Radu Manicatide (April 17, 1912 – March 18, 2004) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n engineer and aircraft constructor. He was born in

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 ...

and grew up 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 ...

, in a house on Luterană Street. In 1926, at age 14, Manicatide built his first plane (the RM-1, a single-seat

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

) in his backyard, and flew with it on the street for a few meters. This was followed in 1927 by the RM-2 glider, which he tested at

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named after t ...

. He obtained a pilot license in 1930. From 1931 to 1937 he earned an engineering degree from the

University Politehnica of Bucharest Politehnica University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Politehnica din București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.École supérieure des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile École supérieure des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile (ESTACA) is a French engineering School, so called "Grande École", created in 1925. ESTACA is an Egineering school that trains engineers in aeronautics & aerospace e ...

(ESTACA), in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

In 1932 he constructed his first plane, the RM-4, with a weight of and a maximum speed of . This was followed in 1935 by the RM-5 plane, with a maximum speed of and the RM-7 plane, with a maximum speed of . In 1939, he started working at

Industria Aeronautică Română Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (now IAR S.A. Brașov) or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer. It is based in Ghimbav, near Brașov, Romania. IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian go ...

(IAR), in

Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...

. There, he contributed to the design of the

IAR 27 The IAR 27 was a 1930s Romanian two-seat low-wing monoplane primary trainer designed and built by Industria Aeronautică Română. Design and development Based on the earlier IAR 21 and in particular the IAR 22 but the design was simplified to all ...

IAR-37 The IAR 37 was a 1930s Romanian reconnaissance or light bomber aircraft built by Industria Aeronautică Română. Development The IAR 37 prototype was flown for the first time in 1937 to meet a requirement for a tactical bombing and reconnaissan ...

, and

IAR-80 The IAR 80 was a Romanian World War II low-wing monoplane, all-metal monocoque fighter and ground-attack aircraft. When it first flew, in 1939, it was comparable to contemporary designs being deployed by the airforces of the most advanced milit ...

aircraft, and in the production under license of the

IAR 79 IAR may refer to: *IAR Systems, an embedded system technology company *The Institute of Asian Research, an institute under the Faculty of Arts in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada *"Ignore all rules", a policy on Wikipedia *I ...

(with

Savoia-Marchetti SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer primarily active during the interwar period. History The original company was founded during 1915 as SIAI (''Società Idrovolanti Alta Italia'' - Seaplane Company of Upper Italy). As suggested ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) and

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

(with

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) fighter aircraft. Manicatide also directed the development of IAR-813, IAR-818H, and

IAR 823 The IAR-823 is a civil and military trainer aircraft built in Romania from 1974 until 1983. It is a conventional low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle undercarriage. The pilot and instructor sit side-by-side, and two more seats can be fitte ...

airplanes. In 1945, he designed the M.R. car. In 2002, he was awarded by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...

the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five r ...

, Knight class. He died in

in 2004 and was buried in the city's

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

References

External links

* 1912 births 2004 deaths People from Iași Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni 20th-century Romanian engineers Romanian aerospace engineers Burials at Bellu Cemetery Knights of the Order of the Star of Romania Aircraft designers {{Romania-engineer-stub