On 8 July 1941, after a dogfight with Soviet I-16 fighters of 67 IAP, Dumbravă force-landed his damaged ex-polish P.11c No. 318. It was repaired and during the summer of 1942, it was on strength with the Călăraşi Fighter Aviation School. According to his logbook on 1 and 2 September 1942, Elev Av. Baltă Constantin flew P.11c No. 318 practising loops, stalls and Immelmann turns. (Dan Antoniu coll.) P.11c No. 318, Adjutant Stag. Av. Victor Dumbravă, Grupul 4 Vânătoare. Upper surfaces: Dark Olive Green. Undersides: Light Grey. Below: P.11cs on strength with the Călăraşi Fighter Aviation School, summer 1943. Note the yellow painted engine cowlings and spinners. Right: Elev Av. Goilav Răzvan in the cockpit of P.11c No. 318, Călăraşi airfield. summer 1943. (Dan Antoniu coll.) 18
P.24e No. 4, Escadrila 61, Grupul 6 Vânătoare, Bucharest-Otopeni. Upper surfaces: Dark Earth (~FS 30118) and Dark Green. Undersides: Sky Blue. No. 4 was an aircraft from the batch of the five original Polishmade P.24es received in 1939. 34
Hurricane Mk I No. 4, Lt. de rezervă Av. Constantin Bâzu Cantacuzino, Escadrila 53, Grupul 5 Vânătoare, Mamaia airfield, July 1941. Upper surfaces: Dark Green and Dark Earth, under surfaces: fuselage aluminium dope, black right wing and white on the left wing. No. 4 was the aircraft of the future top-ranking ace (69 victories) Constantin Bâzu Cantacuzino in July 1941. His total score for the 1941 campaign was four confirmed victories (SB bombers).this particular plane was the only Romanian Hurricane shot down in air combat. On 12 September 1941, after claiming 2 SB bombers near Gross-Liebenthal, Căpt.Av. Ioan Puiu Roşescu was shot down and killed by I-16 fighters of 69 IAP. The camouflage is RAF type A. Notice the lack of national markings on the rudder. Left: Adj. Stag.Av. (r) Pomuţ Constantin, Escadrila 53 Vânătoare, standing near Hurricane No. 4, Mamaia airfield, summer of 1941. Note the ring gun sight and round mirror, typical details for the Hurricanes in Romanian service. (Emil Georgescu Photo via Dan Antoniu ) Right: Adj. Av. Pomuţ Constantin sitting on the horizontal stabilizer of Hurricane No. 4. Note the lack of national marking on the rudder and the fishing net used for camouflage. (Emil Georgescu Photo via Dan Antoniu ) 51
He 112E No. 4, Slt.Av. Moscu Teodor, Escadrila 51, Grupul 5 Vânătoare, Râmnicul Sărat airfield, June 1941. Grau RLM 02/63 overall. Slt.Av. Moscu Teodor posing near his He 112 No 4 with which he obtained two confirmed victories and one probable victory on the first day of the Bessarabian campaign. (Moscu Photo via Dan Antoniu) On 22 June 1941, Slt.Av. Teodor Moscu flying He 112E No. 4 surprised two Ratas that were just taking-off from Ismail airfield and shot one down. He then saw another I-16, which was coming directly at him, and fired again. The Soviet aircraft was hit and went down in the Danube. With several Soviet aircraft on his tail, Moscu s aircraft was hit. However, he managed to outmanoeuvre them and fire on one of the attackers, before he and his wingman Adj.Av. Pavel Constantin headed for home. His final tally for the day was two confirmed victories and one probable. He 112 No. 4 was painted RLM 63 Grau overall with the engine cowling and fuselage band painted yellow. The spinner was painted 1/3 yellow and 2/3 black. Pluto, the emblem of Grupul 5 Vânătoare was painted under the cockpit on both sides of the fuselage. On 22 June 1941, He 112 No. 4 suffered minor damage in a fierce combat with several I-16s. Slt.Av. Moscu Teodor wearing a black flying suit is leaning on the aircraft. (Moscu Photo via Dan Antoniu). 59
