NF-5A footage

[Derk]

Hey all,

 

Reading up and searching for NF-5 info, i rediscovered some pilot shot, 1980's 8mm footage from and around of dutch NF-5's.

Yeah, 1980's, so please excuse the music. ;)

 

The NF-5 was a further development of the F-5 by Nortrop/Canadair in coorporation with the dutch airforce. They had leading edge flaps and a stronger wing structure that allowed it's turn rate to go up by 50% compared to the stock F-5 of its time. It also had an increased external fuel capacity through the addition of tip-tanks. Also the avionics were improved upon: it had a Sperry Gyro to replace Nortrop's non-computing gunsight with a Bendix attitude and heading system, a Canadian Marconi Type 668 Doppler navigation system and a 703 navigation system combined with a roller map. It was also equiped with an emergency UHF radio and a radio altimeter. (source: http://www.nf-5.nl site in dutch)

 

These airframes were later sold to the turkish airforce and guess what, you can see them flying in dcs today! Well, actually i think it's a low poly model of a stock F-5 with a turkish airforce skin stuck on but hey, at least i can pretend.

 

Anyway here are the links to the clips:

 

RNLAF NF-5 Range Firing

 

Flying NF-5 in the 1980's: Low level Sicily & Air Show

[WinterH]

F-5 in DCS is F-5E, has always been F-5E. Yes, Turkish airforce operated NF-5A instead of F-5E but in DCS F-5E is representing all F-5 types (also even though it had a fairly longish service, still as far as I know, F-5 have only been very shortly in frontline service in TurAF, after that it was more of a conversion training to F-16 or more of a reserve fighter). F-5 was retired about a year or two ago, and now only flown by Turkish Starts aerobatics team. Some of them were locally upgraded to a standart named "F-5 2000", which involved cockpit improvements.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe between NF-5 and F-5E, F-5E is the better of two, also has leading edge slats and has a larger leading egde root extension than older F-5 types, as well as more thrust and better avionics.

 

As in the case of MiG-21 Bison and LanceR, F-5 too got a few modern upgrades, 3 or 4 of them I guess, some of them even had BVR missiles and Pyhthon advanced dogfight missiles.

 

However not yet officially announced, possibility of F-5E module is already getting me pretty excited for this pretty little bird, who will go nicely together with MiG-21 too :).