Syrian and Iranian AF 2003

"Tom Cooper" wrote in message
...
snip
Iran has also a sizeable tanker fleet (Boeing 707-2J9Cs and Boeing
747-2J9C), and by far the largest transport fleet in the area (Boeing
747Fs,
snip
Boeing converted three 747s to tankers but they were converted from
ex-Eastern, ex-TWA 747-131s. Pictures of 5-8105 and 5-8103 can be found on
the web. It appears that both of these aircraft currently have civil
registrations and are operated by Saha Air Cargo. I don't the about the
third one for sure. It was probably 5-8104 which crashed in Spain or 5-8107.
The for 747-200Fs are 747-2J9. All four have civil registrations, three
being operated by Saha Air Cargo and one is parked.

"William Wright" wrote in message
news:kPehb.721214$uu5.119765@sccrnsc04...

"Tom Cooper" wrote in message
...
snip
Iran has also a sizeable tanker fleet (Boeing 707-2J9Cs and Boeing
747-2J9C), and by far the largest transport fleet in the area (Boeing
747Fs,
snip
Boeing converted three 747s to tankers but they were converted from
ex-Eastern, ex-TWA 747-131s. Pictures of 5-8105 and 5-8103 can be found on
the web. It appears that both of these aircraft currently have civil
registrations and are operated by Saha Air Cargo. I don't the about the
third one for sure. It was probably 5-8104 which crashed in Spain or
5-8107.
The for 747-200Fs are 747-2J9. All four have civil registrations, three
being operated by Saha Air Cargo and one is parked.

See the page 294 of "Iran - Iraq War in the Air":
- the example that crashed near Madrid, in 1976, was 5-283; that one has
never got five-digit serial, introduced with the arrival of the first F-14s
in Iran, in January of the same year;

- other examples rebuilt into -2J9C or delivered in the -2J9F (these were
tankers too) configuration we 5-8103, 5-8105, 5-8107, 5-8113, (probably)
5-8114, and 5-8115. The whereabouts of the last two are unknown to me; the
5-8113, for example, has spent most of its career with the Saha - and this
did not prevent it from acting as a tanker and a flying command post for the
"H-3 Blitz" operation...

Don't forget that the main customer of the Saha Air is - and always was -
the IRIAS (i.e. all the three branches of the military): after all, that was
also the background on which this company was founded.

Tom Cooper
Co-Author:
Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988:
http://www.acig.org/pg1/content.php
and,
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat:
http://www.osprey-publishing.co.uk/t...hp/title=S6585

"Tom Cooper" wrote in message
...

"William Wright" wrote in message
news:kPehb.721214$uu5.119765@sccrnsc04...

"Tom Cooper" wrote in message
...
snip
Iran has also a sizeable tanker fleet (Boeing 707-2J9Cs and Boeing
747-2J9C), and by far the largest transport fleet in the area (Boeing
747Fs,
snip
Boeing converted three 747s to tankers but they were converted from
ex-Eastern, ex-TWA 747-131s. Pictures of 5-8105 and 5-8103 can be found
on
the web. It appears that both of these aircraft currently have civil
registrations and are operated by Saha Air Cargo. I don't the about the
third one for sure. It was probably 5-8104 which crashed in Spain or
5-8107.
The for 747-200Fs are 747-2J9. All four have civil registrations, three
being operated by Saha Air Cargo and one is parked.

See the page 294 of "Iran - Iraq War in the Air":
- the example that crashed near Madrid, in 1976, was 5-283; that one has
never got five-digit serial, introduced with the arrival of the first
F-14s
in Iran, in January of the same year;

Yes 5-283 was lost before receiving 5-8104 as a serial. A bit of notational
laziness on my part. 5-280 thru 5-287 reserialed as 5-8101 thru 5-8108
except for 5-283.

- other examples rebuilt into -2J9C or delivered in the -2J9F (these were
tankers too) configuration we 5-8103, 5-8105, 5-8107, 5-8113,
(probably)

If the 747-2J9F frieghters were converted to tankers it must have been post
delivery. I have not seen any pictures of them. The only ones I have ever
seen are 747-131s converted to 747-100F and in the pictures they are clearly
model 100s.

5-8114, and 5-8115. The whereabouts of the last two are unknown to me; the
5-8113, for example, has spent most of its career with the Saha - and this
did not prevent it from acting as a tanker and a flying command post for
the
"H-3 Blitz" operation...

5-8114 and 5-8115 were last EP-SHA and EP-SHH. I don't understand what you
mean by 5-5113 though. It only spent a year as Iran Air EP-NHN in the 1980s
until finally becoming Saha EP-SHB in1991. Or are you saying that Saha
operated the aircraft with a military serial number?


Don't forget that the main customer of the Saha Air is - and always was -
the IRIAS (i.e. all the three branches of the military): after all, that
was
also the background on which this company was founded.

Tom Cooper
Co-Author:
Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988:
http://www.acig.org/pg1/content.php
and,
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat:
http://www.osprey-publishing.co.uk/t...hp/title=S6585

William,
If the 747-2J9F frieghters were converted to tankers it must have been
post
delivery. I have not seen any pictures of them. The only ones I have ever
seen are 747-131s converted to 747-100F and in the pictures they are
clearly
model 100s.

I'm not that good in finding out what is the 100F or what is the 131: I can
rather help you with an inventory of what I've seen on the photos, if that
would help.

5-8114, and 5-8115. The whereabouts of the last two are unknown to me;
the
5-8113, for example, has spent most of its career with the Saha - and
this
did not prevent it from acting as a tanker and a flying command post for
the
"H-3 Blitz" operation...

5-8114 and 5-8115 were last EP-SHA and EP-SHH. I don't understand what you
mean by 5-5113 though. It only spent a year as Iran Air EP-NHN in the
1980s
until finally becoming Saha EP-SHB in1991. Or are you saying that Saha
operated the aircraft with a military serial number?

For 5-8114 there is a photo showing it with the boom, sometimes in the 1970s
or so, and one without, at a much later date, but also without any markings
but fin flash. Almost the same can be seen for the 5-8115: there is a photo
showing it with the boom, and one showing it from the front, without any
markings but the fin flash.

Re. 5-8113: I don't know if the Saha was flying aircraft with military
serial numbers. To be honest: I never cared to find out. What I know is that
the plane was used for supporting specific combat missions, one of which was
the "H-3 Blitz".

Now, if that could ease the dillema, consider that there was a number of
occassions on which the Iranians (mis)used the Turkish airspace to bring
their tankers deep into northern Iraq. Also, bear in mind that during the
whole war the IRIAF had to keep at least one B707 and/or a B747 in tanker
configuration on permanent alert: either as tankers to support combat
operations, or to fly out and be able to pick up whatever kind of spares or
weapons for the IRIAF were acquired outside Iran. So, I actually find it
rather "normal" under the given circumstances that it happened that the
planes officially assigned to the SahaAir carried IRIAF markings, or the
other way around. Leagal or not: I don't find anything special in this.

Tom Cooper
Co-Author:
Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988:
http://www.acig.org/pg1/content.php
and,
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat:
http://www.osprey-publishing.co.uk/t...hp/title=S6585