32 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
port wing; Capt Nosrat Dehkharghani (No 3,
starboard wing); Capt Asadollah Akbari (No 4,
“slot”); Capt Yadollah Javadpour (No 5, solo 1);
Capt Kazem Zarifkhadem (No 6, solo 2); 1st Lt
Masoud Kakwan (No 7, reserve) and Capt Farhad
Nassirkhani (commentator).
In January 1979, after more than a year of
political unrest, the Shah left Iran for exile, and
the following month the royal reign collapsed
completely, giving way to the establishment of
a theocratic Islamist republic led by Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini. The IIAF was perceived by
the new leadership as an undesirable symbol
of the Shah’s Western influence, and sweeping
changes — many of which would have a
significant impact on the air arm’s structure and
efficiency — were made.
Pro-revolutionary IIAF cadets and technicians,
known as homafars, formed Islamic councils, took
control of the military air bases and began a series
of widespread ideological and political purges
within the air force ranks, weakening the air arm
and providing what Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
saw as an opportunity to quell the revolution and
invade Iran.
the end of the road
The Golden Crown team was disbanded and
the colourful insignia of its aircraft masked with
white or brown paint. The homafars prevented
any of the team’s members, including the CO
of the 21st TFS, Maj Bolghand, from entering
the air base at Tabriz. Pilots Khalili, Bolghand
and Nassirkhani saw the writing on the wall
and left the country, but the remaining former
Golden Crown team members were ordered by
Col Javad Fakkuri, commander of the newly-
constituted Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
(IRIAF), to return to their operational duties after
the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in September- All returned except Masoud Kakwan, who
was hired by an Iranian commercial airline.
Formerly the team’s No 6, Kazem Zarifkhadem,
and No 4, Asadollah Akbari, were killed during
the war. Former No 3 Nosrat Dehkharghani
became a prisoner of war and was returned
to Iran after six years in captivity, and No 5,
Yadollah Javadpour, became an Iranian war hero
after shooting down an Iraqi MiG-21 and Sukhoi
Su-22 during the conflict. Unlike most of his
teammates, Javadpour managed to avoid arrest
and retired from the IRIAF in the early 1990s.
With the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988,
the IRIAF began making plans to establish a
new formation aerobatic team in 1990, using
four Pilatus PC-7Cs from its training squadron
at Isfahan. One crashed into the Gavkhouni
swamp near Isfahan, killing its pilot. In 2002 the
IRIAF participated in the first Kish Airshow by
fielding two PC-7Cs and F-5Bs, which performed
The six F-5Es of the Golden Crown team await their next display at the
7th Tactical Fighter Base at Shiraz Intermational Airport in the late 1970s.
Some photographs show the F-5Es with Western Arabic numerals on their
fins, but the majority show Persian Arabic (Farsi) numerals, as seen here.
From left to right the aircraft are No 5, No 4, No 2, No 3 and No 6.
STAN LEE VIA AUTHOR