Monthly Archives: August 2023

31 August 1986

August 31, 2023AviationAeroméxico Flight 498, Aeronaves de México S.A., Aircraft Accident, Airspace Incursion, Captain Antonio Valdez-Prom, Cerritos, First Officer Jose Hector Valencia, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, Mid-Air Collision, N4891F, Piper Aircraft Corporation, Piper PA-28-181 Archer II, Terminal Control Area, William Kenneth Kramer, XA-JEDBryan Swopes

Piper PA-28-181 Archer II, D-EHLY, serial number 28-7790224. This is the same type as the airplane involved in the 1986 Cerritos Mid-Air Collision. (Huhu Uet/Wikimedia Commons)

31 August 1986: At approximately 11:41 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time, William Kenneth Kramer departed Zamperini Field (TOA) at Torrance, California, flying a Piper PA-28-181 Archer II, FAA registration N4891F.

The PA-28-181 was a single-engine, four-place, light airplane with fixed tricycle landing gear, built by the Piper Aircraft Corporation in 1976. It carried the manufacturer’s serial number 77-90070. The airplane was owned by William Kramer.

In addition to the pilot, there were two passengers on board, Kathleen O’Connell Kramer, Kramer’s wife of 30 years, and their 26-year-old daughter, Caroline. The family’s destination was Big Bear City Airport (L35), high in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California.

Photocopied image of a Los Angeles Terminal Control Area (TCA) chart, circa 1986, from NTSB report.

Image of a recent Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) airspace chart. (Los Angeles ARTCC)

Satellite image of the area illustrated on the TCA charts, above. (Imagery © 2018 Landsat)

Three major airports in the immediate area reported that the sky was clear and visibility was 14–15 miles (22.5–24.1 kilometers).

As Kramer climbed toward his cruise altitude, he deviated from the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) Flight Plan which he had filed with the nearby Hawthorne Flight Service Station prior to takeoff. Without authorization from Air Traffic Control, the pilot entered a segment of the Los Angeles Terminal Control Area.

Aeromexico’s Douglas DC-9-32 XA-JED, Hermosillo. (Photograph © Bob Garrard, used with permission.)

Aeroméxico Flight 498 was a regularly-scheduled flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles, with intermediate stops at Guadalajara, Loreto and Tijuana. The airliner was a 1969 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, serial number 47356, owned by Aeronaves de México S.A., and registered in Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Mexico) as XA-JED. Aeroméxico had named it Hermosillo.

The pilot in command of the airliner was Captain Antonio Valdez-Prom, with First Officer Jose Hector Valencia. There were four flight attendants and 58 passengers. The DC-9 was descending from 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) for an instrument approach and landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Flight 498 was descending in northwesterly direction, while the Archer was climbing, eastbound.

At 11:52:09 a.m., as the DC-9 descended through an altitude of approximately 6,660 feet (2,030 meters),¹ the Piper collided with the left side of the DC-9’s vertical fin, just below the horizontal stabilizer. The angle of collision was approximately 90°. The airliner’s entire horizontal stabilizer and rudder were torn from the aircraft.

All three persons aboard the light airplane were decapitated.² The Archer was heavily damaged, and with no one left alive to fly it, crashed on the playground of Cerritos Elementary School.

Crash site of Piper Archer II N4891F, photographed 1 September 1986. (Mike Sergieff/Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, 00094761) — Crash site of Piper Archer II N4891F, photographed 1 September 1986. (Mike Sergieff/Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library)

Piper Archer PA-28-121 N4891F wreckage, 31 August 1981. (Thomas Kelsey, Los Angeles Times) — Piper Archer PA-28-181 N4891F wreckage at Cerritos Elementary School, 31 August 1986. (Thomas Kelsey, Los Angeles Times)

The DC-9’s cockpit voice recorder picked up Captain Valdez-Prom’s exclamation, “Oh [deleted], this can’t be!”

The Aeroméxico pilots had no way to control their damaged DC-9. It rolled inverted and crashed into a residential neighborhood in Cerritos, California.

Aeroméxico Flight 498 inverted after mid-air collision over Cerritos, California, 31 August 1986. (NTSB)

All 64 persons on the DC-9, and another 15 on the ground, were killed. Eight persons on the ground were injured. Five homes were destroyed and another seven were damaged.

