Romanian Air Force

Enjoy ! ( Quality is slightly better if you select 480p )

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMIhjV2ooQY

In 1923, the Avions Henry Potez aircraft works started production of a successful Potez 15 reconnaissance biplane. Basing on experience gathered during the construction of that plane, Henry Potez started working on a new design of a heavier and faster multi-purpose plane. Designated Potez XXV or Potez 25, the prototype was built already in 1924. The main differences included a larger, more powerful engine and a new wing design. Instead of a classic biplane, Potez introduced a sesquiplane, with the lower wing significantly smaller. It was built in two main military variants: Potez 25A2 reconnaissance plane and Potez 25B2 bomber-reconnaissance plane.

In May 1925, the prototype was tested at the Service Technique d'Aeronautique Institute and was found a promising construction both for its manoeuvrability, speed and durability. Following the tests, the prototype entered serial production. To promote the new plane abroad, in a post-World War I markets filled with hundreds of cheap demobilized planes, the Potez 25 was entered into a large number of races. Among the best-known achievements was a European rally (7,400 km/4,598 mi) and a Mediterranean rally (6,500 km/4,039 mi), both won by pilots flying the Potez. In 1920s, the Potez 25 was also used in a well-advertised Paris-Tehran rally (13,080 km/8,127 mi). In June 1930, Henri Guillaumet crashed with his Potez 25 in the Andes during an air mail flight. He survived an incredible march through the mountains and was found after one week of searching.

Such achievements added to plane's popularity and made it one of the most successful French planes of the epoch. It was bought by a number of air forces, including those of France, Switzerland, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Greece, Spain, Japan, Yugoslavia, Poland and Portugal, as well as Romania, Turkey and the USSR. Altogether, roughly 2,500 planes were built in France. Already in 1925, Poland bought a license for Potez 25 and started to manufacture them in Podlaska Wytwórnia Samolotów (PWS, 150 built) and Plage i Laśkiewicz aircraft works (150 built). In 1928 the first Polish-built Potez 25 were tested by the Technical Aviation Development Institute in Warsaw and the design was slightly modified to better fit the needs of the Polish air forces. Among the notable differences were the introduction of leading edge slots. The production in Poland ceased in 1932. Altogether, 300 planes were built in a number of versions for long- and short-range reconnaissance and daylight tactical bombing. As the original Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb engine was unavailable in Poland, it was replaced in 47 aircraft with a more powerful PZL Bristol Jupiter VIIF radial engine, starting from 1936. Several other countries manufactured Potez 25s under licence.

The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early operational roles, but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Affectionately known as "The Maid of all Work" (a feminine version of "jack of all trades"), the Ju 88 proved to be suited to almost any role. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it was used successfully as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter, and even as a flying bomb during the closing stages of conflict.

Despite its protracted development, the aircraft became one of the Luftwaffe's most important assets. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945, and more than 16,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants,[2] more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. Throughout the production, the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged, proof of the outstanding quality of the original design.

The PZL.23 Kara was a Polish light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, designed in the mid-1930s by PZL in Warsaw. It was the main light bomber in the Invasion of Poland. In 1939, the plane was not a modern one. Its main fault was low speed, its manoeuvreability was not high as well. At the outbreak of the World War II, on September 1, 1939, Poland had 118 PZL.23B in combat units (further 50 PZL.23B and 35 PZL.23A were in air schools or under repairs). PZL.23B were used in 5 bomber squadrons of the Bomber Brigade and 7 Army reconnaissance squadrons, each with 10 aircraft (other squadrons of the Bomber Brigade were equipped with PZL.37 Los). They actively took part in the Invasion of Poland. Some planes were also used in a wartime improvised units.

On September 2, 1939, one PZL.23B of the 21st escadre bombed a factory in Olawa as the first bomb attack on the German territory. The bomber squadrons attacked German armoured columns, while the main mission of Army squadrons was reconnaissance. All PZL.23 suffered high losses due to low speed, lack of armour and fighter protection. Many were shot down by the German fighter planes, but they also shot down a few in return. Some 20 aircraft crashed on rough field airfields. The five squadrons of the Bomber Brigade delivered about 52-60 tons of bombs during the campaign, the Army squadrons added about a dozen tons of bombs as well. About 90% of PZL.23 were destroyed in 1939. In addition two PZL.43A from the Bulgarian order were impressed into Polish service in the 41st Squadron. 11 PZL.23B and about 20 PZL.23A were withdrawn in 1939 to Romania and then used by the Romanian air force against the USSR. 50 PZL.43 and PZL.43A (2 were delivered by the Germans) were used in Bulgaria for training until 1946, with a name "Chaika". No PZL.23's were left in Poland after the war.

great little video muggs, thanks for that. Do you happen to know who's aircraft White 1 belong to?

A few more pictures that haven't been posted here yet...

Good one's Igor..!

Thanks imalko for your contribution.

Wayne that would be Lucian Toma's Me 109 of the 53rd Fighter Squadron ( 4 victories ) If you liked the Mickey Emblem, the entire 53rd Squadron had it on the cowling

It was inherited from "back in the day" when the squadron was equipped with Hurricane Mk I's.

Good stuff!

Thanks muggs, pic I have shows White 1 with 7 victories on the white rudder.

The Morane-Saulnier AR was a military trainer aircraft produced in France during and after the First World War. Developed from the Morane-Saulnier LA fighter, it was a wire-braced parasol-wing monoplane of conventional design with two open cockpits in tandem and cross-axle-style tailskid undercarriage. Construction was mostly of fabric-covered wood, but the forward fuselage was skinned in metal.

Large-scale production commenced after the Armistice, with the type now designated MS.35, in a number of subtypes differentiated principally in the engine used. Although Morane-Saulnier hoped to sell the type on the civil market as a touring machine, most of the 400 examples built saw service with the French Army, but others were used by the Navy and still others exported to foreign air arms. The MS.35s remained in service in France until 1929, after which time some were sold to the nation's flying clubs.

The Fleet Model 1 (originally the Consolidated Model 14 Husky Junior) and its derivatives were a family of two-seat trainer and sports plane produced in the United States and Canada in the 1920s and 30s. They all shared the same basic design and varied mainly in their powerplants. They were all orthodox biplanes with staggered, single-bay wings of equal span and fixed tailskid undercarriage. Accommodation was provided for two in tandem, originally sharing a single open cockpit, but in most examples in separate open cockpits. The fuselage was made of welded steel tube and the wings had a wooden spar with duralumin ribs, the entire aircraft being fabric-covered. Despite a superficial resemblance to Consolidated's highly successful Trusty and Husky designs (hence the "Husky Junior" nickname), the Model 14 was an all-new design.

Originally created as a means for Consolidated to enter the civil market, the company abandoned this ambition shortly before the completion of the first prototype. The manufacturing rights were purchased by designer and Consolidated company president Reuben Fleet to put into production himself under a new enterprise, Fleet Aircraft. It was an immediate success, and in the first year of production alone, over 300 machines were sold. Consolidated quickly responded by buying Fleet Aircraft and retaining it as a subsidiary while opening a second production line at Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Canadian manufacturing was a great success, with some 600 examples built for the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Fleet Fawn (Model 7) and Fleet Finch (Model 16).

A small number of US-built machines were purchased by the US military, including a batch evaluated by the United States Army Air Corps as the PT-16 but not bought in quantity, and six specialised N2Y trainers for the United States Navy equipped with hooks to catch the trapeze on aircraft-carrying airships and train F9C Sparrowhawk pilots. US manufacturing rights were eventually sold to Brewster, which intended to produce the Brewster B-1 based on the Canadian Model 16F. The Model 10 was a refined version of Model 7 for export to Europe

Henschel was one of four companies (the others being Focke-Wulf, Gotha and Hamburger Flugzeugbau) to which, in April 1937, the Technische Amt of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) issued a specification for a twin-engine ground-attack aircraft. It was required to carry at least two 20 mm MG FP cannon and to have extensive armour plating protection for crew and engines. The two designs for which development contracts were awarded on 1 October 1937 were the Focke-Wulf Fw 189C and Henschel Hs 129. The latter was another Friedrich Nicolaus design with a light alloy stressed-skin fuselage of triangular section. It contained a small cockpit with a restricted view, necessitating the removal of some instruments to the inboard sides of the engine cowlings. The windscreen was made of 75 mm (2.95 in) armoured glass and the nose section was manufactured from armour plating. Nose armament comprised two 20 mm MG FF cannon and two 7.92 mm (0.31 in) MG 17 machine guns. The prototype flew in the spring of 1939, powered by two 465 hp (347 kW) Argus As 410A-1 engines, and two further prototypes were flown competitively against the modified Fw 189 development aircraft for the Fw 189C.

The Hs 129B equipped three Staffeln of the 8th Assault Wing of the Royal Romanian Air Corps. On 23 August 1944 there was a coup in Romania, as a result of which the country changed from being an ally of Germany to becoming an enemy. These Hs 129Bs, accordingly were used against the German armies, finally being combined into a unit equipped with the Ju 87D Stuka.

The I.A.R. 80 was Romania's best indigenously produced fighter of World War Two. First test flown in late 1938 or early 1939 by pilot Dimitru "Pufi" Popescu, it entered service in 1942 and remained in front-line use until 1944. The manufacturer was Industria Aeronautica Romana {I.A.R.}, based in Brasov in central Romania. Formed in 1925 under state control, the firm drew upon the experience of licence-building many aircraft and engines including the Potez 25, Moraine-Saulnier 35, Fleet 10-G, and a pair of Polish PZL fighters, the PZL P.11 and P.24. The I.A.R. 80 shared the PZL P.24e's tail, rear fuselage and engine design, the rest was all-new. Work began on the I.A.R. 80 in late 1937, the open cockpit prototype was fitted with the 940 hp. I.A.R. K14-III C36 engine which was similar to the Gnome-Rhone 14K Mistral Major. After the initial flight trials the more powerful I.A.R. K14-1000a powerplant was installed and the wing span, area and length were slightly increased.

The I.A.R. 80's flying characteristics were reported to be excellent, highly maneuverable with heavy firepower. A pressurized cockpit was provided and there were several variants, the I.A.R. 81 was a dive-bomber and long-range fighter. Production ceased in January 1943. The I.A.R. factory in Brasov was heavily damaged by Allied bombers in April-May 1944. In 1950 the Aircraft Repairing Shops {ARMV} in Bucharest remanufactured a number of I.A.R. 80's into a two-seat trainer version, the I.A.R. 80 D.C., in the Pipera Industrial Complex. The trainer retained the original's excellent aerodynamic qualities.

The fighter was deployed on home defence in the Bucharest and Ploesti areas as well as in the attack role on the Eastern front during 1942-3. It was sometimes mistaken by Allied pilots for the Focke-Wulf Fw-190. A number of I.A.R. 80's were scrambled against the well-publicized USAAF mission to bomb the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania on 1 August 1943. The B-24s of Ninth Bomber Command took very heavy losses from flak, fighters {Bf-109s and I.A.R. 80s} and navigational errors. The Ploesti raids of July 9 and 15, 1944 were met by about 25 I.A.R.80 sorties. After World War Two, the Russians shipped home the entire I.A.R. factory and all aircraft from Brasov, as "war reparations".

When Operation Barbarossa started, the IAR 80 equipped Esc. 41, 59 and 60 of Grupul 8 Vanatoare, part of the Grupul Aerien de Lupta (GAL), that were tasked to support the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies deployed at the southern flank of the Eastern Front. Grupul 8 was the only unit assigned a pure fighter role, while Grupul 5 and 'Grupul 7, equipped with German superior aircraft (Heinkel He 112s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s) were employed primarily as fighter-bombers and bomber escorts.

On 22 June 1941, during the first day of the offensive, the IAR 80 patrols had their baptism of fire, achieving a single aerial victory (claimed by Sublocotenent aviator Ioan Miháilescu of Esc 60 van, a future ace) during four separate air combats. However, at least four IARs force landed with battle damage, while another two suffered engine trouble. By the end of 1941, 20 IAR 80/81s had been lost in combat in accidents. During 1942 the Romanian aviation industry reached its highest output so that the Royal Romanian Air Force could be re-equipped as follows: Esc. 47, 48 and 52 (Grupul Vanatoare), Esc. 43, 44 and 50 (Grupul 3 Vanatorae) and Esc. 41, 42 and 60 (Grupul 8 Vanatoare) received the new IAR 80A. Esc. 53 also replaced its Hurricanes with the IAR 80A, while Grupul 6 Bopi re-equipped with the IAR 81.

In June 1942, the operational IAR fighter forces on the Eastern front, combined into the Flotilla 2 Vanatoare consisted of Grupul 8 Vanatoare, commanded by Cdr. Lt Col E. Pirvulescu, and included Escadrila 41, Escadrila 42 and Escadrila 60 with 12 IAR 80As each. Grupul 8 moved at the end of September, to Karpovka, joining Grupul 7, equipped with Bf 109s. On 12 and 13 December, Grupul 6 used its IAR 81s to support the German counterattack by the Panzergruppe Hoth of the Heeresgruppe Don, from Kotelnikovo towards Stalingrad. In the summer of 1943 the FARR's IAR-80s were transferred to Romania for air defense duties,where they were used in combat against the USAAF. USAAF attacks were directed at the oil refinery installation at Ploieşti, in particular. On 1 August 1943 the IAR 80 faced for the first time the B-24 Liberator. They were 178 B-24 from 9th USAAF, part of the Operation Tidal Wave. The IAR 80Bs of Escadrila 61 and 62 of Grupul 6 vânátoare, as well as IAR 80Cs from the newly formed Escadrila 45 of Grupul 4 vânátoare, together with the Bf 109Gs from Esc. 53 and Bf 110s from the Romanian night fighter squadron, dived on the low-flying, four engined bombers, belonging to five USAAF bomber groups (the 44th, 93rd, 98th, 376th and 389th). The Americans lost – in combat or on the way back – 51 bombers. Only 89 reached their bases, of which only 31 were serviceable for a mission the next day. The Romanians pilots claimed 25 certain and probable victories for just two losses, one IAR 80 B and one Bf 110C. According to Romanian statistics, IARs and Messerschmitts were confirmed as having shot down ten B-24s, with two probables.

