Originally Posted by
Miles Magister
I thought that the F5/20 was a single seat version of the T38. The T38 being designed to fit the requirement for a supersonic advanced trainer, whilst producing a successful and capable aircraft I heard from test pilots that the requirement to be supersonic limited the qualities in other flight regimes.
I would not consider the F-5 a single seat version of the T-38. Both were derived from the N-156 design and obviously have a lot in common but there are subtle differences in appearance, beneath the skin, and roles. There are also 2 seat F-5's. F-5 has larger intakes, different wing structure and leading edge extensions, different avionics, different landing gear/tires, weapon pylons and the wingtip sidewinder rails. The E and F models were substantially improved and a further changed from the baseline, including radar, improved avionics....