Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series
HA3366
F-5E Tiger II 5272, 46th Aggressor Squadron, ROCAF 
 
General Background
The Northrop F-5 tactical fighter was designed as an extremely maneuverable, supersonic fighter with a high rate of reliability at a low operating cost. The F-5 first flew on July 30, 1959 with the first customer delivery in 1964. The last of more than 2,600 F-5’s was produced in 1989 and about two-thirds of these are still in service with 26 countries more than 4 decades later. The F-5 was manufactured by Northrop Grumman and under license in Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.
 
The Aircraft 
In 1982 the 44th, 45th and 46th FS formed the 7th FG of the 737th FW. In 1984 the wing converted from the F-5A/B to the F-5E/F and the 46th became a independent TFS reporting directly to the 737th TFW and tasked as an Aggressor Squadron. The 46th TFS F-5Es were painted with large red buzz numbers on the nose and the stenciled “Chung Chen” on the side of the fuselage. In 1988 ROCAF installed its Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System/Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (TACTS/ACMI) training range at Taitung AFB with the 46th TFS as its sole unit. ROCAF Northrop F-5E buzz number 5272 was built as c/n VE.1024 serial number 78-00874.