Messerschmitt Bf.110. Part two. The Bf.110 in Romanian hands.

 

Romania acquired twelve Bf.110C-3 during later 1942 which were assigned to Escadrila 51 Vânâtoare de Noapte (Night Fighter Squadron 51), which was later renamed as Escadrila 1. This unit was, for the time, experimental for the Aeronautica Regala Romana (Royal Romanian Air Force - ARR for short) and was created to defend the country against the fore coming Allied night raids. In spring 1944, however, the Bf.100C-3 was gradually replaced by the Bf.110F-4 which was more powerful.
The Escadrila 51 acted integrated within the Luftwaffe ranks and saw plenty of action during the American raids. One of their first actions took place on 1st August 1943 when American B-24 bombers attacked the country and the ARR scrambled many fighters, including the Bf.110Cs of Escadrila 51, to fight them. During this action the Squadron Commander, Cpt. Av. Ghica' Marin claimed one American bomber, however his aircraft was shot down by the B-24's gunners and he couldn't bail out from the burning Bf.110C, where he perished. His rear-gunner managed to bail out. 
Shortly later, on 10th August 1943 Slt. Av. Mihail Brâncoveanu, an aristocrat from an old family of Romanian rulers, who was married to the daughter of the Spanish ambassador to Bucharest, with his radio operator Maistru Paun Busuioc and rear-gunner Maistru Dumitru Gologan scrambled to intercept another formation of American bombers detected over the town of Nis, Yugoslavia, on route to Ploiesti, Romania. However, due to the lack of experience with radio-assisted direction finding, they got lost and eventually ran of out fuel near Sinaia, north-west of Bucharest, both radio-operator and rear-gunner bailed out safely but Brâncoveanu died.
On the 4th April 1944, another raid took place. By this date the Escadrila 51 had already became the Escadrila 1 Vânâtoare de Noapte and was integrated into Luftwaffe's command as 12./Nachtjagdgeschwader 6. That day two Bf.110 belonging to Escadrila 1 took off to intercept American bombers. The Bf.110 bore German markings and too-off from Zilistea airfield, following orders from the German command. One of those two machines, crewed by Adj. Av. Ioan Popescu as pilot and Serg. Georghe Dumitru as radio operator and rear-gunner took fire in the left engine and made a forced landing west of Caracal, south-west of Romania. The other Bf.110C-3 with Slt. Av. Gheorghe Stânciucu and rear-gunner Serg. Gheorghe Drâgan was shot down six kilometres from the village of Rediu, killing both crew members and completely destroying the aircraft.  
The following day, on 5th April another interception attempt took place, also in Zilistea, when one Bf.110C-3 took-off and joined the aerial battle that was taking place west of Ploiesti, but it was shot down too, killing its pilot. 
On 10th June 1944 a formation of 100 Lockheed P-38 Lightining fighters from the USAAF made a low-level attack, so, in order to protect the fighters on the ground, the German command ordered the fighters to be dispersed on various airfields.
During the summer 1944 the Bf.110F had already replaced the Bf.110C and some other interception attempts took place with similar results, as the ARR couldn't cope with the overwhelming aerial superiority of the USAAF.
When Romania signed the armistice on 23rd August 1944 and switched sides, most of the Bf.110 that were still intact were confiscated by the Soviets. However, at least one Bf.110F was kept and was used for liaison purposes, during April 1945 at Trencin, Czechoslovakia. 
There's only one Bf.110F documented to have flown with Romanian markings, this machine, coded as 2Z+AW was flown by Lt. Av. Ion Simion with Constantin Octavian as his rear-gunner and was part of Escadrila 51. It was based at Otopeni airfield, close to Bucharest.

