F-20 Tigershark

[tr45]

Only three were built. Two crashed killing both Northrop pilots.
Northrop brought two F-20's, one with ordnance and the other for aerobatic demonstration.

I was at the Suwan AB (Korean Airbase), watching the demonstration, and the
F-20 was inverted with its landing gear,and flaps down at about 1000ft. As it rolled the gears were retracted, but the airspeed dropped significantly, causing an inverted stall.

There was no recovery... it flopped around like a leave falling from a tree. The pilot ejected, but being inverted... he hit the ground with such force, I can't tell you what I saw.

The F-20 land just outside the perimeter and was still intact. Because of the rise patties and how the plane just floated down, there was little damage, except for the tail.

"Darrell Cornell was Northrop's chief test pilot in the early 1980s. He was killed on October 10, 1984 at Suwon AB, while performing a demonstration flight for the South Korean Air Force (ROKAF).
The F-20 (N4416T) he was piloting stalled after a series of climbing rolls performed with flaps and gear extended. Cornell was not able to recover the aircraft from the uncontrolled stall."

[peer01]

Sad story TR Great pics and info though

[tr45]

Thanks peer01... that was a sad day, after watching such an awesome performance. Darrell flew that F-20 to the extreme. I have never seen such a demonstration flown that way to this day.

Northrop really wanted to sell the F-20. South Korea flew F-5's and F-4's.

[adamb]

Sad story indeed Ted. Great info and shots of the F-20.

Adam

[flyboy208]

Always thought this aircraft had potential, and IRIS did a nice job modeling it - I thought Chuck Yeager had a hand in testing it, but I am probably mistaken ... Interesting to see the pilots in your pics wearing HGU-55 helmets ...

Mike

[Ragtopjohnny]

Yup, sad story Ted, but excellent F-20 shots.

I can't imagine what it would have been like to witness something like that....

John Thuot II
A+/Network+

[ViperPilot2]

Excellent series of shots, tr45! I still think the F-20 would have been the ultimate Aggressor bird for both the USAF and the USN; cheap to fly, as fast & nimble as the Viper, and Aggressor crews would have already been familiar with the flight dynamics after flying F-5's for so long.

FYI Chuck Yeager was a consultant for Northrop in the '80s and flew the Tigershark quite a few times, including live air to air missile and ground attack test flights. At that time I think he was getting paid $1.00/ year by Northrop for his services!

Cheers!

Alan

[tr45]

Thanks Adam, Mike, John, Alan... I was fortune to see two of the F-20's fly. The glass cockpits were very cool, since all I've seen to date was dials. The agility of this bird was totally amazing!

Ted "TR45"

[NMLW]

Couple of swell pix of the F=20. Too bad about its unlucky history.