Romania fathered the modern aeroplane, created the first propellerless powered aeroplane, contributed a major theory to aerodynamics – and even had a flying queen. We look at some exciting flying machines made by a maverick nation that always did things in its own distinctive way.
10. IAR 317 Airfox
You’ve heard of Airwolf, now get ready for…Airfox! Romania was a rare bird in the Warsaw Pact, licence-producing a number of Western aircraft types, notably the Aerospatiale SA 316 Alouette III (as the IAR 316) and the SA 330 Puma (as the IAR 330). Weirdly, they tried to turn both of these into attack helicopters, only one of which was successful – and that wasn’t the Alouette.
What it did have was an extremely cool name and a real can-do attitude and that counts for a hell of a lot as far as Hush Kit is concerned. IAR made a single prototype IAR 317 Airfox, a diminutive helicopter that looked a fair bit more anaemic compared to its originator, with a totally redesigned fuselage that brought a crew of two into a tandem configuration – you know, like a real attack helicopter.
It was offered at the 1985 Paris Air Show as capable of carrying machine gun pods, rockets and – get this – even iron bombs. Truly, it was the Little Gunship That Could. Sadly, however, it couldn’t – and the sole example remains preserved at the National Museum of Romanian Aviation in Bucharest.
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9. I.A.R.13/14 (1933)
By all accounts excellent, the I.A.R.13 was essentially a souped-up I.A.R.-12, with 50 greater horsepower and a top speed of 205mph (23mph faster). It was spurned by the Romanian Aeronautica Militaria in favour of the gull-winged Polish PZL P.11, but the ’13 was by no means shabby.
IAR toyed with making an effective low-wing monoplane fighter for a few years in the early thirties and several different prototypes were built but only one actually entered production, the IAR 14, of which 20 were built. Its high-speed aesthetics weren’t entirely born out by its performance as it could only manage 183mph flat out which was fairly respectable for the era, and fine if your major fear is war with, say, Bulgaria but is a bit on the modest side compared with the Hawker Fury or Polikarpov I1-16. Only twenty were built, for the Royal Romanian Air Force. Its advantage over the faster ’13 was its use of a licence-built Lorraine 12.Eb (as used on the earlier 12) over the foreign Hispano-Suiza S M12C. The 14 was the first Romanian fighter to enter production and laid the foundations for I.A.R.’s impressive future achievements.
8. Type 1910 (probably never flown)
The rest of the world – with some freakish exceptions – had to wait for rockets and jets for propeller-less aeroplanes, but Henri Coandă did it in 1910! Power came from a unique propulsion system that used a piston engine to compress and heat air and to push it out of the back. Henri claimed to have thrown the 1910 but other than his personal account there seems little to support this claim.
Describing it as the first jet aircraft would be hyperbole but it was an early example of thinking beyond the propeller. Henri Marie Coandă (7 June 1886 – 25 November 1972) was an inventor, and aerodynamics pioneer, and discovered the Coandă effect of fluid dynamics. This explains how a fluid which flows close to a convex surface will be deflected. The Coanda effect has been exploited to generate high lift for STOL aircraft, the NOTOR for helicopters and even high-speed flying saucer concepts explored in Canada and the US. Coandă worked in the UK to design aircraft, including the Bristol T.B.8 and Bristol Coanda Monoplanes.
7. I.A.R.16 (1934)
From 1930 to 1937 Elie Carafoli worked at Industria Aeronautică Română in Braşov. Carafoli designed the IAR 14 and 15, and later initiated the IAR 80 fighter aircraft, at the bequest of Prime Minister Armand Călinescu. His handsome I.A.R.16 was a vital stepping stone to the I.A.R. 80 despite the gap of several years between them.
6. I.A.R.93 Vultur (1974)
“The saddest country I went to was Romania, years ago, during Ceausescu’s rule.”
- Christopher Lee
As has been previously stated on this website, the SOKO J-22 Orao is the most interesting and appealing aircraft in the world – it’s just a simple fact. While this fascinating ground attack jet is well-known(ish) in its Yugoslavian and Serbian guise, it’s less known that it was developed in tandem with Romania. Both countries had a need to replace various obsolete aircraft in their inventories but by the 1970s neither could afford to pursue a complex military aircraft alone, and the prospect of a domestically designed and produced type was politically appealing on both sides of the border at a time when Tito and Ceaucescu were trying to move away from the Soviet Union.
