Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 31
Abad War Museum in Tehran circa 1989 in full
Golden Crown colours.
During 1970–73 the Golden Crown team was
essentially disbanded in the wake of the retire-
ment of the Sabre. The idea of a formation aero-
batic display team had not vanished, however,
and the IIAF began making plans to reform the
team with the F-5E Tiger II. In 1972 the Iranian
government had ordered 32 F-5Es as part of the
USA’s Peace Rush I Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
programme, with another order for 109 being
supplied under Peace Rush II and 28 two-seat
F-5Fs as part of Peace Rush III following in 1973.
Between February and October 1973 the initial
batch of 32 Peace Rush I F-5Es was delivered to the
IIAF. Accordingly, a cadre of experienced pilots
was selected to undergo formation aerobatic
training with the F-5E, several 203rd Tactical
Training Squadron examples of which were used
for displays during that year.
On June 11, 1973, the reconstituted Golden
Crown team flew a joint performance with the
US Navy’s Blue Angels formation aerobatic team
at Kushk-e Nosrat in northern central Iran. The
Americans had been invited by the IIAF and
arrived in Iran following their appearance at that
year’s Paris Air Salon. Six Iranian F-5As and six
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs performed
for thousands of Iranian spectators, including the
IIAF’s C-in-C.
During 1974–75 the Golden Crown team per-
formed displays at various celebrations through-
out the country, including Air Force Day, Aviation
Day, the Army Parade and Air Force Week.
During this period of expansion for the IIAF,
the Golden Crown team was seen as a valuable
recruiting tool for the air arm.rebirth
In 1976 the team moved to the 2nd TFB at
Tabriz, where it was re-equipped with seven
21st TFS F-5Es, all of which were painted in a
special colour scheme incorporating stripes of
the national colours on the wings and fuselage
and the Golden Crown insignia on the fuselage
beneath the canopy. Each aircraft had a number
painted on its fin, from “1” to “7”.
During 1976–78 the team performed at least 20
displays all over Iran, most notably for the annual
Air Force Day parade on October 17 at Isfahan. In
1977 the team was invited to appear at the Paris
Air Salon; but the beginning of political troubles
at home, particularly in Tabriz, the team’s home
base, as well as growing security threats from the
Soviet Union, forced the team to cancel its plans
for a Paris visit.
On October 17, 1978, the Golden Crown team
performed its last demonstration, which took
place at the Air Force Day parade at the 8th
TFB at Isfahan. The final Golden Crown line-
up comprised Maj Manuchehr Khalili (No 1,
team leader); Capt Aminollah Bolghand (No 2,ABOVE The final six-man team of Golden Crown pilots and their groundcrew at a show circa 1978–79. The
pilots, standing from left to right, are: Maj Khalili (team leader); 1st Lt Bolghand; 1st Lt Asadollah Akbari; Capt
Zarifkhadem; Capt Yadollah Javadpour and 1st Lt Kakwan, who was probably standing in for Capt Dehkharghani.
AUTHOR’S COLLECTION