Fighters 86 | IIAF Association

North American F-86 F Sabre

Shortly after the IIAF entered the “Jet age” by receiving T-33s and F-84s, which opened the gates to a modern Air Force, the IIAF was getting ready for the more advanced F-86 fighter jets.
On 14 April 1960 (24 Farvardin 1339), IIAF received its first Squadron of F-86 F.
The pilots were chosen from veteran F-84, and the first Squadron was formed in Mehrabad (1st. T.F.B.), which later expanded to Vahdati A.F.B.

The F-86 involvements:

Supported the army in the uprising of “Ghashghaees” in Shiraz.
Supporting the United Nations in Congo.
Served in “Golden Crown” for almost ten years.
Creation and establishment of our 1St. A.F.B. in Dezful ( Vahdati A.F.B.).
Replacing F-84s in Vahdati A.F.B. (Dezfull).

Training F-86 instructors for Pakistan Air Force which, in return, Pakistan agreed to train about 30 of our aviation cadets in Pakistan (Among these group: Hooshang Sedigh, Hooshang Vijeh, Mohammad Hadavand, Jahanvar Kamran, Ali Partovi, Ali Azimi, Shahram Roostami).
The F-86 served the IIAF till 1970. After the F-4 Phantoms came into service, almost all of our F-5, F-4, and F-14 Instructors, Commanders, and Base Commanders were veteran F-86 Pilots.

The F-86 deserves to be crowned as the best and most essential fighters in IIAF.

Engine: One 2,681 kg (5,910 lb) General Electric J47-GE-27 turbojet engine.
Wing Span: 11.91 m (39 ft 1 in)
Length: 11.44 m (37 ft 7 in)
Height: 4.57 m (15 ft 0 in)
Weight: Gross 9,349 kg (20,610 lb)
Maximum Speed: 1,106 km/h (687 mph) at Sea Level
Range: 1,490 km (925 miles)
Accommodation: 1 Pilot
Armament: Six 0.5 machine guns in the nose, two Sidewinder missiles, two 453kg (1,000 lb) bombs, or eight 5-inch rockets under wings.

History:
First flight (XF-86) on 1 October 1947.
F-86 F “Sabre” Swept-wing version of the Naval FJ-1 Fury.
Over 10,000 F-86 (the first swept-wing jet fighter) were built in America, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Japan.
They saw widespread service in the Korean War of 1950-1953, and many were still in service with air forces outside the U.S.A. in the 1970s.
More than a dozen versions were built for use as tactical and interceptor fighters, all-weather fighters, and fighter bombers.

Congo Mission
In early December 1962, the Iranian Government received a request from the United Nations to provide some fighter aircraft for the U.N. forces (called ONUC) in the Congo to replace the Italian Air Force, which had suffered a total loss in a peacekeeping mission where renewed fighting between the U.N. and the break-away Katanga province had been going on.
The rebels had shot down the helicopter carrying Mr. Doug Hamershold, killing all passengers.
Belgians were supporting the rebels, and the French had shot down the aircraft carrying Mosa Chombe (Rebels Leader). On 27 December, after approval of H.I.M Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the mission was given to the Air Force Headquarters.
Gen. Khatami, the commander of IIAF, called Capt.Azarbarzin (Later Maj. General ), Capt. Seyed Javadi ( Later Maj. General, Died of brain tumor), Capt. Jahanbini (was Killed in a Crash ), Capt. Rabii (Later Lt. General and Commander of IIAF, who was Killed by the Islamic regime in 1979 ) and Capt. Minusepehr ( Later Maj. General ) asked for volunteers, and all five volunteered at the same time, so Maj. Seyed Javadi was “Elected” as “Mission Commander.”
Four Saber Jet( F-86-F) of Imperial Iranian Air Force from Vahdati Air Force Base with nine pilots and 33 support personnel participated in this mission ( From 16 January 1963 to 5 May 1963 = 26 Day 1341 to 15 Ordibehesht 1342).
Maj. Amir Kamiabipour was given the task of “Planning” and was in charge of the whole operation, which he did in the best possible manner. The success of this mission as a whole is partly due to Maj. Kamiabipour efforts.
Capt. Mostafa Hadj Seyed Javadi was appointed as “Mission Commander”, known as 103rd Squadron.
The unit arrived at the Kamina airbase in Katanga on 19 January 1963.
Rebels surrounded the airbase, and the crew could not leave the base for over a month.
By this time, there were two other U.N. fighter units at Kamina, the Swedish 22nd Squadron with 12 ship SAAB J29s and S29s, and the Philippine 9th Squadron with six ship Canadian built F-86Es. All three units were now formed into a U.N. Fighter Wing, with Swedish Colonel Sven Lampell as its first commander.

Thanks to Mr. Leif Hellstrom for his cooperation on Congo Mission

The IIAF crews were:

Maj. Amir Kamiabipour,” Mission Planner”
Capt. Mostafa Hadj Seyed Javadi “Mission Commander“.
1St.Lt. Iradj Mostafavi ( Later Brig. General )
1st. Lt Vahid Kimiagar ( Later Brig. General)
1st. Lt Mohsen Memarian ( Killed in Aircraft Crash)
1st. Lt Mohammad Alaghband ( Killed in Aircraft Crash)
1st. Lt Esmaeel Memari (Killed in Aircraft Crash)
1st. Lt Mohammad Abolmolouk ( Later Brig. General)
1st. Lt Mohammad Pezeshki ( Later Col.)
1st. Lt Nasser Zolali ( Later Brig. General, Died of Cancer)
1St.Lt. Ali Akbar Farywar (Later General), “commander of Support & Maintenance” and 33 maintenance and support crew

One C-47 “ Dakota” with six crew was assigned to support this mission. The Aircraft commander was Capt. Hessam Mirtolooi ( Later general). The C-47 made three sorties from Tehran to Congo. C-47 had a hard time climbing over Kilimanjaro Heights.

The route of F-86 from Iran to Congo was Dezful –Tehran- Dhahran (Saudi Arabia)-Jadeh (Saudi Arabia) -Addis a Baba (Ethiopia)– Entebbe (Uganda)– Katanga (Congo). More than 6,300 Km, and over 10 Hours flight.
IIAF Aircraft was operational and ready at all times, and there was no accident; there was only one incident during the operation in which Lt. Alaghband’s aircraft was hit by a bullet and was repaired and ready to fly in less than 24 hours.
The four ships, F-86 of IIAF, flew more sorties than the Philippines and Sweden, with a total of 18 aircraft.
The United Nations commended Iran for its excellent performance.
After returning to Iran, Maj. Seyed Javadi, Major Rabii ( Base Operation Commander), Lt. Mostafavi, and Capt. Farywar was decorated with a medal for performance.
A unique stamp was issued by Iranian Postal services 6 Months after the mission on United Nations Day.

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