Celebrating the defence day
Posted on 2nd of September 2009, in General, by Khalid Majid Ali
Pakistan’s defence day (6th of september) is coming up in a few days; looking forward to that I bring you this wallpaper portraying Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) first encounter with Indian Air Force. This is what happened that day.
It was the Eid day (Eid-ul-Fitr), the 10th of April 1959. A relatively cool spring morning when, the skies were filled with misty clouds, the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) surveillance jet the English Electric Canberra B(I)58 intruded our airspace on a photo reconnaissance mission. The radar station at Peshawar air base reported the bogey to their squadron leader.
Yunus grabbed this opportunity and fired a burst from his 12.7 mm guns that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, near Rawalpindi.
Pakistan’s F-86F Sabre pilots Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt (leader) and Flt. Lt. M. Yunus (wingman) of the 15th squadron were put on the mission to clear out the intruder aircraft out of Pakistani skies. Pilot Officer Rab Nawaz was the on-duty Air Defence Controller at the time, he successfully vectored both Sabres to the location of the high-flying Canberra.
After multiple warnings given to the IAF jet, Flt. Lt. M. N. Butt attempted to bring down the Canberra by firing his Sabre’s machine guns but the Canberra was flying at an altitude of more than 50,000 feet - beyond the operational ceiling of the F-86F.
It was after a long pursuit that Flt. Lt. M. Yunus took over from his leader, at that moment the IAF Canberra suddenly lost height while executing a turn over Rawalpindi. Yunus grabbed this opportunity and fired a burst from his 12.7 mm guns that struck the Canberra at an altitude of 47,500 feet and brought it down over Rawat, near Rawalpindi. Thus, PAF drew “first blood” against the IAF.
Whatever our fighter planes lack in technology; our pilots cover up by skill and there is no machine and no technology that can outsmart a human mind.
“55-5005” was the serial number of the F-86F Sabre that was flown by Flt. Lt. Yunus that day. Both the occupants of the IAF Canberra, namely Sqn. Ldr. J.C. Sen Gupta (pilot) and Flt. Lt. S.N. Rampal (navigator) from the IAF’s No. 106 Sqn., ejected and were taken prisoner by Pakistani authorities and were subsequently released after remaining in detention for some time.
There is a reason that Pakistan Air Force is rated in the world’s top ten rankings. The reason is that whatever our fighter planes lack in technology; our pilots cover up by skill and there is no machine and no technology that can outsmart a human mind, especially that of a person who does not fear to sacrifice his life, for his country. This wallpaper is designed to portray PAF's victory that day, may it be a reminder to all of Pakistan’s foes that Pakistan is always Ready.
Feel free to download the wallpaper, its available in four different sizes to suit your screen’s resolution.
Sources and Credits
First and foremost I’d mention that the details of this post were taken form an article available at Wikipedia, called 1959: PAF Draws 'First Blood'. I’d like to thank Jake Ruesch as the inspiration for the artwork came from a photo manipulation tutorial called How to Create a Surreal Scene of Flying Bombs on Fire written by him at PSD tuts+ which is an excellent tutorial website.
Download Wallpaper
Comments
Add a comment
“Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.
” ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
Ahsen
12th of March 2010, 3:00 AM
Proud Pakistani
20th of February 2011, 12:11 AM
Great article, loved the artwork. Pakistan Zindabad! :)
Arqam
2nd of April 2011, 11:12 AM