Jeremy Thomson wrote:

In my 'Great Planes' video of the Northrup F5 Freedom Fighter it
talked of the 'Scochi Tiger's being brought up to USAF standard with
among other things 'Jettisonable Pylons'.
I suppose if an aircraft had taken a hit in a fuel tank & you
absolutely must wring out every last bit of range to get you out of
indian country, jettisoning the pylons would save a little weight &
drag.

I don't know about the F-5A, but a full set of five F-5E pylons weighs
670 lbs according to the 1978 flight manual.

The book's cruise graph says a clean F-5E gets .260 nm per pound of
fuel. With five empty pylons, mileage drops to .205 nm/lb. (At best
cruise altitude and speed, carrying 1/2 max internal load)

Imagine your car dropping from 26 mpg to 20.5 mpg - quite a
difference. You might be tempted to throw that roof rack away. On the
other hand, if it's not your car and you will have to explain the
missing rack...

BTW, the company name is spelled "Northrop", and I've always seen the
nickname spelled "Skoshi Tiger".

--

Paul Hirose