The time when Pakistan Air Force set an aviation history

Hamid Anwar was born on June 20, 1934. He received his primary education from Lawrence College Ghora Gali, Murree and joined Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as a flight cadet in 1953. He sailed through the initial flying phase on the Harvard with ease, finally earning his wings on February 2, 1954, joining the prestigious No. 9 Squadron as a young fighter pilot.

Wing Commander Hamid Anwar has the distinction and may perhaps be the only one in the world who had the opportunity to fly with five different air forces that includes PAF, Royal Air Force (RAF), United States Air Force (USAF), Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) and Abu Dhabi Air Force (ADAF)

PAF–‘The Falcons’–F-86 Sabre team at Mauripur in 1958, as the number 4 of a 16 aircraft team. A display was held in the honor of Zahir Shah of Afghanistan. Hamid Anwar was the proud member of the famous Falcon team.In 1958, the team was tasked by the then Air Chief, A.M. Asghar Khan to prepare for a spectacular air show in the honor of visiting Afghan king, Zahir Shah and other foreign dignitaries. The star-studded team comprised legendary pilots of that time who later proved their worth in the two wars Pakistan later fought with India.

The team created world record on the morning of February 2, 1958 at Mauripur. While performing formation aerobatics with 16 aircraft, the team pulled up a loop, thus making aviation history. It was the first-ever spectacular achievement by a nascent commonwealth air force like PAF.

having lunch when he heard that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets were heading towards the area north of the Dead Sea. He scrambled two pairs of jets. These aircraft shot one down and damaged another. The King, who was visiting the UK at that time, sent him a telegram, congratulating him on the historic feat

His early memories with PAF :

About his early days with PAF, he fondly remembers flying with Air Commodore M.M. Alam, who he considers one of the finest fighter pilots PAF ever had. Together with him, they used to devise new techniques of air combat and practice them. He mentioned that Khalil Ramday, a jurist, once came to lecture the PAF officers about legal matters, and narrated that when he asked M.M. Alam about whom he considered to be a better pilot, M.M. Alam’s response was that he considered Hamid Anwar better than him. On September 7, 1965, M.M. Alam went up and shot down 5 aircraft and the morale of PAF went up. He further said that, had M.M. Alam not achieved this feat, PAF would have lost the war in the air. That guy showed PAF what we could do with the Sabre.

Indo-Pak War 1965

When the Indo-Pak War broke out in 1965, he immediately reported back to PAF. Although he joined in the closing days of the war, he flew a large number of air defence and close support missions.

Four planes of U.S Airforce were crashed in a desert and all four pilots were killer while performing this stunt

Approximately at 9:30am the PAF pilots performed this stunt by flying 16 F-86 jets in a diamond formation with great spirit and enthusiasm and made an world record which isn’t broken till now. This formation amazed the pilots around tha world. The editors of England magazine “Flight International ’’ we’re also there and they were shocked to see the amazing display done by the brave and skilful pilots of the PAKISTAN AIRFORCE. They also stated that this stunt is shown in England but not with the 16 jets but only with 4 jets in the formation