Much Freedom

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/14/2019 at 13:56 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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One of the highlights from a morning of shooting at KAUS today. I was just packing up when a fellow spotter noticed this guy taxiing for takeoff. I thought at first it was a T-38, a pretty common visitor to our airport. After shooting it, I noticed the civilian registration ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) . Military jets don’t have those.

This is actually a F-5F Freedom Fighter, manufactured by Northrop on 1978 and owned by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! based in Reno, NV. They provide combat training and act as aggressors for US fighter pilots to train against. Aside from the civilian registration, the Russian-style numbers on the nose also give it away. The F-5 also has a longer and pointier nose than a T-38. I’ll have some more after I finish editing, including a new plane for my life list. But I was excited to get a look at this shot.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:02

1

That would be an amazing job.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:02

5

Shit that’s a Mig-28!

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 03/14/2019 at 14:04

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I think so. Not sure why he was at AUS. There is an Air Force National Guard facility at the airport. Maybe just stopping by for a cup of coffee. I see lots of T-38s from Sheppard AFB outside of Dallas. I guess AUS is just sleepy enough and just far enough away to be a good training destination.

ttyymmnn > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 03/14/2019 at 14:04

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LOL.

lone_liberal > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:09

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Back in the 80s when I was in the Navy I was stationed on a base that was also a Spanish Air Force base so there were F5s flying around. I always thought they were very cool, and much smaller than the Navy planes that I saw at other bases especially the F14. 

McMike > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 03/14/2019 at 14:15

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You beat me to it.  :)

facw > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:15

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IIRC, the easiest way to tell the F-5 from the T-38 is that the F-5 has missile rails on the wingtips and the T-38 doesn’t. Obviously single seaters are only going to be F-5s as well, but that’s no help here .

The new budget proposal includes funding for buying and refurbishing 22 Swiss F-5s for aggressor duty, so they might become even a more common sight (sounds like they’d be augmenting rather than replacing the current F-5 fleet).

McMike > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:15

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I totally forgot they made a two seater F-5.

McMike > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:17

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Not only was Maverick inverted, he was mirrored.

Look at the names alongside the cockpit. That’s the left side of the aircraft.

facw > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:21

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https://tacticalairsupport.com/

Tactical Air Support, Inc. provides domestic and international “Center of Excellence” level training and advisory services in tactical aviation, while supporting U.S. interests, and providing meaningful career opportunities for our employees. When you need the most qualified, current, and combat-experienced military aviation experts in the industry – turn to Tactical Air.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Tactical Air owns and operates a fleet of 26 supersonic F-5 fighter aircraft, largely consisting of an improved, lower flight-time version of the current Adversary platform of the U.S. Navy (USN) and Marine Corps (USMC). TacAir has operated F-5 aircraft since 2013. The F-5 is a proven Adversary aircraft also formerly used by the USAF in this role and currently operational with 19 international air forces. While the baseline F-5 flown by the USN/USMC is widely considered a 3 rd Generation aircraft, Tactical Air’s existing and planned upgrades economically evolve this aircraft into an advanced tactical aircraft with sensor/system capabilities on par with current DoD 4 th Generation fighter aircraft. Tactical Air F-5s are upgraded with HUD/HOTAS, open architecture mission computers and tailored Operational Flight Programs that enable integration of Duotech’s advanced radar and RWR systems, IRSTS, EA, datalinks, and HOBS simulated weapons employment. The F-5’s proven growth potential and twin-engine reliability, paired with our uncompromising corporate safety culture, is the best insurance against hazards and mishaps and lets us meet almost any potential performance requirements. Tactical Air is proud to bring our upgraded fleet of F-5E/Fs as a 4th generation adversary platform with 3rd generation economy. 

ttyymmnn > facw 03/14/2019 at 14:23

2

Good point. I was to busy shooting to pay attention to details.

Interesting that they are procuring more. Nice to get more work out of the old airframes. Presumably, they haven’t had the wings flown off of them like the trainers.

ttyymmnn > McMike 03/14/2019 at 14:24

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Me too. That’s what threw me at first, and made me think T-38.

ttyymmnn > McMike 03/14/2019 at 14:24

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Yup. Not sure why they felt the need to do that. An editing decision, no doubt. 

facw > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:25

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8 F-15Xs For USAF And 22 F-5s For Navy In 2020 Budget Request

facw > lone_liberal 03/14/2019 at 14:32

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I think this perspective is a bit exaggerated:

While this one only make the F-5  look bigger:

facw > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:34

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It’s a great pic though, makes the F-5 look damn good (admittedly, it’s hard to catch the F-5 from a bad angle, it’s a pretty plane).  

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:40

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I absolutely love the F-5. Light, (relatively)  simple, fast, and really good looking.

ttyymmnn > facw 03/14/2019 at 14:47

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Thanks. It’s always been one of my favorites. As for the angle, I did cheat a little bit. Out of the camera, it looked like the plane was pointing down. I was standing on the top of a step ladder, and trying not to fall off as I panned to the right.  So I gave it a little more positive climb. Lightroom is awesome. 

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 03/14/2019 at 14:50

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It’s a total hot rod. 