IAR 80M No. 151, Adj.Av. Stana Vasile, Escadrila 46, Grupul 4 Vânătoare, Moldavian Front, August 1944. Upper surfaces: Dark Olive Green. Undersides: Light Grey possibly. Beginning on 29 July 1944, the 2nd Aerial Corps ordered that Grupul 4 Vânătoare be equipped with IAR 80Ms ( M for Mauser) and its strength of 32 aircraft was complemented with aircraft received from 1st and 6th Fighter Groups. Stana s personal emblem, a skull and crossbones, was chalked on the fuselage under the cockpit. In this aircraft, on 10 August 1944, Stana shot down a Soviet Airacobra near Iaşi. Adj.Av. Stana Vasile, Escadrila 46, Grupul 4 Vânătoare, posing for the camera near his IAR 80M No. 151 adorned with his personal emblem, a skull and crossbones. (Răzvan Bujor coll.) 88
Bf 109E-3 No. 14, W.Nr. 2491 Dor De Ducă ( Rearing to go ), Escadrila 57, Grupul 7 Vânătoare, Bucharest-Pipera, summer 1942. Upper surfaces: Dunkelgrün RLM 71. Undersides: Lichtblau RLM 65 On 4 August 1941, Slt. Av. Clopoţel Ovidiu in Emil No. 14 was involved in an aerial battle with 6 Ratas while on patrol with Cpt. Av. Bocşan, alongside Lt. Av. Di Cesare and Adj. Av. Firu, north of Taslik. Clopoţel managed to shoot down one Rata but his oil tank was hit and he force-landed north of Grigoriopol. Dor de Duca was recovered and sent to ASAM-Pipera for repairs. Damaged after a forced landing near Grigoriopol, Bf 109E-3 No. 14 Dor de Ducă was dismantled and loaded on a truck for transport to ASAM Pipera repair shop, summer 1941. (José Fernandez coll.) 118
Bf 109Ga-2 White A, Căpitan Av. (r) Constantin Bâzu Cantacuzino, Escadrila 57, Grupul 7 Vânătoare, May 1944. Upper surfaces: Grauviolett RLM 75. Undersides: Lichtblau RLM 76 The IAR Braşov-assembled machine White A was the personal mount of Cpt. Av. Cantacuzino between April and May 1944. On 15 April 1944, the Romanian Ace claimed one B-24 Liberator and on 28 April 1944 one Soviet Yak fighter. During the month of May, he shot down two Soviet Airacobras and four Yak fighters. Forty-two victory bars were painted in white on the vertical stabilizer with a red star added above each bar. Cantacuzino finished the war with 56 confirmed and 13 probable victories. Cantacuzino proudly poses near the the rudder of his Bf 109Ga-2 White A decorated with the 42 victories gained by spring 1944. (Dan Antoniu coll.) 153
Bf 110D-4 2Z+NW W.Nr. 3711, Lt. Av. Mihail Brâncoveanu, Escadrila 51 Vânătoare de Noapte (12./NJG 6) Ziliştea airfield, August 1943. Upper surfaces Grauviolett RLM 75. Undersides Lichtblau RLM 76. During the night of 10 August 1943, Bf 110D-4 2Z+NW scrambled following reports of waves of enemy aircraft approaching Niş in Yugoslavia. The aircraft was flown by Slt. Av. Mihail Brâncoveanu, a prince from an old family of Romanian rulers and recently married to the daughter of the Spanish ambassador to Bucharest. The crew also included radio-operator Maistru Păun Busuioc and rear-gunner Maistru Dumitru Gologan. Due to the lack of experience with radio-assisted direction finding, they became lost and in the end, they had to land without any fuel near Sinaia. The two technical officers bailed out and parachuted to safety, but the pilot lost his life when the aircraft hit the ground. This particular plane was the only Bf 110D on strength with Escadrila 51. Bf 110F-4 2Z+AW W.Nr. 5084, pilot Lt. Av. Ion Simion and rear-gunner Constantin Octavian, Escadrila 51 Vânătoare (12/ NJG 6), Otopeni airfield, June 1944. Upper surfaces Grauviolett RLM 75. Undersides Lichtblau RLM 76 Painted overall RLM 76 Light Grey with the fuselage band and spinner tips in yellow RLM 04. It is possible that the lower wing tips were also painted yellow RLM 04. This Bf 110F-4 was fitted with FuG 202 Lichtenstein radar. This is the only known picture of a Bf 110 in Romanian service wearing the Michael Cross markings. All other Bf 110s in Romanian service were supposedly wearing German markings. The Romanian Bf 110F-4 night fighters of 12./ NJG6 were mainly used in the defence of Ploieşti against 15th USAAF day attacks with severe loses and no significant outcome. 179