IAFM F-5 E. Saudi Arabian airforce

[herky]

nice to see a different choice of air force

[hyair]

Hi Herky - the IAFM models. at the sixties were wihelhelmshavener in origin but the color scheme
wasm modified. For instance. the german sabre dog became Ethiopian.
The German G91 became Italian and USAF f-100 A became Danish.

Yair

[hyair]

Added here nore photos of the f-5E.

Yair

[herky]

Originally Posted by hyair

Hi Herky - the IAFM models. at the sixties were wihelhelmshavener in origin but the color scheme
wasm modified. For instance. the german sabre dog became Ethiopian.
The German G91 became Italian and USAF f-100 A became Danish.

Yair

i just like seeing aircraft in unusual air force schemes ie not british,american etc

[hyair]

The F-5 E entered service in 1972. This time the USAF
order it for service after realizing the benefits of the design and
the low cost of operating the F-5 E or tiger.
The main changes in the E were more powerful engines , better avionics
and aerodynamic changes that raised top speed to mach 1.6
Also the tiger was able to carry more weapons and higher loads.
However the Tiger still had a limited range and was underpowered so
acceleration wasan not so good.
The Tiger was a huge success and many countries decided to buy it.
The IAF never bought the Tiger or had a clash with it despite the fact
that many middle east countries operated the type.

Yair

[hyair]

The F-5E main advantage was the low cost of it's running.
For countries with low budget this was the perfect solution.
In the middle east Turkey and Iran were the main users.
Later Jordan and Saudi Arabia also acquired the type.
The cost - performance was excellent. The only two weak
points of the f-5 E was the low power of 10000 lb combined
of the 2 J85 engines - something that made acceleration slow.
For some degree the sleek aerodynamic shape helped here.
The other drawback was a short range because the thiin wings
couldn hold fuel and when warload was carried there was a need
to carry the belly fuel tank.
Again the ease of maintenance and low running costs were the
main reason for acquiring the F-5E.
The F-5E was a tough opponent in simulated dogfight but I will
talk about that in next chapters.
Only Iran saw battle with the type during the 80's war with Iraq.
Since there are no accurate statistics about this war it is hard
to know how the type was successful in real fight.
We can assume that dogfights were made with Iraqi
Mig 21 and mirage F-1 but no accurete information exist.

Yair

[hyair]

Some more F-5E with opponents photos.

Yair

[hyair]

The USAF was one of the first to put the f-5e into service. At the mid 70's there was a need
for a fighter that will sinulate the nimble mig 21 in dogfights against various american types.
The f-5E proved to be the perfect answer with very simillar performan to the mig 21.
Training against the f-5E started in nelis Nevada against phantoms and later f-15 eagle.
The NAVY used it against the F-14 tomcats.
Many doctrines of dogfights were established from these simulated dogfights.
It was proved that the f-5E can be a very strong opponent and many times pilots of
the tiger were victorious as the agility of the f-5E was outstanding.

Yair

[herky]

i have a nice f5e in brazilian airforce colours i have to build sometime at 1;33 scale