History of Pakistan Air Force

[blain2]

i have A PIX of spitfire at peshawer air base in july 1947

PAF never flew Supermarine Spitfires. They did fly Hurricanes which according to many was a better aircraft than the Spitfire.

 

[Muradk]

some says paf use spietfire in karachi airbase
this paintings from HUSSAINY a officel paf painter

Karachi was basically a refuling point.

 

[fatman17]

THNX FRIEND
CAN U TELL ME THE NAME OF PAF HISTORY BOOK
ACTULLY I NEED AN INFORMATION OF PAF DH-104 DOVE
I NEED THE IMAGE OF THIS

PAF Over the years by Hussani. lovely pictures and narrations.

 

[hassan1]

i need the information of a PAF bird
DH-104 DOVE
any image of this bird

 

[Owais]

i need the information of a PAF bird
DH-104 DOVE
any image of this bird

1954 DeHavilland DH104 Dove 5A
N4913V (sn 04272)
Apache Airlines
Picture taken July 1970
Long Beach - Daugherty Field, CA USA
(LGB / KLGB)

1954 DeHavilland DH104 Dove 5A
N4913V (sn 04272)
Photo taken July 14, 2007
CYCW - Chilliwack, BC Canada

 

[hassan1]

i have an image of paf dh-104
but it is not good

 

[hassan1]

when paf use it

 

[Muradk]

when paf use it

PAF never used it F-20 was a dud experiment, it only came to pakistan for demo . The pilot died during the demo tour or In other words the plane crashed.

 

[hassan1]

and when paf use these birds and name also

 

[Neo]

when paf use it

F-20 (Originally called F-5G) was developped for countries which could not afford the more expensive and complicated F-16. It miserably failed to meet our ASR and was rejected.

Few years later we looked again into this project, the RF-20C for Recce but again without any result.

 

[araz]

I have often wondered why we have not replaced our A5s with a better platform for aerial support. It has always been a funny buy as PAF has always relied upon multirole single engined fighters.Secondly, I remember there was news in the press that with E3s/AWACS, PAF was contemplating a squadron of F15s to accompany the AWACS.Was there ever any truth in it or was it all just some fan boys dream. Help would be appreciated.
Araz

 

[x_man]

Araz

Being an A-5 driver for almost 3 years ( 1992-1995), I always feel compelled to defend this most 'misunderstood aircraft' on PAFs inventory...I also want to clarify that its not a multirole aircraft but basically a Ground Attack/ Strike fighter whom PAF used in every possible role and despite its design/structure limitations , the poor thing did it very well ...

After completing my Ops conversion on F-6 , I was posted to an A-5 squadron....Not very excited about the aircraft, but I was happy to be close to my hometown and prospects of exploring some social interactions in Peshawar ( good old bachelor days..)......I always had apprehension about the A-5 due to its titles of ''flying coffin..or....widow maker..etc etc..But all my apprehensions and reservations soon vanished, as I started to fly it...

There is also one very interesting aspect about the A-5 is that, it doesn’t have a Dual Trainer....people think that its very similar to F-6..but it isn’t.....its aerodynamics’ and flying characteristics are very different from F-6 ...it was also one of the reasons where pilots took A-5 for granted and tried to fly it like an aircraft that it wasn’t...Lots of crashes in its initial years were attributed to mishandling where pilots would try to fly A-5 just like an F-6 ( which was an air superiority fighter ,much lighter in weight and manoeuvrable) ....many flicks and too many spins...to worsen the situation, it had the Chinese ejection seat that had a habit to fail to eject or problems with the seat-man separation...many pilots who actually ejected from the aircraft but hit the ground while still strapped to seat......However, things started to improve when PAF finally decided to install Martin Baker ( British) zero -zero ejection seat and it not only boosted the aircrews confidence in aircraft but increased the pilot survivability rate as well.....A-5 also got the package updates ( in early 90s) in terms of Chaff/ Flares , GPS ,RWR etc, besides these, many maintenance issues were also being addressed .....Those were the years where A-5 started to evolve as a new aircraft , things were improving tremendously for this aircraft and it was during those years where I had a chance to fly it....we were lucky in way that unlike our predecessors , we got a very updated and refurbished A-5 ....

With its 10 hard pints ( three each wing , four in belly ) and two guns, it can carry variety of munitions and various combinations....

Unlike other Chinese fighters that are always fuel starved , A-5 was also nick named Fuel Bowser by its operators.....It can carry more fuel just within its internal tanks than a F-7 carries it with its all three fuel tanks, and if you also put two drop tanks with A-5...then it can just fly and fly.....PAF employed it in every possible role and in all kind of scenarios...I had the honour to fly it day, night , clear weather to heavy rain , from chilly surroundings of Skardu to hottest weathers of Jacobabd / Mir Pur Khas , dropped variety of bombs, fired rockets and bullets , flew Aircombat and dissimilar air combat missions against all PAF types , supported Army guys in endless close air support missions and harassed many girl colleges in Hayatabad/University town areas of Peshawar with our formation low level afterburner runs.......with this aircraft, possibilities are endless.....There is so much variety and flexibility of roles that comes with this aircraft ....If one compares the Operating Cost of aircraft VS variety of combat training....... I think this aircraft gives you a real good value for money....


To conclude, I would just say that A-5 is a good aircraft with a bad press...PAF had bad initial years but we are over with it....I also admit that A-5 doesn’t have very good sense of humour....you try to be funny with it and it can bite you. All this aircraft demands is respect...Over he years it has evolved into a low-cost all purpose aircraft that has served its purpose well as a stepping stone for pilots proceeding to advance fighters…….In late 90s there were rumours of A-5M arriving but PAF is probably over with A-5s ....Few new A-5s were inducted of late to fill for the attrition and keep the fleet flying. But with F-17s, F-16s and hopefully J-10s arriving in next few years, I don’t see any future of A-5...Its sad that we wont see this aircraft flying in next few years and will definitely miss it...

 

[shehbazi2001]

Its good to see that A-5 can also carry Magic missile in addition to Sidewinder. Your first photo of A-5 shows it.

and whats loaded on inner wing pylons, it does not seem to be common rocket pods.

 

[x_man]

The upper pic isn’t from PAF , its from PLAAF…the reason I just chose this pic was due to full belly and underwing view with all hardpoints occupied ….Chinese had been trying all sorts of weapons on A-5 , did you know that they even had an A-5 that was capable of carrying nuclear weapons ….shall we call them desperate or innovative ?

On the inner wing pylons, I would guess that in this pic, these are probably 130 mm rocket pods…which PAF doesnt use on her A-5s…

 

[fatman17]

The upper pic isn’t from PAF , its from PLAAF…the reason I just chose this pic was due to full belly and underwing view with all hardpoints occupied ….Chinese had been trying all sorts of weapons on A-5 , did you know that they even had an A-5 that was capable of carrying nuclear weapons ….shall we call them desperate or innovative ?

On the inner wing pylons, I would guess that in this pic, these are probably 130 mm rocket pods…which PAF doesnt use on her A-5s…

great info x_man. it is rumoured by such defence related magazines like Jane's that PAF's A-5s were nuke capable. care to comment!