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > facw 03/14/2019 at 14:53

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I was always disappointed that the F-20 didn’t catch on. From the age of 5, the three aircraft posters I had on my wall were the F-15 (huge F-15 fanboy), the Ardvark (my dad worked on 111s when we were at Upper Heyford), and the F-5. I don’t know why dad came home with an F-5 poster, because to my knowledge, he never worked on F-5s (or the T-38s that flew next to the 15s he worked on at Holloman...I know he worked on Thunderchiefs, Phantoms, Aardvarks, and Eagles ). But it went on my wall, and I liked it. When we moved from Heyford to Holloman and I started seeing blue camo F-5s, dad told me they were T-38s, so for a few years, I thought that if they were white or grey they were 5s, and if they were blue, they were 38s.

In my teen years, I became aware of the F-20, and thought it was a smart move...kind of a predecessor to the current idea of Hornet upgrading to Super Hornet (which, the Hornet always looked F-5ish, and was also designed by Northrop), now Northrop could modernize their ‘60s LWF and Tiger becomes Tigershark. But the USAF never really backed it, and so no foreign powers cared either, and all bought F-16s instead. (I’ve always felt the 16 was overrated and didn’t do anything the 15 didn’t already do except be cheaper to buy and costlier to refuel.) I still imagine a world where our allies fly squadrons of F-20Es (actual F-20Es, not T-38s painted black and called MIG-28s...yes, they’re not our ally, I know) instead of F-16s, so the poster I had 35 years ago would still be relevant today...

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 14:58

1

Pretty airplane, and great shot! 

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 03/14/2019 at 15:00

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Thanks! I’m pretty jazzed about it. It was a great spot. Very rare for KAUS. At least for me. Also spotted my first Dornier 328 today. Still have to edit those. Housecleaning has to come first!

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 15:02

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Dornier 328? Don’t see those often - jet or turboprop (there’s both).

Regional airline or other?  Guessing other if you don’t see those.

McMike > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 15:02

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Yeah. They must have had only one shot of a pilot flipping the bird and felt they had to be flying right to left.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > McMike 03/14/2019 at 15:06

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That shot fails LONG before noticing that...

The tails of those aircraft would be torn off before the canopies got anywhere NEAR that close together.

user314 > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 15:06

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Oh this is interesting. That F-5F was originally delivered to the Jordanian AF in the late S eventies, and was possibly   spotted being unloaded from a 747 freighter in St. Augie a couple years back. Turns out the Royal Jordanian Air Force sold off a batch of 21 Tigers to... Tactical Air Support .

Curious too that it’s now painted in the T-50 “Shark” scheme. 

ttyymmnn > user314 03/14/2019 at 15:08

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Neat. This catch just keeps getting better and better. Thanks for the info.

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > facw 03/14/2019 at 15:12

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Huh, neat. everyone is always panicking because we’re still using a 40+ year old design, while forgetting that prior to the F-22, the 15 was literally unbeatable by everything except the 14 and mmmmmmaybe the Su-27, and even today, is still better than anything else in the sky that isn’t the 22, the Super Hornet, or the Su-27. It’s the automotive equivalent of saying that no one should drive or buy 2JZ IS300s anymore, because there are newer, better cars.

The extra irony is that while I hear military nerds complain about the continued use of the 15 (YES, WE DIDN’T BUILD ENOUGH 22s, BUT WE CAN’T FIX THAT ANYMORE BECAUSE WE BLEW ALL OUR MONEY ON THE 35 WE KNOW SHUT UP ALREADY, BACKSEAT DRIVERS), I haven’t read anyone complaining about the navy ordering planes that first saw duty in 1962. That’s incredible in SO many ways.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 03/14/2019 at 15:15

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Jet, from Taos Air , another first spot. Here you go. My best guess is that it was here as part of SXSW. Interesting wing on this bird.

facw > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious 03/14/2019 at 15:24

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Well I think there is a difference in the sense that the F-5 would only be used for training, not frontline duty. Also they are, and were designed to be cheap so the expense isn’t too bad. Compare with the F-15X, where they are allocating $1.1B, or nearly $ 140M per plane. Granted that includes some integration that hopefully wouldn’t have to be spent on future orders, but still makes it hard to paint as a value option.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 15:30

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Interesting - I’ve never heard of Taos Air.  Says they’re offering flights to Taos NM for skiing from Austin and Dallas.

user314 > facw 03/14/2019 at 15:48

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There may be a bit of an optical illusion at play, but the F-5 is absolutely tiny compared to an F-14 or F-15:

Even the F-16 has a few feet on it, span wise:

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 03/14/2019 at 15:53

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Is it still ski season in Taos? I have no idea, and this is the first time I’ve seen them. My money is still on a  SXSW charter.

ttyymmnn > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 03/14/2019 at 16:10

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Willing suspension of disbelief FTW.

McMike > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. 03/14/2019 at 16:26

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The F14 was also not inverted.

jchapa > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 21:56

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I'm visiting in Waco and I saw a Grey Eagle UAV doing pattern work at KCNW. I didn't realize they fly over here regularly.

ttyymmnn > jchapa 03/14/2019 at 22:10

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Intere sting. I wonder if it had something to do with Ft. Hood? There’s an air show coming up at TSTC. I’m going to try to get up there. 

Clown Shoe Pilot > ttyymmnn 03/14/2019 at 23:53

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did he take off at about 10am?

ttyymmnn > Clown Shoe Pilot 03/15/2019 at 00:00

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10:11, actually, according to the EXIF data. I had planned to leave at 10. Glad I stuck around!

Clown Shoe Pilot > ttyymmnn 03/15/2019 at 08:52

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I was coming up 183 and saw him climb out. I wondered what it was. I could tell he was fast and small but that’s all the info I had.