Extra300L CRASH

Today, the Romanian Air Club lost one of its greatest pilots, together with one of the 6 best aircraft in the world, as the nomber 6 Extra300L flown by world acrobatic champion Gheorghe Militaru CRASHED soon after take-off in the South Eastern part of Germany.

Born in the 13th of july 1958 in the village of Ceptura, district of Prahova, Gheorghe Militaru (known to his friends as "Gica") dedicated his entire life to aviation.
He begun 20 years ago in the Aurel Vlaicu Aviation School at Buzau, which he graduated in 1982. Because of his huge love and passion for acrobatics, he joined the Sports Aviation as an option to Air Force or Navy Aviation.
In 1984 he becomes a flight instructor on the Gheorghe Banciulescu Airfield located at Strejnic-Ploiesti.
An excellent acrobatics pilot, Gheorghe Militaru becomes in 1986 a member of the Romanian National Acrobatical Team. He flies his wings in various competitions, naming just a few of them: 1988-Vilnius, 1989-Trebova, as well as in the World Championships in Switzerland (1990) and France (1992).
In 1994 and 1995 he gets the title of National Acrobatical Champion, raising the name of the airfield in his native Prahova district in the eyes of other Romanian airfields.
Thanks to his skills, dedication and history, he becomes Commander of the Gheorghe Banciulescu airfield in 1996. After that there were an endless multi-douzens of series of participations in world championships and air shows, most of them won (where that was the case) and certainly in all of them getting the admiration of everybody on the ground.
Gheorghe Militaru had over 3600 hrs at the time of his death, he was the instructor of several hundreds of pilots and he had just passed the exams of the Romanian Aviation Academy (ARA) at Bucuresti-Baneasa. He was suposed to pick-up his license this March the 2nd, thing which never got to happen...
In the 24th of february 2000, in the German mountain hoods, far away from home, his Extra300L crashed due to engine and technical failure, and so he left his dear family members, Mirela and Andreea, together with all his fellow instructors and all the pilots he ever initiated.
He was burried in the Cemetery of Heroes, Ploiesti, in the 5th of March 2000. His funnerary column measuring well-over 100 cars and several buses full of people, and an aditional over 700 people waiting in the Cathedral which proved to be too small for such a huge crowd.
And so, one of the many pilots that got for the Romanian Air Club, the Romanian Air Force, the Romanian Aviation world and the Romanian nation the title of "Best Pilots In The World", passed away...
May he rest in peace !

©2000 Sorin A Crâsmarelu

24th of February 2000