Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Responsive image


Romanian Air Corps

Romanian Air Corps
Corpul de Aviație
Active1 April 1913 – 23 August 1915 as Serviciul de Aeronautică Militară
23 August 1915 – 1 January 1924
Country Kingdom of Romania
BranchRomanian Army
TypeAir corps
RoleAerial warfare
EngagementsSecond Balkan War
First World War
Hungarian–Romanian War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Constantin Găvănescu[a] – first commander (1915–1916); see also Air commanders of World War I § Romania
Aircraft flown
List of aircraft of the Romanian Air Force § Beginnings & World War I

The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) (Romanian: Corpul de Aviație) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service (Serviciul de Aeronautică Militară)[2] and subordinated to the Engineer Inspectorate, being organized in two branches – the aviation and the balloon branch. On 23 August 1915, the RAC was formed as an independent military arm and operated until 1 January 1924 when it became an equal to the Army and Navy, being redesignated as the Royal Romanian Air Force (Aeronautica Regală Română).[3][4]

In 1913, the newly established Military Aeronautics Service participated in the Second Balkan War. Being organized in two sections, the Aeronautics Service carried out reconnaissance, liaison and leaflet dropping missions over Bulgaria.

In 1915, the Air Corps gained independence from the Engineer Inspectorate. When Romania entered the First World War on the Allied side in 1916, the RAC was organized into 4 squadron groups, each assigned to an army, and 4 balloon sections. Limited by the few aircraft the Corps had available, the Romanian airmen carried out mainly aerial reconnaissance and photography missions, though bombing missions with Romanian-made bombs were also executed. At the end of 1916, the RAC was reorganized with the help of the French Military Mission. After the reorganization, it had 3 Aeronautical Groups, each assigned to a Romanian or Russian army, and 5 balloon companies.

  1. ^ "Galeria comandantilor". RoAF (in Romanian).
  2. ^ "Începuturi". RoAF (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 5 June 2009.
  3. ^ Mihail Orzeață; Valeriu Avram (2018). "Romanian Aviation in the First World War" (PDF). Romanian Military Thinking (3/2018): 206–231. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Istoric". RoAF (in Romanian).


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).


Previous Page Next Page






Rumänisches Fliegerkorps German

Responsive image

Responsive image