Scene of the crash of the Aeromexico Flight 498, 31 August 1968. (Joe Kennedy, Los Angeles Times)

Firefighters at scene of Aeroméxico Flight 498 crash, 31 August 1986. (Paul Chinn/Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, 00094753) — Firefighters at scene of Aeroméxico Flight 498 crash, 31 August 1986. (Paul Chinn/Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library)

William Kenneth Kramer held a Federal Aviation Administration Airman’s Certificate with Private Pilot privileges and an Airplane–Single Engine Land rating. His medical certificate required that he wear corrective lenses while flying. Kramer had been licensed by the FAA for six years, and at the time of the accident, he had flown a total of 231 hours.

Kramer had moved to the Los Angeles area from Spokane, Washington, less than a year earlier. He had made just seven flights, totaling 5.5 hours, in one of the most complex and congested Terminal Control Areas in the United States.

Captain Antonio Valdez-Prom had been employed by Aeroméxico for fourteen years. He held Airline Transport Pilot certificates in both Mexico and the United States, and was type-rated in the DC-9. He had flown a total of 10,641 hours, with 4,632 hours in the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.

First Officer Jose Hector Valencia had been employed by Aeroméxico for just over two years. He was a licensed Commercial Pilot in both Mexico and the United States. He had flown a total of 1,463 hours, with 1,245 hours in the DC-9. Like Kramer, Valencia was required to wear corrective lenses.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) placed the blame for the accident on the air traffic control system:

3.2 Probable cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the limitations of the air traffic control system to provide collision protection, through both air traffic control procedures and automated redundancy. Factors contributing to the accident were (1) the inadvertent and unauthorized entry of the PA-28 into the Los Angeles Terminal Control Area and (2) the limitations of the “see and avoid” concept to insure traffic separation under the conditions of the conflict.

—NTSB/AAR-87/07 Aircraft Accident Report—Midair Collision of Aeronaves de México, S.A., McDonnell Douglas DC-8-32, XA-JED and Piper PA-28-181, N4891F, Cerritos, California August 31, 1986 Chapter 3 at Page 52

The devastated neighborhood in Cerritos where Aeroméxico Flight 498 crashed, 31 August 1986. (Paul Chinn/Los Angeles Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, 00077879) — The devastated neighborhood in Cerritos where Aeroméxico Flight 498 crashed, 31 August 1986. (Paul Chinn/Herald-Examiner Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library)

♦♦♦ OPINION ♦♦♦

It is the opinion of This Day in Aviation that the Probable Cause of this accident as determined by the National Transportation Safety Board was a political statement. As far back as 1956, with the mid-air collision of a United Air Lines Douglas DC-7 and a Trans World Airlines Lockheed Super Constellation over the Grand Canyon of Arizona, the Civil Aeronautics Board and its successor, the NTSB, had repeatedly placed emphasis on the role of air traffic control (or, the lack thereof) in a number of mid-air collisions, and had been recommending numerous improvements.

TDiA believes that these recommendations were valid.

However, coming to a political conclusion hides the actual cause of the accident. When investigators look for a cause, they evaluate each individual factor. That single factor, which, if it had not occurred, results in no accident taking place—all other factors being the same—is the cause.

In this case, the pilot of the light airplane had filed a Visual Flight Rules flight plan that would have taken him initially to the southwest from Torrance Airport toward Long Beach Airport, and around the controlled airspace of Los Angeles International Airport. If he had followed his planned route no collision would have occurred. However, he flew directly east and as he climbed, he entered the Los Angeles TCA without ATC clearance. This was a significant violation of FAA regulations.

If the crew of Aeroméxico Flight 498 had performed in exactly the same way, flew the same path and descent, but the Piper Archer had remained clear of the TCA as required, there would have been no collision.

If air traffic controllers involved with the airliner and the private airplane had performed in exactly the same way as they had, but the Archer had not violated the TCA, there would have been no collision.

The inescapable conclusion is that William Kramer, by flying into the Los Angeles Terminal Control Area, caused the mid-air collision between his airplane and the Aeroméxico DC-9.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

(AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac via Kathryn's Report) — The National Transportation Safety Board reassembled the wreckage of the Piper Archer at Long Beach Airport to compare to damage of the DC-9’s horizontal stabilizer. The relative position of the aircraft in this 3 September 1986 photograph is not representative of the actual collision. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac via Kathryn’s Report)

¹ The Piper Archer’s altimeter was recovered and examined. Although the three pointers were missing, traces of paint from the pointers, called “slap marks,” were found on the dial face at positions corresponding to an altitude of 6,560 feet (1,999 meters).

