The F5 was just the kind of plane the US Air Force should have developed all along -- sleek, cheap, easy to maintain, but still had amazing performance. Instead, the philosophy was for big, sophisticated, heavy, overloaded, expensive monstrosities that tried to fill multiple roles, many of which the planes simply were not designed for.

These little combat sports cars were amazing. Reasonably quick but not interceptor quick, simple avionics and nimble handling teamed with guns meant that any enemy fighter that found itself in close to one of these was in real trouble. In a close dogfight, there was virtually nothing out there that could out-maneuver an F5. They were used extensively to provide advanced air superiority fighter jocks better stick, rudder and guns training by giving them a worthy dogfighter as an adversary.

"WINGS" Flashbacks D channel. Thanks for putting this up!

The F-5 is the inspiration for the development doctrine for the JAS39 Gripen. Both aircraft types were reliable, easy to maintain, maneuverable, easy to deploy & replenish and cost-effective.

My salute to Northrop. Whatever the skeptics say or think, the F 5E Tiger II fighter remains one of the best tactical fighters to serve with several air forces world wide. Cheers

Absolutely the most beautiful jet fighter aircraft EVER built!!! Mother Nature herself could not have improved its sleek, sexy, and elegant design.

How can you not like this awesome plane?

Thanks for posting my favorite Jet Fighter of the Vietnam War.

Sad that the F-20 Tigershark never went into production, it would have continued the F-5's legacy well into today's world.

while visiting vietnam i found out that the russians got their hands on the f5 and begrudgingly loved its maintenance, easy handling & performance VS the mig 21. some accolade indeed.

Thank you, THANK YOU for this video. I was just a kid when these planes were coming out and, I ALWAYS loved the planes. (regardless of branch of service.) I followed them closely as they came out for the public to see. THIS PLANE was always my favorite and, (what seemed to be) the hardest to see it on the news or, ANY TV ! I wanted to see it making a difference for our war efforts, in dogfights ! I was constantly looking for the F-5 ! Rarely did I get to see it and, was always disappointed in what I found. (or didn't was more like it.) I even served in the Air Force from 76-80 and, never got a chance to see one up close ! I REALLY ENJOYED THIS, thx again. *It is within you to always breathe freely. JBY*

this is a really nice video and I was first stationed at Bien Hoa in June of 1970 and I got to see and take a lot of photos of these fantastic planes taking off and landing. thanks for posting.

a legendary aviation masterpiece.

Great new footage of this plane.

Wonderful old documentary that we really enjoyed watching. Thank you for sharing it.

My younger brother Matthew worked on T-38s during his four years in the USAF. Reese AFB in Lubbock, TX.

Such a beautiful looking jet fighter.

What a lovely video, I really enjoy watching , Thanks !1

Thanks for this video....very informational...

There is an F-20 and T-38 on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles and an F-5 at the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance.

Hard to believe it’s design harkened back to 1955!... Still looks great! 👍

One of the greatest. Simplicity at its best. USAF slept on a great fighter. It would of contended with the MiGs in Vietnam and did...

It was small because it was built around the same engine as the Quail decoy/cruise missile, two of them with afterburners.

Thanks for the video. Love flying this bird at mach No.

Cool jet on many levels!

To this day the F-5 still flies in frontline service with many nations. Even the U.S. Marnie Corp is actively looking for and buying any low hour frames they can find for use in the Naval Weapons Course (Top-Gun). The little plane has yet to meet its true master in air-to-air combat. And the newly reworked F-5FM-III & IV's done by Israeli Military Industries are as deadly a foe as any Gen-4 plus flying today, if not more so. I believe the reason the F5 was never picked-up by the Air Force was Sheer pride of a wounded ego. The N156 project originally was a request by the Department of the Navy for a small tactical fighter that could take of and land on it's existing smaller Escort carriers which could not support the newer larger F8 and F4 aircraft, if you look under the tail of almost any F5 they'll have a tail-hook. But in the end dwindling budgets forced the Navy into selecting to support only its larger fleet carriers and the Escorts were taken out of service. Northrop continued to develop the aircraft and later was selected for the MAP program by the Kennedy administration as the F-5A/B. It didn't help maters that during the Vietnam war the F-5C model being tested by the USAF for the South Vietnamese would out fly and had far better readiness rates than anything the Air Force had at the time. The Air Force went on to insist on a replacement for the F-5 in the Map program, and in 1969 a competition was announced for a new fighter to be selected from between Lockheed, General Dynamics and Northrop. And with the announcement that Northrop's F-5E/F had won and would be it's own replacement, well you can guess how well that went over with the USAF brass. For a first hand account from the horses mouth on the F-5, follow the link and listen to Ron Gibb, a 45-year Northrop engineer who worked on the development of this remarkable plane back in 1966. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jqx8q6qDyKvHaKs.html

The Freedom Fighter is Awesome machine. In the air battles over Vietnam, They could have use this against the mig 21s instead of f4 phantoms.

