[WayneS]

Turns out it was only seven years (’74-’81), but it is the T’birds #2 longest serving plane behind the F-16.

Maybe I’m just biased. Most of the times I got to see them were during the T-38 years.

Also, can some tell me whether I am correct in remembering that the F-5 Tiger was a single seat fighter version of the T-38 airframe?

[WayneS]

Or perhaps ...someONE...?

[jaydubya2]

I believe the F-5 is a variant of the T-38, though the F-5 has a different wing.

[ChinaThreat]

The F-5 was a privately funded “light-fighter” program started by Northrop. The US wasn’t looking for a light-fighter but we sold variants to allies. The F-5 program is actually what created the T-38 training variant. My father worked at Reese AFB in Lubbock Texas during the 60s. There were a ton of these things.

The F-5 was tried briefly in Vietnam and declared a success but it was never in serious consideration for a stock fighter for the USA.

[SJSAMPLE]

Yes.
Same basic airframe.

[jaydubya2]

"Both the F-5 and T-38 offer superb performance, excellent flight characteristics, and unmatched safety records in military service. While there is a high level of commonality between these aircraft, the F-5 has a drag chute, large power disk brakes and provision for external fuel. On the other hand, the T-38 is lighter and has somewhat higher performance than the F-5. The range of the T-38 at 750NM is slightly greater than than that of the F-5 in the clean (tip tanks) configuration. However, the range of the F-5 can be extended to 850NM with the addition of an external centerline fuel tank. Take-off and landing performance of the F-5 is superior to that of the T-38 due to the drag chute and larger wheels and brakes of the F-5. In addition, the F-5 exhibits less buffet in the traffic pattern due to its leading edge flaps.

Buy one here:
http://www.thorntonaircraft.com/body/body.cfm?page_name=mil

[Jeff Chandler]

The skies around here were once filled with T-38s and Tweets. Williams AFB was right down the road.