Romania set up the company Avioane Craiova to take part in the joint project and though there were some difficulties in development, both the J-22 and, as it was known in Romanian use, the IAR-93 Vultur had their maiden flights simultaneously on 31 October 1974. Although it had been intended from the start to be a supersonic design, troubles with afterburners meant it never broke that particular barrier but this rugged Balkan equivalent of the Jaguar could operate from austere or dirt strips and carry a potent range of weaponry. The aircraft operated by the two countries barely differed, with various upgrades made by each country over the years.
In Romanian service the Vultur led an uneventful life, leaving production in 1992 and eventually being retired in 1998 having seen no conflict in its life. Fortunately, multiple aircraft have been preserved in Romania at various museums and other locations and it continues to live on in our hearts (and Serbia).
5. I.A.R. 95
The IAR-95 was a late 70s attempt by Romania to create a light fighter in the same class as the F-16. Romania’s ‘maverick’ international status meant it need not look to the Soviet Union for all fighter needs. Success with the more modest IAR-93 made it clear, the nation had the experience to create its own high-performance combat aircraft (albeit with a Soviet or British engine and multiple international systems). Its aerodynamic configuration was tested in detail at the Mach 3.5 wind tunnel at INCAS. If you overlay a blueprint of the Chinese/Pakistani JF-17 light fighter with the same of the cancelled Romanian IAR-95 you will notice a great deal of similarities. So did the IAR-95 influence the JF-17, let’s take a quick look at the possible secondary parents of Pakistan’s flexible fighter.
Grumman help
The official story is that the design started as a MiG-21 (or F-7) derivative, and with some input from the US company Grumman in the 1980s, evolved into a rather different design. The wing and tail sweep grew progressively less pronounced as it evolved, it lost its MiG-21esque tail and the wing became more F-16 like – though with a tip of far smaller tip chord. It appears that during the latter stages of Grumman cooperation, it did have the LERX but not the inner tail flowing form reminiscent of the F-16 and this came later (though Grumman was very interested in aft body shaping as can be seen on the control surfaces of the contemporary X-29). With the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, US relations with China soured and the Grumman collaboration ended.
Northrop F-20 Tigershark
There is not too much that links these designs as far as can be seen beyond a similar role as a multi-role single-engined fighter and the use of LERX. The rear fuselage and height of the wings on the fuselage appear very different.
MiG product 33
Izdeliye 33 was an early 1980s study of light single-engined fighter with export in mind, which would benefit from experience with the MiG-29. This project did not last long and is very different from the JF-17 in wing and tail planform, and more distinctly, engine placement. It is hard to see any 33 ‘DNA’ in the external configuration of the JF-17. The cockpit section is far higher and further forward on the ’33. The wedge intake in the chin is quite unlike the JF-17 as is the beaky nose and long shallow LERX, the dog tooth of the horizontal tail and the presence of ventral fins. Any influence on the JF-17 seems unlikely unless more related to the systems supporting a single RD-33 derivative (though the RD-93 of the JF-17 is notably different, including the gearbox position).
Anti-Asian prejudice?
It would be easy to accuse modern Western observers of the same underestimation of Asian design skills that led to the Mitsubishi Zero’s dominance of US fighters in the early 1940s, but this is not fair in the context of modern Chinese development. With the Communist distaste for proprietary design, the Chinese state has indeed copied (in the case of Flankers for one) foreign designs, and in the cases of other aircraft (the J-20) likely benefitted from espionage. It has also pragmatically looked at the design solutions of other nations, as do all aircraft manufacturers.
Is similarity skin deep?
Given the same requirement, it is not unlikely that two design bureaus will create a similar design – though historically this is often not the case. The YA-10/YA-9, YF-22/YF-23, X-32/X-35 as well as the MiG 1.42/ Sukhoi S-37 Berkut are all examples of how the same brief can result in very different solutions, one reason being the ones issuing the requirement are likely to encourage different solutions.
The ‘packaging’ or fitment of systems within an aircraft is a big deal. In establishing the degree one aircraft is influenced by another design we would do well to look at the structure, fuel tank and undercarriage placement.
So?