The American account of this battle conflicts significantly with the Romanian one. Fighter pilot Herbert "Stub" Hatch, who took part in the dogfight, wrote that his flight of 16 P-38s, the 71st Fighter Squadron, was challenged by a large formation of Romanian IAR 81C fighters that he misidentified as Focke-Wulf Fw 190s.[According to Hatch, the fight took place at and below 300 feet (100 m) in a narrow valley. Hatch saw two IAR 81Cs hit the ground after taking fire from his guns, and his fellow pilots confirmed three more kills from his guns, making Hatch an ace in a day. However, the outnumbered 71st Fighter Squadron took more damage than it dished out, losing nine aircraft. The Americans never again repeated the P-38 dive-bombing mission profile over Romania. But during 1944 USAAF aircraft appeared over Romania in more significant numbers. Many air combats occurred and by the time of their last encounter with the USAAF on 3 July 1944, pilots of Grupul 6 vanatoare had submitted 87 confirmed (and ten not confirmed) claims. But casualties among the Romanian fighter pilots quickly mounted too. The three IAR 80/81 groups (the 1st, 2nd and 6th) in a period of less than four months – known as the "American Campaign" – had at least 32 IAR pilots killed in action, including 11 aces. These losses exceeded the number of casualties suffered in the previous two and a half years of fighting against the Soviets. Because of these heavy losses, all IAR 80/81 units were withdrown from combat against Americans in July 1944 and IAR pilots started to convert to the more modern Bf 109G-6s.

IAR 80 vid

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JejJAuw89fM

Excellent series of pics...

interesting placement on the ariel

The I.A.R.37 prototype was built to the design of engineers Grossu-Vizuru and Carp. Flown for the first time in 1937 by company pilot Max Manolescu, it was intended to meet an official requirement for a tactical bombing and reconnaissance aircraft. An unequal-span biplane, the I.A.R.37 had fixed main landing gear and was powered by an I.A.R. K.14 radial engine. Its three-man crew was accommodated beneath a continuous glazed canopy, the observer seated between pilot and gunner and provided with full dual controls, a Romanian-designed Estopey bomb-sight, radio and a camera. Defensive armament comprised four machine-guns and the offensive load 12 50kg bombs or six 100kg bombs on underwing racks.

The I.A.R.37 entered production.in late 1938 and was built in small numbers before being succeeded in 1939 by the interim I.A.R.38, which differed mainly in its powerplant, and was soon displaced on the production line by the I.A.R.39. Of the total production of 325 I.A.R.37, 38 and 39 aircraft, over 200 were I.A.R.39s, 96 built under sub-contract by the S.E.T. company and over 100 by I.A.R.

By the end of 1940 the I.A.R. biplanes were in large-scale service with Fortelor Aeriene Regal ale Romania (Royal Romanian Air Force) or FARR. They equipped a number of squadrons attached to the various army corps and by June 1941, when Romania supported the German offensive against the Soviet Union, the three reconnaissance flotile of the FARR had 18 eskadrile, 15 of which were equipped with I.A.R. biplanes. In July 1942 the air expeditionary force in the Soviet Union had been re-formed as Corpul I Aerian and had several groups equipped with the I.A.R.39. Eleven reconnaissance eskadrile were operating with the army co-operation flotile during the 1944 offensive in the Ukraine, most of them with I.A.R.39s on strength. Post-war the new Communist republic was declared at the end of 1947, and the reorganised air arm, known as the FR-RPR (Fortele Aeriene ale Republicii Populare Romania) had a small number of I.A.R.39s for training and liaison duties for several years. In 1940 three I.A.R.47 prototypes were under construction; intended to replace the I.A.R.39 in production, only one was completed and flight tested.