Arsenalul Aeronautic ("Aeronautical Arsenal" in English) in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

was the first factory with an aeronautical profile in Romania. Its activity took place between 1919 and 1939. ''Arsenalul Aeronautic'' manufactured three models of aircraft:

Hansa-Brandenburg C.I The Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, also known as Type LDD, was a 2-seater armed single-engine reconnaissance biplane designed by Ernst Heinkel, who worked at that time for the parent company in Germany. The C.I had similarities with the earlier B.I (Typ ...

Proto 1 Proto 1 was a training biplane designed by Major :ro:Ștefan Protopopescu, Ștefan Protopopescu in collaboration with Dumitru Baziliu and Gheorghe Ticău at Arsenalul Aeronautic in Bucharest in 1922. It was the first Romanian airplane to be built ...

and Aeron and modified

De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

aircraft for passenger and freight transport (aircraft intended for domestic airlines). Also, at the Aeronautical Arsenal, research in the field of study and testing of materials was organized.

History

In November 1919, an aeronautical factory was created in

on the field of

Cotroceni Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5. The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor, Academia Militară, and Politehnica. History The Hill of Cotroceni was once covered ...

, as a result of the transfer of the material and the majority of the personnel of the ''

Rezerva generală a aviației Rezerva generală a aviației (RGA) or the General Aviation Reserve in English was a Romanian aircraft factory founded during the First World War. It operated between 1916 and 1919 in Iași. After the war it was transferred to Bucharest and rename ...

'' (General Aviation Reserve or RGA) from

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. On 1 July 1920, the factory was renamed to the Aeronautical Arsenal. In the beginning, the activity was to repair different types of airplanes and aircraft engines from the endowment of the Romanian military aviation, but after only two years the factory started to build airplanes. The activities specific to the aeronautical industry (repairs, design, manufacture and research) lasted until June 1939, when ''Arsenalul Aeronautic'' became part of the Administration of aeronautical and naval establishments.

Manufactured aircraft

Hansa-Brandenburg C.I

No 58, one of the last surviving Hansa-Brandenburgs

was the first mass-produced aircraft at the Aeronautical Arsenal, starting in 1922. Between 1922 and 1923, 120 aircraft were built. It was a two-seater reconnaissance and observation aircraft and was equipped with the Austro-Daimler 160 hp engine. Until 8 May 1922, 10 units were built, on the fuselage of which was written "''Construit în România''" ("Made in Romania"). 72 aircraft were built and delivered by the end of 1922.

Proto 1

was produced at the Aeronautical Arsenal two years after its establishment, in 1922. It was a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

used as a school and training aircraft, designed by Major

Ștefan Protopopescu Ștefan Protopopescu (14 January 1886 – 10 October 1929) was a Romanian officer and aviation pioneer, he held the no. 1 pilot license in Romania, being the first licensed pilot in Romania and the first pilot of the Romanian Army. Military care ...

in collaboration with engineers Dumitru Baziliu and Gheorghe Ticău. The first experimental flights were performed by Protopopescu himself. The qualities of the aircraft led the Ministry of War to order a series of 25 aircraft of this type from the ''

Fabrica de avioane Astra The Astra Aircraft Factory ( ro, Fabrica de avioane Astra) in Arad was the second Romanian factory to build aircraft. Its activity took place between 1923 and 1925, producing four models of aircraft: '' Astra-Șeșefschi'', Proto 1, Proto 2 and ...

'' in Arad. After the accident of Ioan Sava Câmpineanu in 1924, production of Proto 1 aircraft was stopped, the airplanes were improved and delivered by the ''Fabrica de avioane Astra'' under the name of

Proto 2 Proto 2 is the name of the $55 million initiative of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to create a thought-controlled prosthetic arm. Its predecessor was called Proto 1 and was capable of reasonably complicated movements like ...

Aeron

Aeron was a

sesquiplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

built in 1934, in two variants. The first prototype had a Cirrus 105 hp engine, while the second had a Salmson 120 hp engine. The airplane was designed and built by Lieutenant-Commander Petre Macavei, Captain Cristea Constantinescu, Captain Constantin Istrate and Lieutenant Simion Stănculescu. The novelty brought by this model was that the uneven wings were placed with the lower plane offset from the upper one, there were no struts between the wings. The Aeron was also flown by French pilot Lepreux, who was greatly satisfied with the behavior of the airplane. Despite its promising features, the aircraft was not mass-produced.

Specifications (Salmson engine prototype)

Other projects

''De Havilland'' modified

The Aeronautical Arsenal also undertook a project to modify the fuselage of De Havilland bombers in order to convert them into aircraft for the transport of passengers or for the transport of goods. These modified De Havilland aircraft were intended for domestic airlines established in Romania. A total of 10 De Havillands were modified, with 6 at the Aeronautical Arsenal and 4 at

SET Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

Research

The first laboratory in Romania for the study and testing of materials was set up at the Aeronautical Arsenal. This laboratory was run by Captain

Ion Gudju Ion Gudju (14 July 1897 – 1988) was a Romanian chess master. Gudju represented Romania in 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad at Paris, where he became one of 15 founders of ''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'' ( FIDE). He played thrice in Ch ...

. In 1923, the installation and the process of manufacturing Emaillite, a

varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...

used for covering the canvas of airplanes, were designed by engineer Gheorghe Ionescu.

Repairs

The Aeronautical Arsenal also repaired various aircraft (captured

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

s and

Potez XV The Potez XV (also erroneously written Potez 15) was a French single-engine, two-seat observation biplane designed as a private venture by Louis Coroller and built by Potez and under licence in Poland. Design and development The aircraft was de ...

SPAD XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...

s, etc.) and engines (

Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austro-Hungarian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. Early history In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The com ...

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

etc.).

References

Aerospace companies of Romania Aircraft manufacturers of Romania Romanian brands Defence companies of Romania {{Romanian aerospace industry, state = expanded