Images - Pakistan Air Force in the Mirror of History.

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Two British Royal Air Force officers who were captured by Mahsud tribesmen from Waziristan in 1923.

Some British aircraft, while on missions to bomb Mahsud villages, crashed in Mahsud territory and their pilots were taken prisoner by the Mahsuds.

The Mahsuds held the British officers captive for ransom and released them after the ransom was paid.

Source: The Sphere, 19th May, 1923

 

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In late 1980s, many Afghan aircrafts including their latest SU-22s, Mig-21s defected to Pakistan. Grp Capt Sattar Alvi, who flew Syrian Mig-21s as Flt Lt. during Arab Israel war 1973 and shot down an Israeli Mirage, was tasked to fly Afghan Mig-21bis and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses to help develop air tactics accordingly.

Mig-21bis at that time, was the backbone of Indian Airforce as well, so he flew various dogfight training missions against PAF F-16s, Mirages and F-6s to train PAF pilots.

 

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Air Marshal Nur Khan checks one of the first F-6 (MiG-19) delivered to Pakistan.

The type served PAF for thirty-five years and was finally retired in 2002, when the last F-6 squadron (No. 23 ‘Talons’) re-equipped with new F-7PG aircraft.

The type logged more than 400,000 sorties (approx 300,000 hrs) in 37 years. In total 260 F-6s were procured.

 

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