Images - Pakistan Air Force in the Mirror of History.

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Legendary Falcons of the PAF Wing Commander Masood Ahmed Sikandar (Sitara-i-Juraat) flew his last sortie today at 5:17 PM CST to meet his maker.

May Allah SWT raise him to the highest of abodes & grant the family the strength & fortitude to bear this tremendous loss. Ameen

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ

Wing Commander Masood Ahmed Sikander, in the capacity as Wing Leader, proved to be an excellent operational commander.

He flew with zeal and enthusiasm and completed seventeen close support sorties and three air defence missions during these operations.
Whilst attacking enemy armor, he was wounded when his aircraft was hit by ground fire.

For his valour, courage and excellent leadership Wing Commander Masood Ahmed Sikander was awarded Sitara-i-Juraat.

(Flt Lt Masood Sikander in front of the Fighter aircraft "Tempest" in 1958 at PAF Mauripur.)

 

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When there was no cellar phone, Book reading/studying was the was the normal practice.
Pakistan Air Force School - Lower Topa, Murree c.1955.

 

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Eight Bristol Freighter transport aircraft belonging to No. 6 Squadron #Antelopes in skies of Karachi during Independence day celebrations, 1959.

 

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RED DRAGONS - 1951
'The Red Dragons' climbing vertically during a display of formation aerobatics in 1951. The aircraft nearest to the camera, marked 'Z' is flown by Sqn Ldr Zafar Chaudhry, who later became the Chief of the Air Staff.

Picture-: Air Marshal Z A Chaudhry

 

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Masroor early 1990s
F-7P from 2 Squadron (retired, replaced by JF-17), Mirage IIIEA from 7 Squadron, Mirage VPA2 from 8 Squadron (retired, squadron numberplated) ...

Ali Mazhar

 

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PAF's Supermarine Attacker from No. 11 Squadron Arrows with kill marks, denoting Hawker Furies it bagged during one of the DACT exercises.
FS Hussain...

 

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The Combat Commanders School (CCS) is the Pakistan Air Force leadership education and training institute.

CCS serves as a bridge for seasoned PAF fighter pilots usually those with 13 to 15 years of flying experience as they are summoned to take on command roles within the PAF.

Experienced air defence controllers are also trained and examined at CCS. For an officer, CCS is a once in a lifetime opportunity for directly relevant growth, and a daunting obstacle that could put an end to one’s career with the PAF.

CCS is a mandatory next step, and if the officer in question fails to achieve the minimum passing grade, then it is essentially the end of both their flying career and their time with the PAF.

CCS serves a dual role. First, it filtrates the personnel pool to select a comparative few for further professional development. Second, it enhances the capacity both in terms of knowledge and personality of the officer, enabling them to effectively command a squadron, especially under wartime stress.

 

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1959 Newspaper ad...

 

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HISTORY OF PAF
1959

On 10 April 1959, on the occasion of the Islamic Eid ul-Fitr festival holiday in Pakistan, anIndian Air Force (IAF) English Electric Canberra B(I)58 entered Pakistani airspace on a photo reconnaissance mission.

Two PAF F-86F Sabres from No. 15 Squadron on Air Defence Alert (ADA) were scrambled from Sargodha Air Base to intercept the IAF aircraft.

The Sabre pilots were Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt (leader) and Flt. Lt. M. Yunis (wingman)(Later Air Vice Marshal) whereas Pilot Officer Rab Nawaz was the on-duty Air Defence Controller for this mission. Nawaz successfully vectored both Sabres to the location of the high-flying Canberra. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabre’s machine guns, but the Canberra was flying at an altitude of more than 50,000 feet – beyond the operational ceiling of the F-86F.

When Yunis took over from his leader, the Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over Rawalpindi. Yunis grabbed this opportunity and fired a burst from his 12.7 mm guns that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, near Rawalpindi. Marking the first aerial victory of the PAF . ’55-5005′ was the serial number of the F-86F Sabre that was flown by Flt. Lt. Yunis that day.

Both the occupants of the IAF Canberra, namely Sqn. Ldr. J.C. Sen Gupta (pilot) and Flt. Lt. S.N. Rampal (navigator) from the IAF’s No. 106 Sqn., ejected and were captured by Pakistani authorities and were subsequently released after remaining in detention for some time.

 

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PAF also operated H 5(Based on IL 28) Bombers given by China to complement B 57 bombers.
But then they were sent back to China in exchange for F 6 fighters.

 

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Pakistan Air Force participated in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Pakistan during 1997, along with the Royal Air Force's aerobatics team 'Red Arrows'.

PAF Academy Risalpur flew a flypast over Fatima Jinnah Park Islamabad, comprising 21 MFI-17 ( Mushshak Training Aircraft); displaying figure of 50 (as seen from ground).

This was a historical event because it was first time ever (and perhaps the last too) that such a large number of Mushshak aircraft flew a flypast close formation, displaying a complicated figure of 50.

This was 24 Nov 1997, RAF team 'Red Arrows' also displayed after this flypast.

 

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Air Commodore Farhat Hussain (below image) receiving F-16 model then Wing Commander completed this daring task & received Sitara-e-Basalat.
He retired as Air Marshal in 2014.

Lt General Ehsan Ul Haq wearing Griffins jacket as Joints Chief of Staff giving away model around when embargoed F-16s started coming in part of EDA stock somewhere 2005.

 

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Defected Afghan Airforce Su 22M and MiG 21bis on Peshawar Airbase.
These Aircraft were defected to Pakistan during Soviet Afghan War PAF got a good opportunity to test these Soviet built planes which are used by it's Adversaries.

 

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AVM Farooq Umar ...