8-Pass Charlie

8-Pass Charlie was an unknown Pakistani B-57 bomber pilot who raided Adampur airbase a number of times during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 [http://www.indianexpress.com/printerFriendly/9548.html The Class of ’65 The Indian Express] . Posted online July 30, 2006 URL accessed on 24 Sep 2006 ]

The name was assigned to this unknown pilot by his impressed Indian adversaries at the Adampur base, [http://bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/2000s/Samir.html When old warriors meet. Samir Chopra.Bharat-rakshak.com] ] and appears to be derived from his daring routine of making eight passes in bombing runs during every air raid over the alerted airbase to bomb selected targets instead of dropping his entire bomb-load during the first pass which would have allowed a safer exit for the aggressor aircraft over initial defences.

In addition to his routine of making eight passes over Adampur, the unknown pilot also seemed to have had a second routine of conducting his raids thirty minutes after moonrise. ibid.

Paddy Earle paid tribute to the unknown Pakistani pilot: ‘I have the utmost respect for the Pakistani Canberra bloke who loved to ruin the equanimity of our dreary lives. 8-Pass Charlie was an ace, but he had this nasty habit of turning up about 30 minutes after moonrise, just as we were downing our first drink. Seriously, he was a cool dude and a professional of the highest order...

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ee also

*Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
*Pakistan Air Force
*Indian Air Force

References