Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 27
No 1 Captain Nader Jahanbani
Leader of the first Golden Crown team, Jahanbani began
his aviation career in 1945 at a Soviet military flight school
in Russia, after which he volunteered for the IIAF.
In 1951 Jahanbani became a flying instructor at the IIAF
flight school at Mehrabad, and later became CO of the
1st Fighter Squadron, flying Hawker Hurricane IICs and
Republic F-47Ds. In 1956 he was sent to West Germany
to convert to the T-33A, after which he returned to Iran to
become one of the nation’s first jet instructors.
Jahanbani was selected to lead the Golden Crown team
in 1958, having accrued some 3,000 flying hours, 900 on
the F-84G and T-33A. Later appointed CO of the 4th TFB
at Vahdati, he became the Minister of Sports and finally
Deputy C-in-C of the IIAF. Jahanbani was arrested during
the Islamic Revolution, on February 12, 1979, and in the
early hours of March 13 that year he was executed in the
courtyard of Qasr prison, aged 51. Reportedly, his last
words were “Long Live Iran”.
No 2 Brigadier General Mohammad Amir Khatami
Khatami joined the IIAF in 1939, but, after graduating
as a fighter pilot in September 1941, flew little, owing to
the Allies’ wartime occupation of Iran. In 1944 Khatami
was selected for twin-engined flying training in the UK.
On his return he became Chief Flying Instructor at the
IIAF flying school, before being promoted CO of the 1st
Fighter Brigade, and then the 1st Fighter Squadron, at
Ghale-Morghi. In 1946 Khatami was appointed the Shah’s
personal pilot, remaining in this position until the early
1960s, when the Shah began flying his own VIP aircraft.
In 1951 Khatami was sent to the UK again to fly Meteors
with the RAF as part of a jet-familiarisation programme.
On his return he was appointed Deputy Commander
and later Commander of the IIAF’s Fighter Regiment. In
1956 he joined Jahanbani on the Instructor Pilot training
course in West Germany, and on his return was appointed
Commander of the IIAF. Khatami was later awarded Iran’s
Order of Humayun 1st Class; foreign honours included
the UK’s Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO)
in March 1961 and Grand Cross, Order of Merit of the
Federal Republic of Germany, in October 1965. Khatami
remained C-in-C of the IIAF until he was killed in a
mysterious kiting accident at Dezful in September 1975.
No 3 1st Lt Abdol-Hossein Minuspehr
Joining the IIAF in 1953, Minuspehr was sent to the USA
for flying training that September, and after a year and
a half of training received his wings as a twin-engined
aircraft pilot. On his return Minuspehr was posted to the
1st Fighter Brigade to fly the F-47D. In December 1956 he
was posted to West Germany for conversion to the T-33A,
on which he passed the instructor course.
Minuspehr was 27 when he was selected for the No 3
position in the Golden Crown team; he had flown 1,900
hours including 1,100 hours on jet aircraft. He later
became the first Iranian Grumman F-14A Tomcat pilot
and was promoted CO of the 8th Tactical Fighter Base
at Isfahan. Minuspehr left Iran for exile after the Islamic
Revolution in 1979 and died in the USA in 2016.No 4 Captain Siamak Jahanbini
Jahanbini joined the IIAF in 1949 and graduated as a 2nd
Lt in 1952, before being sent to the USA for flying training.
After completing a T-6 Instructor Pilot training course
Jahanbini joined the IIAF’s 1st Fighter Brigade, with which
he flew the Hurricane and F-47D. He was then promoted
Deputy Commander of the AT-6G Squadron of the 1st
Fighter Brigade.
In December 1956 Jahanbini was sent to West Germany
to convert to the T-33A. On his return he was appointed
Operations Officer to the IIAF’s 1st Fighter Squadron. In
1958, aged 30, having flown almost 2,000 hours, 1,000 on
jets, Jahanbini was selected for the No 4 position in the
Golden Crown team. Sadly, he was killed during a Golden
Crown training flight later the same year.No 5 Captain Amir-Hossein Rabi’i
In 1952 Rabi’i completed his training at the IIAF Air
University, after which he was posted to the USA for
further training, returning to fly the Hurricane and F-47D. In
December 1956 Rabi’i joined his future teammates in West
Germany for jet familiarisation training, after which he
returned to Iran, where by 1958 he had logged 2,000 flying
hours, 950 on jets. Rabi’i was 28 when he was selected as
No 5, or reserve pilot, for the Golden Crown team. Having
risen to the position of C-in-C of the IIAF by 1979, Rabi’i
was arrested by the revolutionary forces and executed on
the direct order of Ayatollah Khomeini.the famous five
the original golden crown team members(^12)
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5
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