² On 1 September 1986, The New York Times reported, “Bill Gold, a spokesman for the coroner’s office, said an autopsy showed that the pilot suffered the heart attack ‘within minutes before the fatal injuries.’ Mr. Gold said that the cause of death was ‘multiple traumatic injuries received in the crash.’ He said in an interview tonight that it had not been determined whether the heart attack led to the collision. ‘We can’t say whether it caused the collision,’ he said, ‘How severe it was we can’t say because he lived long enough to get the fatal injuries.’ “

In its 2 September 1986 edition, the Los Angeles Times reported, “An autopsy late Monday on the body of the man believed to be the pilot of the archer showed that he had suffered a heart attack just before the collision, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.”

In its accident report, the NTSB quotes from the autopsy report, ” ‘. . . complete proximal occlusion of the right coronary artery.’ ” The NTSB further stated, “The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) also reviewed the autopsy protocol and the heart of the pilot of the Piper. With regard to their examination of the pilot’s heart, the AFIP pathologists found severe coronary atheriosclerosis but ‘no necrosis or other evidence of acute myocardial infarction identified.’ “

31 August 1956

August 31, 2023Aviation55-3118, Aerial Refueling Tanker, Alvin Melvin Johnston, Boeing, Boeing EC-135K Head Dancer, Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker, Boeing Model 367-80, Boeing Model 717, Dix Loesch, First Flight, Richards Llewellyn Loesch Jr., Test Pilot, Tex JohnstonBryan Swopes

Dix Loesch climbs aboard City of Renton while Tex Johnston waits. (Boeing)

31 August 1956: The first production Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker, 55-3118, named City of Renton, made its first flight with company test pilots Alvin Melvin (“Tex”) Johnston and Richards Llewellyn (“Dix”) Loesch, Jr., on the flight deck.

City of Renton, the first Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker, 55-3118, takes off for the first time. (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

Built as an aerial refueling tanker to support the U.S. Air Force fleet of B-52 strategic bombers, an initial order for 29 tankers was soon followed by three additional orders, bringing the total to 275 airplanes by the end of Fiscal Year 1958.¹ Eventually 732 KC-135As were built by Boeing, and an additional 81 of other versions.

KC-135 City of Renton. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) — Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker 55-3118, City of Renton, just prior to touchdown. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

With the company internal designation of Model 717, the KC-135 was developed from the Model 367-80 proof-of-concept prototype, the “Dash Eighty.” The Stratotanker is very similar in appearance to the Model 707 and 720 airliners but is structurally a different aircraft. It is also shorter than the 707 and has a smaller diameter fuselage.

Boeing Aircraft Co. President Bill Allen talks to test pilots Tex Johnston and Dix Loesch after first flight of the Model-367-80 prototype. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) — Boeing Aircraft Co. President Bill Allen talks to test pilots Tex Johnston and Dix Loesch after first flight of the Model 367-80, prototype of the KC-135A Stratotanker. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

The Stratotanker was originally operated by a flight crew of four: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and refueling boom operator. Upgrades over the decades have simplified operation and the crew has been reduced to two pilots and the boom operator. The tanker’s maximum transfer fuel load is 200,000 pounds (90,719 kilograms). The KC-135 can carry 83,000 pounds (37,648 kilograms) of cargo, and up to 37 passengers.It can also be configured to carry cargo or up to 32 passengers.

The KC-135A is 136 feet, 3 inches (41.529 meters) long, with a wingspan of 130 feet, 10 inches (39.878 meters) and overall height of 41 feet, 8 inches (12.700 meters). The Stratotanker’s maximum takeoff weight is 322,500 pounds (146,284 kilograms).

The KC-135A was powered by four Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W turbojet engines. The J57 was a two-spool, axial-flow engine with a 16-stage compressor section (9 low- and 7-high-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages). These engines were rated at 13,750 pounds of thrust (61.16 kilonewtons), each. The J57-P-59W was 183.5 inches (4.661 meters) long, 38.9 inches (0.988 meters) long and weighed 4,320 pounds (1,920 kilograms).

The Stratotanker fleet has been re-engined with more efficient CFM International CFM56 turbofan engines which produce 21,634 pounds of thrust (96.23 kilonewtons), each. The upgraded aircraft are designated KC-135R.

Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker 55-3118, City of Renton, escorted by the “Dash 80.” (Flight Global)

The tanker has a cruise speed of 530 miles per hour (853 kilometers per hour) at 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). The service ceiling was 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). Its range is 1,500 miles (2,414 kilometers) when carrying 150,000 pounds (68,039 kilograms) of transfer fuel, and the maximum ferry range is 11,015 miles (17,727 kilometers).

Of the 803 KC-135 aircraft built, 396 remain in service with the U.S. Air Force (as of 14 May 2018). It is estimated that the fleet is 33% through their design lifetime limits.

The first production airplane, 55-3118, was used for flight testing. It was later modified into an EC-135K Head Dancer airborne command post. Today, the first Stratotanker is on display at the front gate of McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.

Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker 55-3118, City of Renton, refuels B-52C-50-BO Stratofortress 54-2676 — Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker 55-3118, *City of Renton*, refuels B-52C-50-BO Stratofortress 54-2676. (U.S. Air Force)

¹ KC-135A-BN: 57-1418–57-1514; 57-2589–57-2609; 58-0001–58-0130; total: 275

31 August 1955

August 31, 2023Aviation51-5502, Aircraft Accident, Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center, CIM-10 Bomarc, F-99 BOMARC, Lockheed NF-94B, Lockheed YC-130 Hercules, Phyllis Ann Fratt, Stanley Alexander Beltz, Test PilotBryan Swopes

Lockheed NF-94B (All The World’s Aircraft)

31 August 1955: At 7:42 a.m., Lockheed engineering test pilot Stanley Alexander Beltz departed Air Force Plant 42, at Palmdale, in the high desert of southern California, to perform a series of stall tests of a highly-modified NF-94B interceptor. The test program required three stalls in a “clean” configuration, and three “dirty”: with the landing gear extended and flaps lowered.

The clean stall tests went well. Then, at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), Beltz lowered the landing gear and flaps. Pushing the right rudder pedal put the airplane into a stall. Beltz made a radio call, “Here she goes!”

The Los Angeles Times reported:

Lockheed Test Pilot Dies in Crash of Jet

Stanley A. Beltz, 44, Lockheed engineering test pilot, was killed yesterday when his F-94B jet crashed into open desert northeast of Lancaster after the plane narrowly missed homes in the area.

Beltz was acclaimed a hero by residents who said he might have jumped, but apparently elected to stay with his disabled plane until he had safely cleared houses in the sparsely settled mile-long district between the Lancaster Fairgrounds and the scene of the crash.

The veteran flier died in the flaming wreckage of his two-place interceptor which had been modified for special Air Force test work, probably launching studies on air-to-air missiles.

Beltz took off from Palmdale at 7:42 a.m. and the jet smashed to earth just 15 minutes later. The pilot rode the ship to his death without triggering his ejection seat for an emergency parachute jump.

Cause Not Determined

“Stanley A. Beltz, 44, test pilot, died yesterday in jet crash.” (Los Angeles Times)

Cause of the crash could not be determined immediately, although it is believed the Lockheed pilot was being followed by a chase plane at the time.

There was no disclosure as to the altitude of the F-94B when the emergency occurred nor any of the radio transmissions Beltz may have made before the crash.

A Lockheed pilot since 1943, Beltz had flown almost every type of ship produced by the company since that time with the exception of the F-90, the F-104 and the vertical riser.

He was known particularly for his testing of multiengine aircraft built by Lockheed, including the double-deck Constitution, the P2V Navy patrol bomber and the C-130 military turbo-prop transport.

Former Instructor

Before he joined the Burbank company he was a wartime flight instructor at War Eagle Field, Lancaster, and instrument flight instructor with Western Air Lines and a test pilot for the Glenn L. Martin Co. at Omaha.

He leaves a sister, Mrs. Victor Sabo of North Hollywood, and a brother, Dr. Daniel Beltz, of Inglewood. His former wife, Mrs. Josephine Beltz, lives in Hollywood.

The test pilot made his home at 1603 Ave. Q6, Palmdale.

—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXIV, Thursday, 1 September 1955, Part 2, Page 1 at Column 5

Beltz’s aircraft was a modified Lockheed F-94B interceptor, serial number 51-5502. It carried the nose cone, radar and guidance systems of the F-99 BOMARC, ¹ a nuclear-armed surface-to-air antiaircraft guided missile. The test airplane was redesignated NF-94B.

Stanley Alexander Beltz was born at LaCrosse, Kansas, 7 May 1911. He was the tenth child of Alexander Beltz, a farmer and immigrant from Russia, and Eva Katherine Simon Beltz, a German immigrant. He had blond hair and blue eyes, was 5 feet, 7 inches (170 centimeters) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79.4 kilograms). In 1935, he worked as a truck driver for Rocky Mountain Lines, Inc. He married Josephine Charlotte Whitney in Kansas, 8 June 1935. They would later divorce.

Josephine and Stanley A. Beltz (sonyachinn/ancestry.com)

In 1936, Beltz went to work at the Lockheed Aircraft Company as a sheet metal fabricator on the company’s twin engine Model 10 Electra. He then learned to fly. Early in World War II, he flew as a civilian flight flight instructor, training military pilots. He was hired as a test pilot for the Glenn L. Martin Co., flying the B-26 Marauder medium bomber. He later returned to Lockheed as a production test pilot. He flew the twin-engine P-38 Lightning.

Stanley A. Beltz with Lockheed P-38L Lightning. (Lockheed Martin)

In 1945, Beltz was promoted to engineering test pilot. He flew the four-engine Constellation airliner, the RV-2 Constitution transport, and all variants of the PV-2 Neptune patrol bomber. He had flown every Lockheed aircraft except the XF-90, the XFV-1 experimental VTOL, and the F-104 Starfighter. On 23 August 1954, he made the first flight of the turboprop-powered YC-130 Hercules transport. He said, “She’s a real flying machine. I could land it crossways on the runway if I had to.”

The first prototype Lockheed YC-130 Hercules takes of from the Lockheed Air terminal, Burbank, California, 23 August 1954. (Lockheed Martin)

Bletz was a member of The Anciente and Secret Order of Quiet Birdmen, a fraternal organization of pilots.

Funeral services for Stanley Alexander Beltz were held at Steen’s Chapel, North Hollywood, Tuesday, 6 September 1955, at 10:30 a.m. His remains are interred Glen Haven Memorial Park, Sylmar, California.

Beltz’s girlfriend, Mrs. Phyllis Ann Fratt, a ranching heiress, committed suicide ten days after his death. She had written:

. . . I was never anything until I fell in love with him. He was a great man. I loved and respected him with all my being and soul. There are one million things locked in my heart that tell how wonderful he was. We had so many beautiful things together. I can’t go on without him.

. . . and. . .

There’s nothing left of me—just an empty shell. My life, love, soul and being went with Stan.

—Phyllis Ann Fratt, 10 September 1955

¹ Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center

30 August 1984

August 30, 2023Space FlightAstronaut, Charles D. Walker, First Flight, Henry W. Hartsfield Jr., IMAX, Judith A. Resnick, Launch Complex 39A, Manned Space Flight, Michael L. Coats, NASA, Richard M. Mullane, Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103), Space Shuttle Program, Steven A. Hawley, STS-41-D, The Dream Is AliveBryan Swopes

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41-D launch (first flight) August_30,_1984 — Space Shuttle *Discovery* lifts off from LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, 12:41:50 UTC, 30 August 1984. (NASA)

30 August 1984: At 8:41 a.m., EDT (12:41:50 UTC), the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) lifted off from Launch Complex 39A on its first flight into space. This was the fourth attempt to launch Discovery on Mission STS-41-D. The purpose of the mission was to place three communications satellites into orbit, and to deploy an experimental solar panel array. Various other experiments were also carried out.

The Mission Commander was Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., making his second space flight. Shuttle Pilot Michael L. Coats was on his first. Three Mission Specialists, Richard M. Mullane, Steven A. Hawley, Judith A. Resnick, and Payload Specialist Charles D. Walker, were all on their first space flight.

A highlight of this mission was the onboard filming by the crew of footage for the IMAX film, “The Dream Is Alive.”

Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base, California, at 6:37 a.m., PDT (13:37:54 UTC), completing its first flight into space in 6 days, 56 minutes, 4 seconds.

Discovery is the space shuttle fleet leader, having made 39 orbital flights, more than any other shuttle.

Mission Specialist Judith Arlene Resnick was a crew member of shuttle mission STS-51-L. She was killed when Challenger was destroyed shortly after launch, 28 January 1986.

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41-D crew — Front, left to right: Richard M. Mullane, Steven A. Hawley, Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., Michael L. Coats. Back, left to right: Charles D. Walker, Judith A. Resnick. (NASA)

30 August 1982

August 30, 2023AviationDarrell E. Cornell, David Barnes, Edwards Air Force Base, First Flight, General Electric YF404-GE-100, Northrop Corporation, Northrop F-20A Tigershark, Northrop F-5F Tiger II, Northrop F-5G Tigershark, Prototype, Russell J. Scott, Test PilotBryan Swopes

30 August 1982: Northrop test pilot Russell J. Scott made the first flight of the F-5G Tigershark prototype, N4416T, (Northrop serial number GG.1001) at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the 40 minute flight the Tigershark, which would be re-designated F-20A two months later, reached an altitude of 40,000 feet and speed of Mach 1.04.

(Russ Scott, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, had been one of 11 pilots selected in 1961 to fly the Central Intelligence Agency’s ultrasecret Lockheed A-12 “Oxcart” Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft, though he left the program before the A-12 became operational.)

The F-5G was developed by Northrop at the request of the Department of State. U.S. policy at the time prevented the export of front line fighters, like the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, to Allied nations outside of NATO, with the exception of Australia, Israel, Egypt and Iran. Since the Republic of China was building the F-5E under license for its air force, the State Department had asked Northrop to design an advanced fighter based on that earlier type that could be produced in Taiwan.

Northrop F-5G prototype, 82-0062. (U.S. Air Force) — Northrop F-5G (F-20A) Tigershark prototype, 82-0062. (U.S. Air Force)

Changing political administrations restricted U.S. export policies and the projected sales of the F-5G, now designated F-20A, did not materialize. The fighter competed against the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon for an Air Force contract. The F-20A was considered to be as good, and in some ways, superior to the F-16. It was also less expensive. Other factors, though, resulted in the order for the General Dynamics fighter.

Northrop F-5G (F-20A) Tigershark prototype 82-0062 with F-5F Tiger II chase, landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, after its first flight, 30 August 1982. (United States Air Force 060810-F-1234S-025) — The Northrop F-5G (F-20A)Tigershark prototype, N4416T, lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California. after its first flight, escorted by a Northrop F-5F Tiger II, N3139Y. (U.S. Air Force)

Developed from the earlier F-5E Tiger II, the F-5G/F-20A Tigershark was a Mach 2+ single-seat, single-engine, light-weight fighter. It was 46 feet, 6 inches (14.173 meters) long, with a wingspan of 26 feet, 8 inches (8.128 meters) with launch rails, and overall height of 13 feet, 10 inches (4.216 meters). The F-20A had an empty weight of 11,220 pounds (5,089 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 26,544 pounds (12,040 kilograms).

The F-20A was powered by a single General Electric YF404-GE-100 engine. The F404 is a two-spool, axial-flow, low bypass turbofan with afterburner. It has a 3-stage fan section, 7-stage compressor and 2-stage (1 high- and 1 low-pressure stage) turbine. The the F404-GE-100 is rated at 17,000 pounds of thrust (75.62 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine has a maximum diameter of 2 feet, 10.8 inches (0.884 meters), is 13 feet, 2.8 inches (4.034 meters) long, and weighs 2,230 pounds (1,012 kilograms).

From a cold start, the prototype fighter could climb to 34,000 feet (10,363 meters) in 2½ minutes. It could accelerate from 0.3 mach to 0.9 Mach in 27 seconds. The F-20A had a maximum speed of Mach 2.1 at 36,000 feet (10,973 meters)—1,387 miles per hour (2,232 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling was 55,000 feet (16,764 meters). The maximum range with external tanks was 1,715 miles (2,760 kilometers).

The Tigershark’s armament consisted of two Pontiac M39A2 20mm autocannon with 280 rounds of ammunition per gun, and two AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles carried on the wingtips.

Only three F-20As were built. N4416T (82-0062) crashed during a demonstration flight at Suwon Air Base, Republic of South Korea, 10 October 1984. The aircraft was destroyed and Northrop pilot Darrell E. Cornell was killed. The second F-20, N3986B, crashed at Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, 14 May 1985, under similar circumstances, killing David Barnes. Investigations found that both pilots had lost consciousness due to high-G maneuvers. The third Northrop F-20A, N44671 (82-0064), is on display at the California Science Center, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California.