This is one of the best jet fighters that Should have been kept in production and refinement for the US military. How was WW2 tank battles won? By our producing the Axis power. Low cost and high numbers. My favorite jet fighter is the F5 because of it's effectiveness and cost to maintain. Just awesome 👍🏻🇺🇸

Is there any country own more than 350 F5E ? and using in real war everyday ? Yes, we did, I was in ROC Airforce 1975 in Taiwan, on the other side of the Taiwan strait is the Chinese communist.

I like Ron David's narration better. His voice is the one I heard during Wing's broadcast on the Discovery Channel in cable's early years in the 90s

Nice little jet, very effective.

La perfection

Nice...Top secret U-2 in the background at 10:32.

Este F-5E que "ROLLOUT" em 1972 com o Presidente Ronald Reagan como convidado especial e presente na cerimônia de apresentação do primeiro F-5E fabricado no mundo; mas este exemplar voa até os dias de hoje e precisamente na Força Aérea Brasileira.

Seen many while there

I enjoyed flying this fighter aircraft .. for more than 2000 hours.

11:40 The engines weighed only 570 lbs each? That's incredible.

These aircraft are scattered across Canada in museums, air force bases and abandoned in airports and scrap yards , sad

Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter

Probably the best looking jet fighter ever or at least on the top 5 list. Too bad, it was not used by the U.S.

This plane is still in use in the philippines as their number 1 interceptor.

Filmagens da década de 60, ná época do Guerra do Vietnân. Aeronave muito boa que voa até os dias de hoje em 2020.

I Sill Love the F-5.

most beautiful jet eve made

Same Base air Military, for Two jet planes , F-5 and A 37 B Dragón Fly

I thought this was a MIG 28?

Big mistake that the U.S. Air Force didn't buy the F-5 for front line service. They could've been very useful in large numbers during the Vietnam War.

i think reproducing this aircraft using modern methods and composites to replace steel on some areas will make this even more formidable. add curent avionics and weapon systems. the aircraft is small and i think a coat of radar absorbent paint would make it close to if not completely stealth... who needs that f35?

All in all, one of the best ac ever designed. Even by today's standards The USAF "management" stupid fixation to large and heavy ac... Pilots should decide which ac should play which role. The F-35 lightning is THE negative example of mind- corruption over common sense.

Are they still using T38s for pilot training? What will be the replacement, since the are no longer built?

Fantastic Black Pony! Northrop Freedom F-5 Fighter

this became the very first US model and the rest is history for the US supersonics today. This is the most feared craft after WWII, the USSR had a hard time catching and fearing up Lol I can sense my history - no empirical data though. lol Maybe, the last edition F5-E the Philippines had it too.

Is there a documentary about Northrop aviation ?

It's sad, I know, but, whatever those video games (looking at you, Ace Combat 5) are telling you, the F-5 based X-29 is only a tech demonstrator, and is not (and will never be) an operational fighter jet.

this is like comparing a muscle car to the crap they build today saaaaad :(

Same Engine GE turbine, j85

our friend Vietnam had it in 70's, Philippines had it in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Gone are the days Ph became the first flyer of this outside US soil. Thank you in the trust that Filipino pilots can fly this and really made it those years. That's why communists did not succeed in the Philippines until today it was vomited by most in the region. Lol

“Sukoshi Tiger”... Pretty sure sukoshi means “a little bit” (as in an amount or quantity) rather than small (as in size). 🤷🏻‍♂️ whatevs

Efficient, effective design. F35 designers, what the hell happened?

Someone plays DCS F-5E here ?

17:21 Brrrrtttt...... 😀😀😀😀😀😀 43:01 Wow!!!!! Beautiful.... 💓💓💓💓 😇😇😇😇

NASA pilots used these as daily rides for the fact that they were economical

check out the so called recent "indigenously designed Iranian fighter jet" -It's a COPY of the F5 , except modified with twin tails.

The American Northrop F-5 Freedom fighter was an Answer to Soviet MiG-21"Fishbed". Too bad the Americans couldn't mass produce this "INEXPENSIVE" Fighter Aircraft.

SEATO or now known as ASEAN.🇵🇭

I have collated over 70 videos of the Northrop F-5 'Freedom Fighter' - - - > click xo ox to see them !!

43:00 blonde !

43:00 beautiful girl giving orders at 9 o'clock

F-5 !!!

Well, state of mind now is that everything needs to be overengineered, overpriced, overcomplex so that they can put more money into pocket. And for end user, pilots and crew, nobody cares 😐

The Freedom Fighter made my country, Philippines, the envy of Southeast Asia in the 1970s. After that, uh, we're done.

Severely limited range, subsonic (real use speed 500 mph), limited afterburner use, limited optimal flight envelope, severely limited radar range assures death, lacks maneuver intakes/thrust ratio, F-15/F-16 energy turn inside it by far, engine/upgrades won't change flaws, and so much more. A purpose built export limited training use for U.S. Just be real.

Was That Former President Ronald Reagan? He Was California's Governor Before Becoming 2x U.S. President...

Fun fact: soviet acually stole 5 of these jet of the end of Vietnam war