The F-14 Was Not An Air Force Plane

I'm just saying. That's the kind of annoying detail reporters tend to get wrong, but that quickly erodes their credibility. The F-14 was a workhorse of the navy carrier fleet.

While it is technically correct, I suppose, to call the F-5 an Air Force plane, since the Air Force did operate a number for dissimilar combat training (they were used to play the "bad guys" in training exercises in other words) they never entered service in the American arsenal, but were developed strictly as a plane to be sold to allies.

Maybe you wouldn't expect a reporter to know about the F-5s (although if that plane made it into the story, whoever mentioned them would surely have known) but, come on, who hasn't seen Top Gun?

Comments

[Christopher Whitaker]

I've said it before, but it is worth repeating ad nauseum: the MSM is ignorant to the point of stupidity when it comes to the military. Their disconnect (with few notable exceptions) and complete lack of experience with and understanding of the military is reflected every day in their coverage. Whether it is true bias or simple ignorance, their lack of knowledge produces an appearance of bias and dramatically distorts the reporting. Once again, all the reporter would have had to do would be to have spoken to a couple of members of the Navy and/or Air Force aviation community and all their questions could have been answered. Of course, when it comes to the military, I guess the MSM is not interested in facts.

[Wayne]

That is all quite right. I am impressed - and I'm, a Certified Airplane Nut! Of course, the F-5 did go to Vietnam and enter combat with the USAF as part of an evaluation program called "Skoshi Tiger", but as you say, most of its use in the Air Force was with the Aggressor Squadron - and the US Navy used it for that purpose, too.
But your point is, I think, that minor factual errors in an news article imply that there may well be more significant errors that are less obvious.

Finally, speaking of Iran - does anyone think it rather odd that Iran is simultaneously bragging that it has to be treated as a nuclear power and insisting that its nuclear program is peaceful?

[Michael Heinz]

Wasn't the F-5 used (and still used) as an air force trainer?

IIRC, the T-38 is the training variant of the F-5.

Also, wasn't used by the blue angels at some point?

[Wayne]

The F-5 was not used as a USAF trainer. The T-38 was and still is but it is not the trainer version of the F-5. Rather, both the T-38 and the F-5 were descended from the Northrop N-156F prototype for a lightweight fighter. The engines are not quite the same between the T-38 and F-5, and neither are the air intakes and a number of other details.

The T-38 was used by the Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team for a while, when they traded in their F-4's for something more fuel efficient in the mid-70's. The Blue Angels switched from the F-4 to teh A-4 in that same timeframe for the same reason.

Interestingly enough, the F/A-18 Hornet is descended from the Northrop P-530 Cobra, which was intended to replace the F-5 in foreign air forces. Instead it was replaced by the larger F-18 as well as the F-16. Northrop ended up competing with itself!

[dauber]

I believe that would answer the T-38 question! I hadn't known, though, about the squadron in Vietnam, but I don't think an evaluation squadron is enough for it to count as an "Air Force plane" in the sense the reporter is using the term -- the damn thing was built to be sold, period.

[Steve]

Um, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Iranians did buy F-14's from us. They even tried to get the Phoenix missles that go with them.

[Steve]

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but here is some info on the F-14's:
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_us/f014.html

[JAY]

LET'S NOT FORGET WHERE THE T38 GOT ITS DESIGN IT ORIGINATED FROM......FAIRCHILD REPUBLIC'S T46a IT WAS BUILT TO REPLACE THE LOW ALTITUDE T37 THAT WAS SLOWER AND MORE FUEL DEFIENT THEN THE T46....POLITICS CAME INTO VIEW AND FAIRCHILD LOST THE CONTRACT IN MY OPINION....AND USING FUNDING DEFICIT AS THE PROPELLANT TO GET NORTHRUP THE T38 REMOD CONTRACT....FAIRCHILDS T46 GOT SCRAPPED...THE T38 WAS FASTER, TWO SEATER WITH IMPROVED EJECTION SEAT, PRESSURIZED COCKPIT FOR HIGHER ALTITUDES FOR EASE OF TRAINING OUT OF THE CIVILIAN CONJESTED AIR SPACE, IT PERFORMED THE SAME AS THE T46, POOR FAIRCHILD, AFTER THE LAST 113th A10 was produced the COMPANY went rapidly into a crash and burn mode, too bad it was a very nice place for us to work at.