon ultimately received military variant that could be furnished to in the cockpit. Engines for the first
trainerdesignationT-38. Afull-scale America's allies. Company funds N-156F initially were non-after
mock-up of the TZ-156 in 1956 were used to begin constructing a burning General Electric J85-GE-1
bore a strong resemblance to the prototype N-156F fighter in early models; even with this limitation,
final T-38 design, although the TZ 1958. That May, a letter of intent the N-156F went supersonic on its
156 initiallyshowed asweptvertical from the U.S. government autho first flight. Aircraft 59-4987 and 59
tail instead of the characteristic rized Northrop to build not one, 4988 were finished and flown as N
trapezoid vertical fin and rudder but three, N-156F prototype 156Fs. The third N-156F's comple
actually used on T-38s and F-5s. export fighters. tion was halted, and it ultimately
Capitalizing on the priority placed The first N-156F, assigned Air emerged as a YF-5A, still bearing
by the Air Force on getting its own Force serial 59-4987, rolled out of serial 59-4989.
supersonic trainer built, Northrop the Northrop plant on the last day
flewthefirstT-38 on 10April 1959.. of May 1959. Shipped to the Air Shared Pedigree
Even as the T-38 was taking Force Flight Test Center at Edwards
form, its success encouraged Air Force Base in California's The Northrop design team
managed to keep the F-5 and its T
Northrop F-5A three 38 trainer sibling economically
view drawing shows viable in part by using shared struc
wing leading edge tures where feasible. Basic wing
extensionsfairing into planform of the T-38, with a 32
inlets. A-model exten degree leading edge sweepback, was
sions were much retained and modified with leading
sma/ler than those edge devices for the F-5. This wing
ultimately developed delivered handling qualities desir
for the F-5E and F-20 able for a trainer by minimizing
models. (AFFTCjHO pitch-up due to wingtip stall. This
collection) was accomplished by using the rela
tively modest sweepback. Overall
the wing design was a reasonable
compromise of supersonic drag
traits and handlingqualities.
The final design configuration
oftheT-38 stood as the baseline for
creatingthe F-5.5
Northrop's testbed F
I SA in the summer of
1965 used a two
position nosewheel
strut to facilitate
shorter takeoff rolls.
(Northrop via
Craig Kaston col
lection)
Left: In the summer of1965 Northrop used an F-5A (63-8421) to test upgrades
including auxiliary air doors on the sides of the fuselage just ahead of the J85
2.56 .ft,...., engines. The doors improved engine performance in the low-speed range during
takeoffand landing. (NorthropviaTonyChongcollection)
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