The Aviation Historian — Issue 21 (October 2017)

26 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21

Fighter Squadron taxying on to the runway at

Mehrabad Airport, performing a five-aircraft

formation take-off and heading westward. The

first aerobatic manœuvre was a five-aircraft

delta-formation loop, the pilots maintaining a

mere 2½ft (80cm) between their aircraft while

flying at speeds of up to 560 m.p.h. (900km/h).

Next came a Split-S manœuvre, after which the

aircraft changed positions, the fifth separating

from the formation, leaving the remaining four

Thunderjets to form a diamond formation. The

fifth aircraft’s role thereafter was to stand by to

act as a reserve in case of an emergency or

technical problem.

After another diamond-four loop, the form-

ation executed a Cuban Eight, consisting of two

half rolls and loops, still in diamond formation.

After several more loops, another Cuban

Eight and a final Clover Leaf manœuvre, the

flight leader performed a roll in front of the

spectators, after which airbrakes were deployed

and undercarriages lowered in preparation for and undercarriages lowered in preparation for

landing, which was made in diamond formation.

After landing, all five pilots were applauded by

the spectators and commended by the Shah.

It was not all celebrations, however, as Golden

Crown’s No 4 pilot, Siamak Jahanbini, was killed

during a team training flight later the same year.

Indeed, there were numerous F-84G accidents

over the next few years, the IIAF losing some

of its best pilots and the aircraft acquiring the

nickname “khalaban kosh” (pilot killer). As a result,

plans were put in place to retire and replace the

F-84G by 1963.

international co-operation

Meanwhile, the Golden Crown team continued

with its Thunderjets, and, on June 5, 1959,

participated in a joint performance with the

Skyblazers, the formation aerobatic display

team of USAFE’s 36th Fighter Group (FG), for

thousands of Tehran residents. The joint display

was performed by four Iranian F-84Gs and four

North American F-100C Super Sabres.

On October 17 the same year the IIAF invited

the Italian Air Force’s Lanceri Neri (Black Lancers)

formation aerobatic display team to perform a formation aerobatic display team to perform a

joint demonstration with the Golden Crown team

during Iranian Air Force Week, held in Tehran.

Six Italian Canadair CL-13 Sabres, together with

LEFT The five founder member

pilots of the Golden Crown team

strike a pose in front of their

Republic F-84G Thunderjets in

1959. Front row, from left: 1st Lt
      Abdol-Hossein Minuspehr; team
      leader Capt Nader Jahanbani; Brig-
      Gen Mohammad Khatami. Back
      row, from left: Capt Amir-Hossein
      Rabi’i and Capt Siamak Jahanbini.

BELOW With their five F-84Gs
in the background, the original
Golden Crown team make their way
back to the terminal at Mehrabad
Airport in company with the pilots
of the USAF’s Skyblazers formation
aerobatic display team — a North
American F-100C Super Sabre of
which is also visible at the extreme
ANUSHIRVAN JAHANBANI ARCHIVE VIA AUTHOR left of the photograph.

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