List of World War I flying aces from Romania

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During the campaigns of 1916-1919, Romanian airmen achieved about 10,000 flight hours, had about 700 aerial fights and shot down some 51 [1] -91 [2] enemy aircraft, including observation balloons.

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World War I Romanian aces

During the First World War, 4 airmen of the Romanian Air Corps earned more than 5 victories. However, by Romanian air victory standards (no shared victories counted), only one of them was considered an ace, Dumitru Bădulescu. As an air observer, he only shared victories with his pilot.

The following list includes all Romanian airmen who have achieved 5 or more victories, including shared and unconfirmed ones.

NameBrevetVictoriesNotes
Cpt. Gheorghe Mihăilescu (pilot)Brevet no. 19/1 October 191384 shared [1]
Slt. Dumitru-Cicerone Bădulescu (observer)Brevet no. 78/24 June 191783 unconfirmed
Only ace by Romanian standards
Slt. Marin Popescu (pilot)Brevet no. 44/3 June 191551 shared
Sgt. Nicolae Mănescu (pilot)Brevet no. 109 bis/12 December 191654 shared

World War I Romanian airmen who achieved at least 1 victory

The following list includes all Romanian airmen who achieved at least 1 victory, including shared, unconfirmed and those achieved in 1919. [lower-alpha 1]

NameBrevetVictoriesNotes
Petre Ioanin (pilot)Brevet no. 74/14 December 19154shared with the observer
Egon Nasta (pilot)Brevet no. 99/23 August 191641 shared
Vasile Craiu (pilot)Brevet no. 59/13 August 191531 shared
Grigore Gafencu (observer)Brevet no. 80/1 July 19173shared with the pilot
Ion Dragomirescu (pilot)Brevet no. 108 bis/15 November 191632 achieved while flying for France
1 in 1919
Stan Bucur (pilot)Brevet no. 37/24 November 19143shared with the observer
1 in 1919
Ioan Georgescu (pilot)Brevet no. 42/3 June 191531 shared
Panait Cholet (pilot)Brevet no. 31/18 July 19142shared with the observer
Dumitru Darian (observer)Brevet no. 72/17 May 19172shared with the pilot
Ermil Gheorghiu (observer)Brevet no. 19/4 September 19152shared with the pilot
Gheorghe Gheorghiu (pilot)Brevet no. 98/29 August 191621 shared
Constantin Gonta (observer)Brevet no. 74/8 June 19172shared with the pilot
Ioan Ralea Ioanid (observer)Brevet no. 70/19 April 19172shared with the pilot
Marcel Drăgușanu  [ fr ] (pilot)Brevet from France2achieved in the same mission
damaged a 3rd aircraft on the same mission
Carol Pauchert (pilot)Brevet no. 78/3 March 191621 shared
Dumitru Crăsnaru (pilot)Brevet no. 80/4 March 191521 shared with the observer
Nicolae "Nae" Cicei (pilot)Brevet no. 60/13 August 19152shared with the observer
Ion Muntenescu (pilot)Brevet no. 102/23 August 19162achieved in the same mission
Constantin Pârvulescu (observer)Brevet no. 75/10 June 19172shared with the pilot
Ștefan Iliescu (observer)Brevet no. 88/6 July 19162shared with the pilot
Gheorghe Negrescu  [ ro ] (pilot)Brevet no. 3/17 July 19111shared with the observer
Vasile Alexăndreanu (pilot)Brevet no. 28/10 July 19141shared with the observer
Cicerone Olănescu (pilot)Brevet no. 38/16 May 19151shared with the observer
Ştefan Sănătescu (observer)Brevet no. 73/1 June 19171shared with the pilot
Aurel Constantinescu (observer)Brevet from France1shared with the pilot
in 1919
Nicolae Drosso (pilot)Brevet no. 151/11 April 19191shared with the observer
in 1919
Nistor Grecu (pilot)Brevet no. 149 bis/14 March 19191shared with the observer
in 1919
Mihail Hurmuzescu (pilot)Brevet no. 144/29 October 19181shared with the pilot (flew as an observer)
in 1919
Iosif Răcășanu (pilot)Brevet no. 111/5 May 19171in 1919
Ioan Sava  [ ro ] (pilot)Brevet no. 130/12 July 19181shared with the observer
in 1919
ex-Austro-Hungarian pilot
Dumitru Sfetescu (observer)1shared with the pilot
in 1919
Alexandru Vasilescu (observer)Brevet no. 87/26 August 19171shared with the pilot
Mihai Vitzu (balloon observer)Brevet no. 5/1 June 19171while in the basket of his balloon
Ioan Vlad (observer)possibly a foreign brevet1shared with the pilot
Ion Barzon (pilot and observer)Brevet no. 83/7 August 1917 (observer)
Brevet no. 141/29 October 1918 (pilot)
1shared with the pilot
Ioan Dumitrescu (pilot)Brevet no. 32/18 July 19141shared with the observer
Paul Magâlea (pilot)Brevet no. 43/3 June 19151
Gheorghe Stâlpeanu (pilot)Brevet no. 123/31 May 19181shared with the pilot
Ioan Gruia (observer)Brevet no. 50/5 June 19151shared with the pilot
Dumitru Naidinescu (pilot)Brevet no. 84 /22 March 19161shared with the observer
Nicolae Tănase (pilot)Brevet no. 35/6 October 19141shared with the observer
Anghel Gănțoiu (pilot)Brevet no. 40/16 May 19151unconfirmed
Nae "Mitralieră" Iliescu (pilot)Brevet no. 93/6 July 19161shared with the observer
Andrei Șișu (pilot)Brevet no. 41/16 May 19151shared with the observer
Dumitru Teodorescu (pilot)Brevet no. 49/5 June 19151shared with the observer

Other World War I aces born on the territory of modern-day Romania

Two other aces of the war were born on the territory of present-day Romania. Both serving in the K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen.

NameVictoriesNotes
Rudolf Weber 6born in Sighișoara, Transylvania in 1890
Karl Patzelt 5 (2 shared)born in Craiova, Romania in 1893

See also

Notes

  1. This list might not be complete.
  1. 1 2 Orzeață, Mihail; Avram, Valeriu (2018). "Romanian Aviation in the First World War" (PDF). Romanian Military Thinking (3/2018): 230.
  2. Armă, Alexandru; Avram, Valeriu (2018). Aeronautica română în Războiul de Întregire națională 1916-1919 (PDF) (in Romanian). Editura Vremea. p. 51.

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References