Just some info from Air Force records;
The Air Force only ever had a handful of F-5A which they 'borrowed' from MDAP stock for evaluation in SEA. For this they had modifications carried out by Northrop, including the addition of inflight refueling capability (were range limitations a problem?) and re-designated F-5C. They flew from Bien Hoa AB with the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing.
By the end of 1966 they had 18 on hand and were only flying them for around 500hrs/month carrying out combat support. A couple were lost to flying accidents within 100 days of arriving in SEA.
By 1969 only one example was still on the Air Force inventory (I think for testing at Edwards AFB). Most of the other had been handed over under MAP to the SVNAF at Bien Hoa, or had been written off.
Here's a list of them if anyone interested;
65-10513 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10514 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10515 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10518 To SVNAF 17-APR-1967
65-10519 Crashed 26-SEP-1966
65-10520 Crashed 07-DEC-1966
65-10524 To SVNAF 19-APR-1967
65-10525 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10526 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10540 Crashed 04-MAR-1967
65-10546 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10547 To SVNAF 10-MAY-1967
65-10555 Returned to USA 31-MAY-1967, then to MAP 07-APR-1968
65-10556 Returned to USA 23-MAR-1968, then to MAP 07-APR-1968
65-10558 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10559 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10560 To SVNAF 16-APR-1967
65-10586 Returned to USA 14-MAR-1967, then to MAP 18-MAR-1967
Last edited by SkyHawk-N; 9th Nov 2016 at 19:53.