Original illustration Just for fun / Collect them all
F-5 trading cards Five variants and five real airframes. Flip a card for its stats, then follow it to the full, sourced record.
All 10 Variants Airframes Flip all
Variant 01/10 Documentary photo F-5A Freedom Fighter Tap to flip F-5A Freedom Fighter
Family Freedom Fighter
Seats 1
First F-5 flight July 1959 The design that started it all: a light, cheap supersonic fighter for allied air forces. Variant 02/10 Documentary photo F-5B Freedom Fighter Tap to flip F-5B Freedom Fighter
Family Freedom Fighter
Seats 2
First flight February 1964 A two-seat combat trainer that kept its fighting ability. Variant 03/10 Documentary photo F-5E Tiger II Tap to flip F-5E Tiger II
Family Tiger II
Seats 1
First flight August 1972 J85-21 engines with about 20% more thrust, a bigger wing and radar. Variant 04/10 Documentary photo F-5F Tiger II Tap to flip F-5F Tiger II
Family Tiger II
Seats 2
First flight September 1974 The Tiger II two-seater, easy to spot by its stretched nose and long canopy. Variant 05/10 Documentary photo F-5N Tiger II Tap to flip F-5N Tiger II
Built from Ex-Swiss F-5Es
Seats 1
Role Navy adversary Two jets in, one jet out: an old Navy F-5E plus a low-hour Swiss airframe. Airframe 06/10 Documentary photo YF-5A 59-4989 Tap to flip YF-5A 59-4989
Type Prototype
Home USAF Museum, Ohio
Batch 1 of 3 YF-5As One of the three prototypes that began the F-5 story. Airframe 07/10 Illustration F-5B 72-0441 Tap to flip F-5B 72-0441
Type Two-seater
Home Pima, Arizona
Museum loan 2001 A trainer with a documented service timeline from 1972. Airframe 08/10 Illustration F-5E 741564 Tap to flip F-5E 741564
Type Tiger II
Home Pima, Arizona
Markings VFC-13 Wears Navy adversary colors from NAS Fallon. Airframe 09/10 Illustration F-5N 761550 Tap to flip F-5N 761550
Born as Swiss J-3025
Crossed Nov 2007
Role Adversary Flew from Emmen to the U.S. Navy inside a C-130. Airframe 10/10 Illustration F-5E 74-1558 Tap to flip F-5E 74-1558
Type Tiger II
Home Fort Worth, Texas
Claim Top Gun MiG Air Force aggressor, Navy adversary, and an unconfirmed movie star. Card stats come from the linked pages on this site, where each fact is sourced. Variant photos are U.S. government public-domain images; see image credits .