One of the highlights from a morning of shooting at KAUS today. I was just packing up when a fellow spotter noticed this guy taxiing for takeoff. I thought at first it was a T-38, a pretty common visitor to our airport. After shooting it, I noticed the civilian registration (N643TA). Military jets don’t have those.
This is actually a F-5F Freedom Fighter, manufactured by Northrop on 1978 and owned by Tactical Air Support based in Reno, NV. They provide combat training and act as aggressors for US fighter pilots to train against. Aside from the civilian registration, the Russian-style numbers on the nose also give it away. The F-5 also has a longer and pointier nose than a T-38. I’ll have some more after I finish editing, including a new plane for my life list. But I was excited to get a look at this shot.