ARR history

After the war, the Romanian airforce was reorganized and took its final name "Aeronautica Regala Romana" ( meaning "The Romanian Royal Aeronautics", abbreviated as ARR ). Its headquarters were based near Bucharest, where the largest facilities ( "The Arsenal of Aeronautics" ) were also situated.

Right as WW1 ended, the ARR managed to buy dozens of Spad XVI fighters from the large reserves of the French army. In January 1921, Gheorghe Negrescu, who had been made responsible for all technical aspects regarding foreign airplanes purchased by the AIR was sent to France to oversee the delivery of some 150 Breguet A2's and Breguet B2's.

These planes were exchanged for oil products worth some 34 million French francs, but in the end only 40 were received as the Romanian currency suddenly dropped and it was no longer equal to the franc. Same story happened with the De Haviland airplanes, as only 4 of the original order of 60 were actually delivered. The Arsenal of Aeronautics also played its part in this effort to enlarge the number of planes available by starting production of Hansa Brandenburg trainers. Many such biplanes were already in service after having been captured by the Romanian army during the 1919 campaign, and the ARR was very satisfied by their qualities, so an order for 20 additional Hansa's was given to the Arsenal. By the 8th of May, 1922, ten planes had already been produced, and over 120 Hansa Brandenburg's would be built until 1924. Most of these planes were powered by captured "Benz-Mercedes" 160 HP and "N.A.G" 220 HP engines.

Romanian pilots in front of a Breguet aircraft

In 1924, the ARR was the largest and by far the most powerful airforce in southeast Europe. Its commanders were keen to maintain this status, so they sent their representatives abroad to see what was available for purchase. They wanted to buy around 150 reconnaissance planes and over 60 new fighters, which were to expand ARR's forces to the equivalent of an air division, divided into air flotillas. But choosing the new type of planes wasn't easy. If pretty much everybody agreed quickly that the French Potez XV was the best choice for reconnaissance, no agreement could be reached on the question of the new fighter. The Siskin-Armstrong fighter, built by the British Armstrong-Siddeley company seemed to be the favorite, but some still expressed doubts, because it was an unproved aircraft, still in prototype stage. After several trips to England, the order for Siskin fighters was canceled as the plane failed to reach its service ceiling of 8000 meters and its top speed of 265 km/h ( only 243 km/h were reached in favorable conditions ). Nevertheless, 75 Siddeley- Jaguar engines rated at 370 HP were bought and used later on by the Romanian SET company for its SET3 and SET7 trainers. Still, the ARR was left without a new fighter, and unfortunately a hasty decision to buy some 50 Fokker D11 fighters from the RAF's war surplus was taken. Although the planes arrived in just a few months, all of them in very good condition, they could hardly be called state of the art. One year later, on the 10th of November, 100 French Spad-61 fighters were ordered instead of the Siskin. They were delivered by the end of 1927, and remained in service until 1932.

1926 was another important year for Romanian aviation as the first civilian airline was established between the capital Bucharest and the town of Galati. A number of 10 De Haviland 9 light bombers were converted into airliners by adding a cockpit for passengers behind the pilot's cockpit. By the end of the year, the decision had paid off handsomely, but it was clear that a dedicated airliner was needed. In 1927, the first large Romanian aircraft factory was completed near Brasov, and the IAR company was established.

The ARR placed an order for 30 Morane-Saulnier MS-35 trainers and 100 Potez XXV light bombers, paving the way for the development of Romanian aircraft industry. Also, 1927 was the birth year of a seaplane group based near Constantza harbor, on the shores of the Black Sea. The group was equipped with Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.55 seaplanes, the same type used by the Italians for a bold raid across the Atlantic. Two years later, the Experimental Squadron was created. It was based on Pipera airfield, near Bucharest and was tasked with testing all new prototypes and equipment. The same year, the airmen were finally equipped with Heineken parachutes ( it was the first type of parachute used by the Romanian pilots and aircrews, though it is strange that balloon observers had been issued with parachutes right from 1916 ).

After all these airplanes were purchased, the ARR was reorganized. Each of the groups stationed at Iasi, Cluj and Galati were transformed in to flotillas, whilst the 2nd Bomber Group, based near Bucharest was transformed into the Combat Aviation Flotilla, made up of a bomber group and a fighter group.

In 1930, it was decided to re-equip the fighter squadrons with new planes. Starting from July 1930, 7 designs entered a competition for this contract but by October all were rejected after no plane had reached the top speed of 300 km/h and the 5000 service ceiling. Gheorghe Negrescu, who was by now chief of the technical service recommended that IAR's IAR CV-11 be purchased, but others insisted to organize a new contest. In the end it came down to three choices : the Fokker D11, the Polish PZL P-11 and the IAR CV-11. Finally, the PZL P-11 was declared winner in early 1931, thanks to its superior maneuverability and marginal speed advantage. It seems that before the final contest there were some suspicious meetings between high-ranking Romanian officials and PZL represetatives, but nothing could be proven.

On the 5th of May 1932, the new "Law regarding the organization of the Romanian Aeronautics" was enforced. The "General Inspectorate of Aeronautics" was replaced by the "Undersecretary of Air", which was tasked with handling all matters concerning civil and military aviation, as well as the AA artillery. Engineer Radu Irimescu, former pilot and commander of a Farman squadron during WW1 was the first head of the "Undersecretary of Air".

The first indigenous plane to used by the ARR was the IAR-14 fighter-trainer. It entered service in 1934, as a kind of apology to the IAR for not having chosen their fighter in 1931, but it was nevertheless a start. 1935 was the year of big raids overseas and world records for the ARR. On the 3rd of January, warrant officer Ivanovici and woman aviator Irina Burnaia flew to Capetown with an IAR-22 aircraft powered by a 130 HP De Havilland Gipsy engine.

Three months later, on the 14th of April, three ICAR "Universal" planes powered by the same engine flew also to Capetown. They arrived there after ten days and returned home to a hero's welcome on the 25th of May, having flown more than 24000 km.

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