Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 29
taken near Fesa Bridge at Shiraz for the people of
Fars Province on October 17, 1964, at Mehrabad
Airport in the presence of the Shah on the same
date the following year, for the people of Tehran
on October 18, 1966 and again for His Imperial
Majesty at Shahrokhi on October 17, 1967.
farewell to the sabre
In 1965 the IIAF had begun taking delivery of
its new fighter, the Northrop F-5A, again under
the provisions of the MDAP, and on October
17, 1968, the Golden Crown team performed its
first display with the F-5A, using four examples
from the 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron for a
demonstration south of Kahrizak, in the presence demonstration south of Kahrizak, in the presence
of the royal family and thousands of spectators.
On November 11, 1969, the team reverted to six
F-86Fs in a display for the Pakistani President,
Yahya Khan, at Vahdati AB, and was still using the
Sabre in October 1970, when the team performed
a show with four F-86Fs at Kushk-e Nosrat for
thousands of spectators on the 17th.
In 1971 the IIAF’s F-86Fs, including the six
specially painted Golden Crown examples, were
retired. Three were donated to the Iranian Civil
Aviation Technology College (ICATC) in Tehran
for training purposes, and three more were used
as gate guardians at the IIAF’s HQ at Dowshan-
Tappeh, the 5th TFB at Tabriz (later 2nd TFB) and
the 4th TFB at Shiraz (Later 7th TFB). Following
the establishment of the 8th TFB at Khatami, near
Isfahan, another former Golden Crown F-86F
then being used by the college was restored for
use as a gate-guardian at the base. In 1973 an ex-
Golden Crown F-86F was restored for exhibition
in a new part of the IIAF Museum at Ghale-
Morghi airport.
After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the
ICATC’s last remaining former Golden Crown
F-86F was restored and delivered to the Sa’adABOVE One of the Golden Crown Sabres rotates from the runway at Mehrabad Airport during a display in the early
1960s. Note the “U.S. Air Force” legend still visible on the bare-metal fuselage, the black letters having left their
mark after removal. The identities of the 52 F-86Fs delivered to the IIAF as part of MDAP remain somewhat hazy.
BELOW Although nominally made up of seven aircraft at full strength, as seen here preparing for take-off in the
mid-1960s, the Golden Crown team retained a high degree of flexibility for its performances, some using six
aircraft (with one as a reserve), and often reverting to a four-aircraft formation for smaller shows and events.
ANUSHIRVAN JAHANBANI ARCHIVE VIA AUTHORANUSHIRVAN JAHANBANI ARCHIVE VIA AUTHOR