Aviation Specials - July 2018

underneath it. Typically, there’s an F-5

pilot on each course and one F-5N

allocated to TOPGUN’s schedule

in support.

‘Since the combat systems on the F-5N

aren’t numerous or complicated, pilots of

the Tiger II focus on the within visual

range [WVR] dog ght. This is a highly

perishable skill that is practiced by ‘Saints’

pilots on an almost daily basis. In fact, I’d

say that there’s no other unit that does as

much BFM [basic  ghter maneuvers] as

we do on a regular basis. Many of the

guys in the squadron have over 15 years

experience on the Hornet and F-5.’

Tiger tamers

Flying the F-5 is unlike any other job in

naval aviation. They don’t have a

head-up display [HUD] — it’s just a basic

gunsight with a rudimentary ‘pipper’ —

there’s no instrument landing system

(ILS), no VHF radio, no autopilot. The

single, small multi-function display gives

the pilot only an outline of working area

— green on black — the waypoints for

the mission are merely a green dot, this

is not the domain of the moving map!’

LT Gottschalk describes the standard

‘step’ to the jet. ‘We wear a g-suit,

helmet, mask and parachute. No

harness, no combat vest, everything else

we need is in the seat pan. We do a

quick walkround, then hop-in.

‘The maintainers do such a great job,

some of them have been working on

these jets for 30 years, and it’s a very

reliable little jet.’

The F-5s are maintained by PAE, which

won a contract in 2016 to provide

maintenance and logistics support

services for 44 F-5s with the squadrons

at Fallon, Key West and Yuma.

‘It literally takes two minutes to start

up, but we have one limitation,’

Gottschalk continues. ‘We need an air

start cart. Once the air comes on we get

the battery on, start both engines, get a

quick alignment for the INS/GPS [inertial

navigation system/Global Positioning

System], throw the controls around to

make sure the hydraulics are working

and you’re done. They might be old but

Above: Many of

the pilots at VFC-

13 are TOPGUN

graduates, as

evidenced by

this photo.

Below: Not a

‘MiG-28’ but one

of VFC-13’s F-5Ns

in its immaculate

gloss-black

 nish.

US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018

(^62) UNIT REPORT
58-65 VFC-13 C.indd 62 01/06/2018 11:49