Constantin Wladimir Rozanoff, also known as Kostia Rozanoff, (russian: Розанов, Константин Владимирович; 23 August 1905 – 3 April 1954 was a French

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

, a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

, and one of the pioneers of

jet aviation Jet Aviation is a Basel-based provider of business aviation services. Founded in Switzerland in 1967, it provides aircraft sales, Aircraft maintenance, maintenance, and Air charter, charters using its fleet of more than 200 aircraft. Since 2008, J ...

. He was the chief pilot at

Dassault Aviation Dassault Aviation SA () is a French Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturer of military aircraft and business jets. It was founded in 1929 by Marcel Dassault, Marcel Bloch as Société des Avions Marcel Bloch or "MB". After World War II, Marc ...

. He flew 201 types of planes and helicopters while logging 5,000 flying hours, including 3,865 combat hours. He also broke the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

104 times.

Early life

Constantin Rozanoff was born to a Russian family in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. He and his mother

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to France in 1917 because of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

and, in 1927, obtained French citizenship. Rozanoff entered the engineering school

École Centrale Paris École Centrale Paris (ECP; also known as École Centrale or Centrale) was a French grande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official name ''École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures''. In 2015, École Centrale Paris mer ...

, where he graduated in 1928. Called into military service the same year, he completed his service with the 34th Aviation Regiment of observation at

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris. The commune features Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hos ...

as a reserve officer in the commune of

Avord Avord () is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Geography A farming area comprising the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of the river Yèvre, some east of Bourges at the junction of ...

. He attended the SUPAERO National Aircraft School (''L'École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace'') in 1933, and after completing studies he became a licensed pilot. In 1935 he became a pilot with the Center of Aeronautics in Villacoublay (Centre d'Essais des Matériels Aéronautiques - CEMA) and took part in flight testing of the

Morane-Saulnier MS.406 Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...

Dewoitine D.520 The Dewoitine D.520 was a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940, shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. The D.520 was designed in response to a 1936 requirement from the French Air Force for a fast, modern fi ...

and Bloch MB.152. In October 1937, Rozanoff was almost killed when losing control of a

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

while testing its spin characteristics. He could not recover the plane from its spin in time to avoid a crash, but he ejected from the aircraft successfully.

War Service

In February 1940 Rozanoff became second in command of Groupe de chasse GC II/4 and flew operations in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. In May 1940 he shot down two

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

fighter planes while flying a

Curtiss P-36 The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, is an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation ...

.
After the

Nazi occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

began in 1942, he travelled to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

where he participated in operations with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, and on convoy operations over the Mediterranean flying the

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

(with onboard sign «MadKot»). He commanded GC 2/5 («Lafayette») and GC 2/3 («Dauphiné»). In December 1943 Rozanoff immigrated to Great Britain where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and attended additional test pilot courses, including one at the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...

. During this time, Rozanoff flew the first

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

jet, the ( Gloster G-41) and then participated in testing the

P-59 Airacomet The Bell P-59 Airacomet was a single-seat, twin jet-engine fighter aircraft that was designed and built by Bell Aircraft during World War II, the first produced in the United States. As the British were further along in jet engine developme ...

and

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first Jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed in 1943 and del ...

in the United States.

Postwar

In December 1945, Rozanoff returned from the US as a Colonel. He served at Airbase 118 in

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a commune and capital of the Landes department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Military installations The French Air and Space Force operates the ''Constantin Rozan ...

, which was later named after him. He was

demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

in October 1946 and headed the Test Division of the Dassault Aviation (as chief pilot). Colonel Rozanoff became the chief test pilot flying the MD-450 Ouragan and participated in testing military transport planes such as the

Dassault MD.315 Flamant The Dassault MD 315 Flamant is a French light twin-engined transport airplane built shortly after World War II by Dassault Aviation for the French Air Force. Design and development Design work on a twin-engined light transport started in 1946 ...

, and the fighter-bomber Mystère (I-IV). Rozanoff became the first Frenchman to break the sound barrier in level flight, on 24 February 1954, with the Mystère IV B. In 1954 Constantin Rozanoff published his

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

- ''Double Bang - Ma Vie de Pilote d'Essai''. Colonel Rozanoff was killed in a crash of a Mystère IV B during a public low-level flight over the

Melun Villaroche Aerodrome Melun Villaroche Aerodrome (french: Aérodrome de Melun Villaroche) is an aerodrome located north of Melun, a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The airport is located east-southeast ...

He was buried in the

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Passy) is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), ...

.Tombe Kostia Rozanoff - Aérosteles: Lieux de mémoire aéronautique
/ref> He was awarded the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

and the cross of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

External links

Groupe de Chasse II/4

Historique de la Base aérienne 118 de Mont de Marsan

Constantin Rozanoff, «Kostia», pilote de chasse - Aerostories

Rozanoff Constantin, «Kostia» - Ciel De Gloire
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rozanoff, Constantin 1905 births 1954 deaths French aviators French test pilots French World War II flying aces French World War II pilots Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Naturalized citizens of France Polish emigrants to France People from Warsaw Governorate Burials at Passy Cemetery