Markings for F-5E 1/48
73-00878, 63rd Tactical Wing, RVNAF, Bien Hoa, South Vietnam, 1974
Apart of the “Skoshi Tiger” program, which during the Vietnam War represented the only USAF combat deployment with F-5A respectively with modified F-5C aircraft, the USAF never intended to use this type. However, the F-5A and later the F-5E were used extensively by the South Vietnamese Air Force, which adopted the aircraft in the standard four-color SEA (South East Asia) camouflage scheme. The aircraft were used as strike aircraft, as the lack of radar limited the use of the F-5A for aerial combat. Only the delivery of upgraded F-5Es, which had already arrived at the end of the war, changed the situation. This aircraft was deployed by the South Vietnamese Air Force from June 1974, and had flown 153 hours and 30 minutes by April 1975, when it was taken over by North Vietnamese forces at the end of the war. After being put out of operation for some time, it was was used again from 1978 and in April 1981 it went to Czechoslovakia as a study example.
73-00878, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Renovation for the Aviation Museum Kbely, Prague, Czech Republic, 2023
After the aircraft of serial number 73-00878 was delivered from Vietnam to Czechoslovakia in 1981. At the time, it had flown only 236 hours and 20 minutes. It was stationed at Aero Vodochody factory and kept in secrecy. There its design and systems were studied. It was gradually disassembled, and the individual components were handed over to the relevant companies, including the armament and targeting systems. Later on, the largely incomplete airframe with only one engine was handed over to the Aviation Museum in Kbely, where it was put on display in an external exhibition, thus further deteriorating. Thanks to the efforts of the staff of the Kbely Aviation Museum and the Česká aviatická (Czech Aviaton) company, Malešice Aircraft Repairs state-owned company, almost all important components were found and recovered, so the aircraft could be carefully restored to the condition in which it was received in 1981.
VFC-13 “Fighting Saints”, US Navy, NAS Fallon, Nevada, USA, 1998
The unit was established on September 1, 1973, as VC-13 (Fleet Composite Squadron) during the reorganization of the Naval Air Reserve Force. Initially armed with the F-8 Crusaders, the squadron rearmed to the A-4 Skyhawks in 1974. It was then assigned to combat pilot training duties and moved to NAS Miramar, California, in February 1976. Redesignation to VFC-13 (Fighter Composite Squadron) occurred in April 1988, the same year it also transitioned to A-4F aircraft, which it replaced with F/A-18As in August 1993. Just three years later, however, it replaced them with F-5Es and moved to Fallon AFB to take over the adversary role from VFA-45 and VFA-127 Squadrons. In December 2022, the squadron rearmed to the F-16C. The aircraft shown here flew in 1998 in a “Blue Scheme” consisting of two shades of blue to simulate the appearance of modern Russian aircraft. This is also matched by the red stars on the vertical fin. The pilot is listed as Cdr Jim “Guido” DiMatteo, former commander of the adversary squadron in Top Gun and son of wartime pilot Dominic Dee DiMatteo, who flew Hellcats in VF-11 and subsequently Bearcats and Corsairs in the Korean War (he turned 100 in 2021).
Maj. Lenny Bucko, NSFTIP, US Marines, MCAS Miramar, California, USA, 1983
Naval Fighter Weapons School does not operate any standard squadron for the purpose of simulating adversary aircraft tactics. The aircraft used there are part of the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center based at NAS Fallon. The aircraft shown here, in desert camouflage, was flown by Maj. Lenny “Toado” Bucko in 1981, one of the combat instructors in the “Top Gun” program. The vertical fin sported an emblem depicting a MiG-21 in a gunsight pattern.
73-0897, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing, 65th Fighter Weapons Squadron, US Air Force, Nellis AFB, USA, 1981
The U.S. Air Force developed a number of camouflage schemes during the use of the F-5E aircraft, which were given their own names. The aircraft shown here was the only one to carry the color scheme named “Frog”. This scheme was defined in an order dated February 27, 1980, and was intended to resemble the coloring of the Soviet frontline MiG-23s and MiG-27s. According to official sources, this scheme was never applied to any aircraft, but the 73-0897 was more or less painted according to the aforementioned order. We are not sure about when it received this livery, but it was surely sporting these colors as late as February 14, 1981.
VFA-127 „Cylons“, Capt. Jerry B. Singleton, US Navy, NAS Fallon, Nevada, USA, 1993
The original name of the VFA-127 was “Royal Blues”. The unit used it until 1980, but with the transition to the adversary role it was changed to Cylons in 1981. The name comes from the Battlestar Galactica series (broadcast from 1980), where the Cylons represented intelligent robots hostile to human race, capable of taking on human form. In June 1993, Capt. Jerry B. “Hook” Singleton, took the command of Strike Fighter Wing Pacific and it was the right of the holder of this high post to choose the aircraft he would fly. One of them was this F-5E, emblazoned under the cockpit on both sides of the fuselage with the inscription COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC. Singleton died on August 13, 2014, at the age of 67 after a 30-year long career as a naval aviator. He was a true renaissance man, according to his memoirs. The aircraft he chose bore a desert camouflage scheme and Iraqi insignia, which was more than a hot topic shortly after the first Gulf War.
425th Squadron, 58th TFTW, Luke AFB, US Air Force, Arizona, USA, late 70s
After the end of the Vietnam War, undelivered F-5Es remained in USA sporting the SEA camouflage consisting of two shades of green plus sand on upper surfaces and grey on the lower ones. The aircraft were taken over by squadrons that served in the Agressor role. Because the Americans sometimes called the Vietnamese by the unflattering term Gomers (slang for stupid fellows), this marking was also given the Gomer Scheme designation. It was actually the first marking of the Aggressor F-5Es, though unlike subsequent ones, it did not represent any particular enemy.
1º/14º GAV “Esquadrão Pampa”, FAB, Canoas AB, Brazil, 2005
This aircraft was given this livery in 2005 as a celebration of the 58th anniversary of the Pampa Squadron of the 14th GAV (1st Squadron, 14th Air Group). In the beginning, the unit used P-40s of various versions, which is commemorated by the drawing of exhausts with flames flickering on the nose of the F-5E, as well as the grille, typical of the P-40 versions M and N. The parrot with the .50 machine gun, whose drawing is a variation of the cartoon character José Carioca, created by Brazilian cartoonist José Carlos de Brito, is the note of the “old times”. The motto “Já te atendo, tchê” can be translated as “I’ll be right with you!” The unit received its first twelve F-5Es on November 26, 1976, after a one-year hiatus caused by the retirement of the Thunderbird fighters. These aircraft were gradually replaced by a total of 22 F-5Es of the second delivery starting from October 13, 1988. In 2005, a portion of the F-5Es were significantly upgraded to the F-5M version. These aircraft are expected to remain in service beyond 2030.
211 Squadron, Wing 21, Royal Thai Air Force, Udon Ratchathani AB, Thailand, late 90s
The Thai Air Force has been using F-5 aircraft the longest of all Asian operators (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are the others). The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) obtained their first F-5s in 1966 and it was part of a contract that allowed the presence of US forces in Thailand during the Vietnam War. These aircraft served with 13 Squadron, which subsequently became 103 Sqn. In 1978, the first of 35 F-5Es ordered were delivered. By the mid-1980s, half of the aircraft had undergone avionics upgrade. After F-16 deliveries began, the F-5Es were gradually moved to the 211 Sqn, 701 Sqn and 904 Sqn, which serves as aggressors in the Thai Air Force. The aircraft carry the standard livery of two shades of blue-grey, with the avionics changes represented by different antennae. They are also equipped with the RWE sensors.