The similarities between the IAR-95 are striking, with many of the angles and mold lines identical, but this is not conclusive proof of the Romanian influence. A detailed look at the individuals involved and timeline of Romanian-Chinese relations, as well independent Chinese research would be needed to know for sure. What is clear is that considering China’s ‘waste-not-want-not’ attitude to existing research it would be unlikely to ignore the offer of a windfall of mature studies likely at a bargain price. Another question that needs answering – is the layout as important as a modern FCS anyway?
4. IAR-80/81 (1939)
Aircraft that are made out of bits of other aircraft have a mixed record. The awesome might of the US aircraft industry notably failed in its attempts to Flight Of The Phoenix-up a long-range escort fighter out of Curtiss and Douglas leftovers in 1944 – the Fisher Eagle was a turkey. All the more surprising, then, that a tiny Eastern European country with an even tinier aircraft industry created a modern, competitive fighter from chunks of obsolete aircraft and the second-rate equipment its Nazi ally deigned to pass on. It also happened to be one of the best-looking piston-engined fighters of all time – the IAR 80/81.
Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) was set up in 1925 with the support of the Romanian government, fed up with relying on foreign countries for aircraft. Between its establishment and the beginning of WW2, the company had largely failed to change those circumstances. Despite multiple attempts to develop frontline combat aircraft for the Aeronautica RegalăRomână (Royal Romanian Air Force – ARR), the company’s products were consistently beaten in competitions by aircraft from overseas. To add insult to injury, IAR was sometimes required to build these types under licence. This happened with the Polish PZL P.11 in 1930, and while at the time of the P.11’s launch it was arguably the most modern fighter in the world, the pace of advance meant it would not stay that way for long.
The indigenous IAR-14 fighter was thrown an order for 20 aircraft as an advanced trainer in 1933, but a couple of years later the ARR once again went to Poland for combat aircraft, buying the PZL P.24, a moderately updated P.11. Designer Ion Grosu began looking more closely at the Polish aircraft, which once again IAR was contracted to build. He was convinced that AIR’s preferred low-wing cantilever layout was superior to the PZL’s high-set gull-wing, but studied where else PZL may have got it right. Though its high, strut-braced wing and fixed undercarriage was dated by late 1930s standards, theP.24 was structurally pretty modern, with semi-monocoque fuselage, enclosed cockpit and clean, duralumin skinning. It was powered by a French Gnome-Rhône 14K radial engine of 850hp rather than the inline engines IAR had favoured previously, packaged in a snug-fitting NACA cowling.
Grosu was not above stealing, and in 1937 penned a new fighter with the rear fuselage and engine assembly of the P.24 lifted almost wholesale. He mated this to a new forward fuselage and wing in a layout considerably more modern than that of the PZL, with a low-mounted cantilever wing using an American NACA aerofoil, and retractable undercarriage. The prototype progressed slowly, IAR’s production work taking priority, but was ready for flight in April 1939. Despite having the same engine as the P.24, not to mention large sections of airframe, the IAR-80 prototype was 60mph faster.
Circumstances largely beyond Romania’s control shifted the country’s inclination from the Western Allies towards Nazi Germany. Once again it looked as though IAR’s efforts would be for nothing, as Germany looked to offload Heinkel’s He112 fighter onto its allies after the Luftwaffe decided to favour the Messerschmitt Bf109. But when the ARR tested the He112 against the IAR-80 in the summer of 1939, the domestic fighter was found to be superior in every way. The previous pattern was reversed, with ARR ordering 100 IAR-80s compared with a paltry 30 Heinkels. Thanks to the airframe being based on the PZL, it could be brought into production quickly.
The production IAR-80 was capable of a whisker over 300mph, less than some other fighters entering service in the late 1930s, and about 10mph slower than the prototype thanks to the weight of service equipment. It was manoeuvrable, climbed well, and was competitive in air combat with modern fighters like the Bf 109E, the Hawker Hurricane Mk I and Fiat G50. Its initial armament of two rifle-calibre guns was too light but this was later improved to 13.2mm FN guns produced in occupied Belgium, and later still, Ikaria 20mm cannon. A notable development was the addition of a blown canopy similar to that used on high-back Spitfires, introduced to improve visibility around the long nose.