Sources:
1st Mushroom Model Magazine - White Series 9111 - Romanian Fighter colour 1941-1945
2nd https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/info-on-romanian-bf-110-fs-t201430.html
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_110#Operators

Bristol Blenheim, part four. More foreign users

 

The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber designed and manufactured by Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was used during the first half of the Second World War by the Royal Air Force (RAF), but by many foreign users too:

• Poland: Reportedly, No.307 (Polish) Night Fighter Squadron operated two Blenheims. One of the Mk.I variant and another of the Mk.IV variant. 
  Furthermore, one Blenheim ad-hoc converted into VIP transport was used as the personal transport of General Wladislaw Anders, commander of 2nd Polish Corps. As we couldn't find pics of these Blenheims, the drawings should be considered as speculative.
• Portugal: In order to honor their ancient alliance, ensure their neutrality and use their bases in the Azores Islands, the Portuguese Government was provided with various British aircraft. Among them was a bath of 12 Blenheim Mk.IVf in September 1943. These were assigned to Esquadrilha B (Squadron B) of the Aviaçao Naval (Naval Aviation - Portuguese Naval Air Arm) which made for its first land-based unit. They were serialled B-1 to B-12 and were based at Portela de Sacavem, in Lisbon.
  The Aeronáutica Militar (Military Aeronautics) received ten Mk.IV which were assigned to Esquadrilha ZE (Squadron ZE) based at the town of Ota and commandeered by Captain Joao Jose Ribeiro Ferreira, who died on 30th August 1944 when his Blenheim crashed. 
  Three additional Mk.Vs were supplemented later. These Mk.Vs flew also with the Aviaçao Naval, though it's not clear if these were the same that had previously belonged to the Aeronáutica Militar. Anyway, the Blenheims remained in service with Portugal until 1948.
• Romania: The Romanian Government was among the first customers of the Blenheim Mk.I. They received a batch of 34 Blenheim Mk.I between May and November 1939 to equip their bombing and long range reconnaissance squadrons Nos.1,2,3 and 4 of the Fortele Aeriene Regale ale Romaniei (FARR - Royal Romanian Air Force). When Romania joined the Axis in November 1940, spare parts for British-supplied aircraft became a problem, which was somehow eased with the inclusion of three ex-Yugoslavian Blenheim Mk.I and spares in September 1941. 
  The Romanian Blenheims saw action during the Barbarossa Campaign, from 21st June 1941 onwards. During the initial opening stages of that campaign, four Blenheim were lost to Soviet anti-air fire. The Blenheims were used in support of Romanian ground troops during the siege of Odessa in 1941. However, logistic problems for the British-supplied aircraft were being felt this early on in the campaign and in late 1941 the FARR was largely withdrawn to rest. By early 1942, only 13 Blenheim were in active, number which was increased, thanks to the work of FARR's mechanics, to 27 later that year.
  Escadrila 1's (Squadron 1) Blenheims flew recce missions supporting Axis troops in their assault on Stalingrad. This squadron lost four Blenheim during that campaign and then they withdrew to Ciocarlia, in Romania, where they flew their Blenheim covering the northern areas of the Black Sea. The Blenheims in this squadron remained in active until 23rd August 1944, though, by that date they had only six serviceable machines, and one of them was shot down by friendly fire near Ploesti and other was captured by the advancing Soviet forces.
  When Romania switched sides in late August 1944, the three remaining Blenheims were employed for reconnaissance duties. However, they were in such poor condition that they were assigned to transport duties and, eventually, they were withdrawn from active service after an eventful career with the FARR.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bristol_Blenheim_operators#Poland

2. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 26 - Bristol Blenheim

3. Osprey Publishing - Combat Aircraft 5 - Blenheim Squadrons of World War 2

Arado Ar.66

 

The Arado Ar.66 was a German single-engine two-seat training biplane developed during 1933.

Walter Rethel, Arado's chief designer, began its design back in 1931 looking for a new two-seat trainer. However, Rethel was hired by Messerschmitt and Walter Blume had to continue with the project. The first prototype, named Arado Ar.66a flew for the first time in 1932. 

The Ar.66 was powered through all its variants by a single Argus As.10 air-cooled inverted V8 engine which yielded around 240 hp of power and drove a two-bladed propeller. 

The fuselage had an oval cross-section and was entirely made of welded steel-tubes, covered in fabric. The double wings provided very high lift, also at low speeds. Both wings had the same span and were turned 8º backwards. It was made out of a double pine wing spar structure, with lime tree ribs and fabric covering. Both wings were fitted with ailerons and the tail was of conventional design with horizontal stabilizers mounted on the fuselage upper edge. the rudder was placed behind the elevators and both of them were made out of steel tube covered in fabric. These were one of the few changes that were made to the prototype, to make them bigger, since it presented balance problems. The undercarriage was welded to the fuselage in a "V" shape and used high-pressure rubber suspension. 

The crew consisted in two, a pilot and a trainee, seated in open tandem cockpits, equipped with dual controls. The aircraft was equipped with instrument flight systems with photographic cameras mounted as optional equipment.

There were three versions, the Ar.66a which was the first prototype, of which only a single machine was build, the Ar.66b and Ar.66B which was a floatplane variant, of which only 10 machines were completed and the Ar.66C which was the series production with modified elevators, larger rudder and larger-diameter wheels. 

The Ar.66 entered service with the Reichluftfahrtministerium (Reich's Aviation Ministry) in 1933 and then with the Luftwaffe in 1934, serving as a basic and ground-attack trainer well into World War 2. In 1937, a total of six Ar.66Cs were exported to Spain, to serve with the Aviación Nacional (National Aviation) the Air Force of the Nationalist faction of the Spanish Civil War, being that the only export sale of the type.

Since 1942, it was also used as a night-harassment ground-attack aircraft in the Eastern Front, and, in that role it was equipped with a single defensive MG-15 machine gun mounted in the observer's rear position and could carry a small amount of bombs or mines, in a similar manner that the Soviets did with the Polikarpov Po-2.

They saw service, together with the Gotha Go.145, in Nachtschlacthgruppen (Night Harassment Squadrons) 2, 3 and 5 serving in the Eastern Front, Nachtschlachtgruppe 8, in Finland and Nachtschlachtgruppe 12 in the Latvian region. 

During the latest stages of the War, when Romania switched sides, some Ar.66Cs were captured and pushed into service with the Romanian Air Force. Czechoslovakia also captured a bunch of those machines, as the Luftwaffe had set up many flying schools there. They were used as trainers with the newly re-built Czechoslovak Air Force during the postwar years.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_66

2. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_66 (translated)

3. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/other1/ar66.html (translated)

Junkers Ju.52/3m in Romania

 

Note: This is our last post before spring break.

The Junkers Ju.52 is a German cargo and passenger plane from the 1930s which was produced by the thousands and, thanks to its versatility and easiness to pilot, it quickly became the main airplane for many airlines around the world, among them, the subject of this post, Romania.

The first Junkers Ju.52/3m to serve in Romania was a Ju.52/3mba registered as CV-FAI, which was designed as a VIP aircraft for the Romanian Prime Minister. This aircraft was re-registered later as YR-ABF in June 1937 and was used also as a VIP transport for the president of LARES (Liinile Aeriene Române Exploatate de Stat - Romanian State-Operated Airlines, Romania's national airline back in the 1930s). It crashed in Bazargio-Dobruja, near the coast of the Black Sea, on 23rd May 1940 when the country was still neutral. 

It wasn't until November 1941 that the Fortele Aeriene Regale ale Romanei (FARAR - Royal Romanian Air Force) received its first Ju.52/3mg7e. A total of 33 were supplied by Germany and were assigned to the 105th Heavy Transport Squadron. These Junkers flew on many resupply missions to the Romanian troops fighting near Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-1943, losing many of them to Soviet fighters. They also took part in the evacuation of troops from the Crimean Peninsula in early 1944. 

In August 1944, when the country switched sides and fought with the Allies, eleven more were captured from Germany. Some of those were used as ambulance planes.

The Transnitrian Air Section (a Romanian administered semi-autonomous region) operated two Ju.52/3m which were part of their slim air section until January 1944 when the area was taken by the Soviets.

After the War, LARES, which was renamed as TARES (Transporturi Aeriene Romana Sovietica - Soviet-Romanian Air Transport) on 1st February 1946, kept operating the type together with the Fortele Aeriene Ale Republicii Populare Române (Air Force of the People's Republic of Romania) until the early 1960s.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forțele_Aeriene_Regale_ale_României (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAROM

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria_Governorate

5. https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Ju-52/Junkers-Ju-52.html

6.https://www.europeanairlines.no/airline-companies-in-rumania-1918-1945/

7.Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action 186 - Junkers Ju-52 in Action

Messerschmitt Bf.108, part one

The Messerschmitt Bf.108 was a German single-engine sport and touring aircraft that was used for military liaison purposes during the World War 2. It was designed and developed by the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in the 1930s and was exported to many countries:

• Austria: A single Bf.108 was ordered by the Austrian government on 22nd April 1937 and was delivered on 27th July. It was the only Bf.108 to serve with the Austrian Air Force and when Germany annexed Austria, it went back to serve with the Luftwaffe.
• Bulgaria: During the war Bulgaria bought a total of six Bf.108 in 1941. They were assigned to the 1st Courier Squadron but were used mainly for training purposes.
• Independent State of Croatia: The 15.(Kroat)/JG.52 squadron composed by Croatian pilots who fought in the Eastern Front, used some Bf.108 for liaison purposes outside combat zones. The one depicted below was used by four Croatian pilots on 19th September 1942 to fly to Uman, in the USSR, where they were based.
• Hungary: In 1937 the Royal Hungarian Air Force bought a total of seven Bf.108 which were used in a wide range of duties. From liaison, communications and even trainer. They served through the war on the Eastern Front and until the end of the war.
• Romania: The Royal Romanian Air Force had at least one Bf.108 at the beginning of the war. It was assigned to the 11th Courier Squadron which belonged to the 1st Air Corps. During 1943 and 1944 it was still in service.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Bf_108

2. http://www.warbirdalley.com/bf108.htm

3. Wydawnictwo Militaria 149 - Messerschmitt Bf-108 Taifun

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, part six captured MiG-3s

The MiG-3 was captured in great numbers by the Axis countries. Among them, was the Kingdom of Romania, that captured at least two of them. Apparently, they landed at the city of Melitopolm under Romanian hands,  in December 1941 piloted by defecting Ukrainian pilots. It was manned by Captain Cantacuzino (who eventually would become the top Romanian Ace of the war) during early 1942 while he was participating in a ten-day Bf.109E conversion course.
The German Luftwaffe captured much more of them, some sources claim up to 22 of them. As they were regarded as inferior to the Bf.109F some were sent to Rechlin test centre to be tested but most of them were either destroyed or their fate is unknown.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-3
2. Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 54 - Romanian Aces Of WWII

Arado Ar.196 - Foreign Users, part one

We're back in Germany in order to post about this excellent seaplane.
The Arado Ar.196 was a German floatplane that operated with many nations across Europe.
Romania bought two Ar.196 from Germany. They operated from the port of Odessa first and Constanta later, in the Romanian coast. They were under German command, more exactly under the Schirmherrschaft des Aufklarungsführers Schwarzes Meer (Reconnaissance unit in the Black Sea). When Romania switched sides in August 1944, the Soviets confiscated the Romanian Ar.196A and dissasembled them.
Finland employed some of them during the continuation war in order to supply and transport special patrol groups that operated behind enemy lines. Both soldiers and supplies were accommodated inside the fuselage and the airplanes used remote lagoons and lakes for taking-off and landing.
Finally, the USSR received some captured Ar.196A from Bulgaria. They were used by the Border Guards in the inmediate post-war.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arado_Ar_196
2. http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=320

Avia B-534-IV - Various Foreign users

Today we cover the next users for the Avia B-534-IV

• Independent State of Croatia: Apparently the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia received some surplus machines from Germany. Further details are unknown so the drawing should be considered speculative.
• Kingdom of Hungary: One B-534-IV was captured from Slovakia during the Slovak-Hungarian war in March 1939. It was pushed into service as a fighter trainer. Later, in 1941, it was used as a glider tow bearing civilian registrations until it was destroyed during the battle of Budapest in 1945.
• Kingdom of Romania: The Royal Romanian Air Force received some Avia B-534-IV together with the DFS 230 gliders. The Avias were used as glider tows. As the graphical sources for these are inexistant, or at least we couldn't find them, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• USSR: Apparently the NKVD used some captured machines to form a secret squadron. As there isn't graphical evidence on this, it should be considered as speculative.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avia_B-534

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters