COBI Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter Set 5858

COBI's Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter is a 1:48 model built from 358 blocks, 29 cm long, in the colours of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The ailerons move, the landing gear detaches for the included brick stand, and the cockpit opens for a simplified pilot figure. A plate with the name, scale and Norwegian flag is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.

Thirty-five years in Norway

Norway bought 108 F-5s in various versions between 1966 and 1972 and flew them for close to thirty-five years, through several modernisation programmes, until 336 Squadron at Rygge retired the last of them in 2000.

That length of service tells you what the aircraft was for. The F-5 was designed to be affordable to buy and cheap to run, and a country with a long coastline, a small population and a Soviet border could operate a lot of them for what a smaller number of complex fighters would have cost.

Norway also did something unusual with them. Many were configured for reconnaissance and low-level operations in fjord country, where a small agile aircraft that could be maintained at dispersed airfields mattered more than outright performance.

In the COBI range

Set 2425 is the F-5A in American Vietnam-era markings, set 5857 the later F-5E in Patrouille Suisse colours, and 5859 the black F-5E from Top Gun.

Specifications

Pieces: 358 · Figures: 1 · Scale: 1:48 · Display stand and plate included · No stickers
Model dimensions: 29 × 18 × 10 cm (11.4 × 7.1 × 3.9 in)