Romania entered the war when Germany invaded the USSR, and the IAR-80 went into action. It was effective against Soviet aircraft, though the harsh conditions took their toll, particularly on the somewhat fragile engines. IAR developed improved A, B and C variants with more powerful engines, better equipment and heavier armament, as well as the IAR-81 which was developed as a dive-bomber with a swinging bomb crutch, but ended up chiefly used as a fighter thanks to Germany belatedly supplying Ju87s. In 1943, the type began to face US aircraft, as attacks by long range bombers meant the IAR-80/81 squadrons had to be pulled back for home defence. These operations culminated in the attacks on oil facilities at Ploești which began in August 1943 and continued into 1944. The IARs shot down a number of B-24 Liberators and even some P-38 Lightnings, which proved no match for the nimble IARs ‘on the deck.’
Eventually, though, the increasing number of US and Soviet aircraft over Romania overwhelmed the Romanian Air Force, and the IAR-80, its numbers dwindling and its competitiveness failing, was withdrawn from frontline use in July 1944. No example survives, as all were believed scrapped, though some survived as late as the mid-50s in the training role. A couple of replicas have been built, and a project is underway in Romania to build a flying reproduction incorporating some original parts – http://www.iar80.org/.
For an aircraft built in small numbers – 450 of all models – and serving a little-known air force, the IAR-80 seems to excite enthusiasts out of all proportion to its importance to the course of the war, though it was pretty important to Romania. No doubt part of that is down to the ingenuity of the construction, taking the best bits of the obsolete PZL and creating a fighter that held its own for most of WW2. However, the majority of the appeal is certainly down to the aircraft’s looks. The combination of the long nose, svelte but pugnacious lines, and blown canopy, make the IAR-80 look years ahead of its time, with hints of F4U Corsair and Fw 190D. Considering it was a ‘bitza’ created by a minuscule aircraft industry, the IAR-80 knocked it out of the park.
- Matthew Willis, author of these books and contributed to The Hush-Kit Book of Warplanes series
3. I.A.R. 79 (1937)
Needing a modern monoplane bomber in 1937 the Romanian Air Force turned to the good people at Savoia Marchetti and their SM.79. Rather than the usual three 861hp Alfa 128 engines however, these were fitted with two 900hp IAR K14s in the wing positions. The nose position now being filled with a glazed bombardier’s position making the aircraft around 60cm longer. Those of you familiar with basic maths will have realised 2x900hp is less than 3x861hp, for those unfamiliar it’s about 780hp less and unsurprisingly the SM.79B suffered slightly in the performance department. They were in fact over 100km/h slower than the tri-motor SM.79s.
Despite this, the 22, of 24, aircraft that made it to Romania were appreciated by the crews of the 1st Bomber Group. Because of it a follow-on order replaced the K14s with licence-built Jumo 211Da engines providing a more useful 1200hp and upping the top speed to a more respectable 405km/h. Although the first eight examples were produced by Savoia Marchetti in Italy a further 36 were built at the IAR factory in Brasov as the JRS 79, for Jumo Roman S 79 to distinguish them from the Italian-built JIS 79s.
Starting the war on the wrong side, the 1st Bomber Group’s SM.79s were involved in Operation Barbarossa with the first example being lost on day one, although they were at least beaten to the title of First Romanian Aircraft Lost in WW2 by a Bristol Blenheim. By July 1941 at least one squadron had replaced its SM.79s with the more powerful JRS 79s, just in time to take part in the Battle of Odessa. The JRS 79s would take over from the earlier model on the front line through late 1941 into 1942 with the last action for the type on the Eastern Front being in support of Romanian Forces around Stalingrad.
As the war turned against the Axis a further batch of 36 JRS 79s were ordered with the improved Jumo 211F delivering 1320hp increasing the top speed to around 440km/h. After these had failed to repeal the Soviet assault on Romania the country wisely swapped sides and the 1st Bomber Group would use them against German and Hungarian forces from October 1944 until the end of the war. The surviving aircraft would continue in service post-war until replaced by Soviet types.
- A Vlaicu I
Traian Vuia invented the modern aeroplane, whereas the Wright Brothers made a weird pusher biplane that required rails (and initially a headwind) to take-off. Vuia created a wheeled tractor monoplane, the very first. This machine took an unsustained hop in 1906. Vuia’s longest flight in 1906 was 24 metres, the Wright Brothers’ first flight had been 36 metres. This was an impressive achievement, even if it does look like a Lilienthal-glider tied to a pram.
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HK
Looks like you lost your Vlaicu along the way 🙂