Images - Pakistan Air Force in the Mirror of History.

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Aerodrome in 1921 - Drigh Road Air Station ( PAF Faisal Base ), Karachi.

 

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On The Night Of September 21, 1965.

The Last Days Of The War, Flying Officer Jamal A. Khan Finally Got To Use The Starfighter In The Manner For Which It Had Originally Been Designed, Scoring A Solid Sidewinder Hit On A Canberra At 33,000 Feet Over Fazilka. The Indian Navigator Was killed, But The Pilot, Flight Lt. M.M. Lowe, Bailed Out And Was Taken Prisoner.

Pakistan Air Force Via Air Chief Marshal Jamal A. Khan.

 

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Pakistan Air Force Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. with Air Cdre M Akbar.

F-104 One Of The Most Revolutionary Aircraft Ever Built. It was the first aircraft to do sustained Mach 2 flight and the first to hold speed and altitude records simultaneously.

 

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Quaid-e-Azam being greeted at RPAF Station Lahore by station commander J R Khan
Date: circa end-1947.

 

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PAF Pilots After An Acceptance Flight In Mirage-5DPA2 At Daussault's Bordeaux Plant, Circa 1980.

In The Front Seat Is Shafiq Haider Who Later Retired As An Air Marshal.

 

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PAF Aerobatics Team Sherdils.

 

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Respect

 

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M M Alam

A daring fighter pilot, Top Gun of his own class, war hero, scholar par excellence, a patriotic Pakistani and a committed professional, M M Alam was born in a well-educated family of Calcutta on 6 July 1935, British India.

The family moved to East Pakistan at the time of partition and got settled at Dacca. Alam was the eldest among eleven children of Mr Masood Alam. His father died when he was still in his teens and he himself had to take the reins of his family early in life.

Having completed his secondary education from Govt High School, Dacca in 1951, Alam joined PAF in 1952 and was granted commission on 2 Oct 1953. Soon after graduation, Alam did the Fighter Conversion Course and emerged as a top class fighter Pilot. During the 1965 war with India, he established a combat record, which has written in the history of jet air warfare.

Only few pilots have scored several air victories in one sortie but none have equaled or exceeded Alam’s claim of shooting down number of enemy aircraft within few seconds and no one is likely to match his record of destroying five 'Hunters' of the Indian Air Force within a minute on 7 Sept 1965. This remains a record till today, as during the war, he ruled the fiery skies of battle area with his supreme tactics, razor-sharp reactions and evasive maneuvers.

On 6 Sep 1965 during an aerial combat over enemy territory, Sqn Ldr M M Alam flying as pilot of an F-86 Sabre jet, shot down four enemies Hunter aircraft and damaged two others. Overall, he had nine kills and two damages to his credit.

For the exceptional flying skill and valour displayed by Sqn Ldr M M Alam in operations & number of interception missions flown by him against the enemy aircraft attacking Pakistan Air Force Station, Sargodha, he was awarded SJ with Bar. He was also among the pioneering aircrew that went to France for finalizing the first batch of Mirage III strike interceptors.

His name once again entered into the annals of history when on 8 Mar 1968 he led the formation of first 6 Mirage aircraft while ferrying them from France to Pakistan. His major appointments included air gunnery and tactical instructor at Fighter Leader School, Officer Commanding of No 11, 5 & 26 Squadron, Director of Operation Research, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Flight Safety) & Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (plans) at the Air Headquarters.

Alam retired as an Air Commodore in 1982. A great warrior, a fighter ace, an icon and a national hero breathed his last on 18 Mar 2013 at Karachi. At the funeral, which held at PAF Base Masroor, the men in blue saluted his Pakistani flag wrapped casket for one last time.

 

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First group of PAF CCS Instructors (Sargodha Air Base 1976-1977)

 

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Pilot Officer Idris Hasan Latif In Flight - Audax Aircraft Of No # 3 Squadron Royal Indian Air Force Over Kohat Airfield, 1942 (c).

Air Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif (9 June 1923–30 April 2018) was the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Indian Air Force, having served as such from 1978 to 1981.

After retirement, he has also served as the governor of the Indian state of Maharashtra (1982–85) and later as the Indian ambassador to France (until 1988). He was the first and only Indian Muslim to become the head of the Indian Air Force, or of any Indian armed forces branch.

 

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circa 1948
An RPAF de Havilland Tiger Moth at the Drigh Road Airbase. known as the Faisal Airbase now. 10 of these biplane trainer aircraft were in service during the Kashmir War;
None saw action.

 

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One Of The First Flights Over The Himalayas Came In 1932 With Hawker Harts (Powered By Rolls-Royce Kestrel Engines) Of The No-2 Wing Of No-39 (Bomber) Squadron Of The Royal Air Force Based In Risalpur Of Then Undivided India. Here Seen Flying Over The 25,550 Ft Mount Rakaposhi.

 

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Gilgit Airfield Hawker Harts Being Inspected, C.1932.

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CCS F-7MP In 2007.

 

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Air Force Day celebrations at PAF Drigh Road, Karachi in 1966: