Fortele Aeriene Romane – Romanian Air Force

Introduction

Relatively little is known about the interesting history of the Romanian Air Force or Fortele Aeriene Romane (FAR) as it is called since the dramatic events that took place in December 1989. Despite the fall of the dictatorial regime of Nicolae Ceausescu in that year, little more about the history of the Romanian Air Force was revealed throughout the 1990s. Things have changed somewhat for the better over the past few years and it is now time to put the spotlight on this very interesting Air Force that recently joined NATO. Being aware that many more details are still unknown today we hope that this article helps in more information becoming public in the future.

History Military aviation history in Romania started as long ago as 1893 when the first military aviation unit was formed equipped with observation balloons. In 1910 Aurel Vlaicu constructed his own aircraft and taught himself how to fly the aircraft. Aurel Vlaicu took to the air for the first time on 17 June 1910 and this date is still celebrated today as the birthday of Romanian aviation. Pioneers like Aurel Vlaicu and others like Henri Coanda who in 1910 built the very first jet aircraft in the world, the Coanda-1910, are still being honoured today. On 1

April 1913 the predecessor of the Romanian Air Force was formed being only the fifth nation in the

world to use aircraft in combat during the Balkans War in 1913. During the First World War the Corpul Aerian Roman – Romanian Air Corps, which was formed in 1915, successfully fought the German Air Force before the country was occupied by German-Austrian forces. Sovereignty was regained in 1918 and a new Air Force was created as Divizia 1 Aeriana under the Directorate of Army Aviation. After a short period of neutrality in the 1930s Romania began to strengthen its ties with Germany and this eventually resulted in Romania joining the Axis Tripartite Pact, the pact between Germany, Italy and Japan which was signed in 1940 and joined by Hungary three days before Romania signed up on 23 November 1940. On 22 June 1941 Romania went to war joining Germany in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. A coup by antifascist forces in August 1944 ended the cooperation with the Germans and Romania was eventually occupied by the Soviets after WWII. Despite this a new Air Force was created in 1947 named the Fortele Aeriene ale Republicii Populare Romane. The Soviet troops eventually departed Romania in 1958 after Romania joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955. The basis for the Romanian Air Force as we know it today was established in 1951 when a total of eight Fighter Regiments - Regimentul Aviatie de Vânâtoare Reactie (Regt.Av.Vt.R.) were established under control of three Fighter Divisions - Divizia Aviatie de Vânâtoare Reactie along with a number of support and training regiments. Various changes took place during the first five years, mainly consisting of regiments changing between Division and air base. By 1956 the situation was as follows:

Order of Battle September 1956 Divisia 23 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Reactie, HQ Otopeni Div. HQ flight MiG-15bis, S-102, MiG-15DC Regimentul 125 Av.Vt. R. S-102, MiG-15DC Silistea-Gumesti Regimentul 172 Av.Vt. R. S-102, MiG-15DC Mihail Kogalniceanu Regimentul 206 Av.Vt. R. MiG-17PF, MiG-15bis, MiG-15DC Bucuresti-Otopeni Every unit had also one Fieseler Storch and 3-4 Yak-11s on strength for liaison purposes. The total number of aircraft on strength with the 23

rd Air Division was 76 S-102, 16 MiG-15bis, 10 MiG-17F, 10 MiG-15DC (UTi's), 13 Yak-11 and 4 Fi-Storch.

Divisia 66 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Reactie, HQ Craiova Div. HQ flight S-102, Fi-Storch Regimentul 158 Av.Vt. R. MiG-17, MiG-15bis, S-102, MiG-15DC Craiova Regimentul 226 Av.Vt. R. MiG-15bis, S-102, MiG-15DC Caracal-Deveselu Regimentul 227 Av.Vt. R. MiG-15bis, S-102, MiG-15DC Craiova Every unit had also one Fieseler Storch and 3-4 Yak-11s on strength. The total number on strength with the 66

th Air Division was

68 S-102, 21 MiG-15bis, 2 MiG-17F, 10 MiG-15DC, 8 Yak-11 and 2 Fi-Storch. Divisia 97 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Reactie, HQ Timisoara Div. HQ flight MiG-15bis, S-102, Fi-Storch Regimentul 135 Av.Vt. R. Yak-23, Yak-17, Po-2 Caransebes Regimentul 294 Av.Vt. R. MiG-15bis, S-102, MiG-15DC, Yak-11 Timisoara-Giarmata The total number on strength with the 97

th Air Division was 31 S-102, 9 MiG-15bis, 2 MiG-17, 3 MiG-15DC, 43 Yak-23, 5 Yak-

17UTi, 9 Yak-11, 1 Po-2, 1 Fi-Storch Divisia 68 Aviatie Asalt Scoala Militara de aviatie 'Aurel Vlaicu', HQ Tecuci Regimentul de Aviatie Scoala Fasa I Various Buzau Regimentul de Aviatie Scoala Fasa II 14x MiG-15DC, 2x S-102 Tecuci Esc.de Perfectionare Piloti de Vanat. 11x MiG-15, 7x MiG-15DC Focsani Regimentul 282 Av.Cc 2 IL-28, 5 IL-28U, 2 IL-28R, 3 Tu-2, Titu-Boteni 2 He-111, 1 IAR814, 3 Yak-11, 4 Po-2 Regimentul 239 Av.Bomb. Bucuresti-Otopeni Patrula 1106 Av.remorcat mansa 2 IL-28, 3 IL-10 ??

Regimentul 282 had been redesignated from Regimentul 282 Bombardament into Regimentul 282 Aviatie Cercetare in 1956 and into Escadrila 282 Av.Cc in 1958. Throughout the 1950s various variants of the MiG-15, as can be seen above, formed the backbone of the Romanian Air Force equipping seven Regiments with approximately 30 single-seaters on strength of each regiment along with a small number of MiG-15UTIs, called MiG-15DC (Dublǎ Comandǎ) in Romanian service as well as a small number of liaison aircraft. In addition also moderate numbers of MiG-17s served in some regiments. By 1956 all Yak-23 'Flora' of which 62 had entered service in 1952 in three regiments along with a small number of Yak-17UTI, reportedly five, were concentrated in one regiment. The Yak-23 was retired from service in 1958 when the type was surplus to requirement due to the continuing deliveries of MiG-15s. MiG-15s in service included Soviet-built aircraft as well as large numbers of MiG-15 variants that were licence-built in Czechoslovakia comprising of 204 S-102 (standard MiG-15) and 42 CS-102 (MiG-15UTI). According to Romanian sources, Soviet built aircraft comprised of 159 MiG-15s, 50 MiG-15bis and 59 MiG-15UTI. The first of a limited number of PP-1 radar equipped MiG-17PFs, (according to some sources twelve aircraft) entered service in 1955 serving alongside the MiG-15 in Regt.206 Av.Vt.R. at Otopeni (and from 9 August 1958 at Borcea-Fetesti, then called Cocargeaua). In addition also numbers of MiG-17Fs entered service around the same time with a total estimated at 48. Another type that served from the late 1950s was the impressive Ilushin IL-28 Beagle which served the in the Romanian AF in bomber and electronic warfare and reconnaissance tasks. Five UIL-28s trainers were delivered in 1955 and one in 1957, four IL-28B bombers arrived in 1956 and two in 1958, two IL-28Rs were delivered to Romania in 1959 and one in 1961. A number of further reorganisations in 1959 and 1961 resulted in the forming of the units as we basically still know them today:

Order of Battle 1959 Comandamentului Aviatiei Militare Escadrila 38 Av.Cc (ex 282) Borcea-Fetesti Divisia 15 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Tactica, HQ Otopeni Regimentul 86 Av.Vt. (ex 206) Borcea-Fetesti Regimentul 57 Av.Vt. (ex 172) Mihail Kogalniceanu Regimentul 49 Av.Vt. (ex 125) Alexeni Divisia 21 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Tactica, HQ Craiova Regimentul 91 Av.Vt. (ex 226) Caracal-Deveselu Regimentul 67 Av.Vt. (ex 158) Craiova Regimentul 34 Av.Vt. (ex 227) Craiova Divisia 34 Aviatie de Vânâtoare Tactica, HQ Timisoara Regimentul 93 Av.Vt. (ex 294) Timisoara-Giarmata Regimentul 37 Av.Vt. (ex 135) Caransebes By May 1961 Divisia 15 Av.Vt.T was renamed into Divisia 16 Ap AAT while Divisia 21 Av.Vt.T was disbanded altogether with two of its subsidiary regiments transferred to Divisia 34 Av.Vt.T. Of the previous Divisia 21, Regimentul 34 Av.Vt. was disbanded while of the regiments under control of Divisia 34, Regimentul 37 Av.Vt. was disbanded. In 1958 the first MiG-19s arrived in Romania albeit in moderate numbers, the type equipped the first Escadrilles of three Regiments with the 1

st Escadrila of Regt.226 Av.Vt.R. at Deveselu being the first unit to reequip with the MiG-19 followed by Regt.206 Av.Vt.R.

at Borcea and Regt.294 Av.Vt.R. at Timisoara-Giarmata. In total twelve MiG-19Ps and ten MiG-19PMs were in service until the type was retired in 1974. Both Regimentul 49 and 67 were transformed into tactical regiments and redesignated as such becoming Regt.49 Av.Vt.B. (Aviatie Vânâtoare Bombardement) at Alexeni and Regt.67 Av.Vt.B at Craiova, operating the S-102. The 1

st Escadrila of Regt.49

operated the MiG-15bis while the 1st Escadrila of Regt.67 was equipped with the MiG-17PF. Regt.49 relocated to Ianca in

September 1965 where it remained until the unit disbanded in 2002. In 1962 Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara-Giarmata was the first unit to receive the MiG-21 Fishbed. The unit which was at the time temporarily-based at Deveselu took delivery of the first twelve MiG-21F-13s in February 1962. A second batch of twelve aircraft followed in August 1963 when Regt.57 Av.Vt. at Mihail Koganiceanu was equipped with one squadron MiG-21F-13s. Other types on strength with the regiment were the MiG-17 of which the unit had eleven and the MiG-15 of which there were 35 on strength as well as six MiG-15UTI. Deliveries of further Fishbeds continued throughout the 1960s with the MiG-21PF entering service in 1965 followed by the MiG-21PFM in the period 1966-1968. With more Fishbeds becoming available the MiG-21F-13s that were previously only assigned to Regt.57 and Regt.93 were also based with the Regt.86 Av.Vt. at Borcea and Regt.91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu. Regt.86 at Borcea became an all Fishbed unit when the last MiG-15s were retired by the unit by the late sixties and the unit was equipped with the MiG-21F-13 and MiG-21PF and from 1974 the MiG-21PFM. According to other sources the unit operated the MiG-21F-13 in two squadrons and the MiG-19 in the third squadron before the regiment reequipped with the MiG-21PF in 1969. In 1972 the Escadrila 31 C.c was established at Timisoara-Giarmata. The unit was equipped with the MiG-21R of which ten were delivered between 1968 and 1972. MiG-21 deliveries continued through 1975 with a considerable number of MiG-21Ms and MiG-21MFs entering service which made the MiG-21 the most important fighter by far from that time onwards. Also entering service in 1972 was the Harbin Hong-5 which is a Chinese licence-built IL-28. The latter was already in service with the Romanian Air Force and was eventually replaced by their Chinese-built counterparts. The growing gap between Romania and the Soviet Union resulted in the development of the IAR-93 also known as Orao ('Vultur' in Romanian), actually the Yugoslavian name, together with Yugoslavia called the YUROM program with the first flight taking place

on 31 October 1974. In 1965 the name of the Air Force was changed into the Fortele Aeriene ale Republicii Socialiste Romane - Air Force of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Entering service from 1966 was the L-29 Delfin which re-equipped the Scoala Militară Superioră de Ofiteri de Aviatie ‘Aurel Vlaicu’ replacing the MiG-15UTI in the intermediate training role. Advanced training was undertaken at Bacau at the Centrul de Instructie al Aviatiei which by 1969 was equipped with MiG-15s and MiG-21s, the unit later standardised on the MiG-21 of which it operated various versions in the years that followed including the MiG-21PF, PFM and M. Other types in service for training during the 1950s and 1960s were local fabricates such as the Yak-11, Yak-18 and the IAR-818. Transports and helicopters in service during the above period included unknown numbers of Li-2s and IL-14s and Mi-1 and Mi-4 helicopters. Only little is known about the transport and helicopter units but the helicopters were probably assigned to several Escadrila Elicoptere while transport aircraft were operating under control of the 49 Transport Group (Romanian designation unknown) which was reportedly established in 1949, and Flotilla 50. Both units were merged into the Grupul 90 Aviatia Transport named ‘Gheorghe Banciulescu’ It is known that Regt.61 Elicoptere at Titu-Boteni was formed as Escadrila 126 Elicoptere on 19 September 1976 operating the IAR-316B. The arrival of the IAR-330 in 1978 resulted in the unit becoming a Regiment. Similarly Regt.73 Elicoptere. at Caransebes was established as Escadrila 131 Elicoptere on 1 October 1982 before being redesignated into Regt.73 Elicoptere on 1 August 1984. The number plate of Esc.131 Elicoptere was later adopted by a training squadron at Alexeni. By the end of the 1970s new aircraft types entered service. Among these was the MiG-23MF Flogger-B of which the first aircraft arrived in Romania in 1978 together with a small number of MiG-23UB Flogger-C two-seaters. Eventually three squadrons based at Mihail Koganiceanu and Timisoara-Giarmata were equipped with the MiG-23. On 30 June 1982 Escadrila 48 Av.Vt was established under control of Regt.91Av.Vt at Deveselu flying the MiG-21. On 30 June 1986 the unit was transformed into Regt.71 Av.Vt and on 9 June 1987 it was subsequently based at the former reserve base Campia Turzii in Transylvania.

Romania and The Warsaw Pact Despite the fact that Romania joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955 it became a maverick within the alliance starting in the late 1950s when Romania ceased sending its officers to the Soviet Union for military education and training. From 1962 it stopped hosting Warsaw Pact exercises on its territory and by the late 1960s it had completely stopped participating in Warsaw Pact exercises. The Romanian criticism reached a climax following the Soviet-led WarPac invasions in Czechoslovakia, one of Romania's closest allies. As a result Romanian forces were put on alert to fight a possible Soviet invasion of Romania. Large troop movements along the borders with Bulgaria, Hungary and the Soviet Union in late 1968 implicated a similar action in Romania as happened earlier in Czechoslovakia. Following Romania's strong disapproval of the invasion is Czechoslovakia massive Warsaw Pact manoeuvres took place along its borders to put political pressure on the Romanian government resulting in the mobilisation of a large number of Romanian forces and the establishment of the paramilitary Patriotic Guards with an initial strength of 100,000 civilians to provide a mechanism for the participation of the countrys population in a system of total national defence. A major Soviet exercise named 'South 71' was launched in June 1971 short before Ceausescu's visit to China. During this exercise the Soviet Union mobilized twelve army divisions while the Soviet Navy conducted heavy operations off the Romanian coast. All this was an expression of the Soviet disapproval of Ceausescu's visit which was the first visit of a Warsaw Pact head of state since the Sino-Soviet split in the late 1950s and for maintaining good relations with its communist rival. 'South 71' forced Romania into a partial mobilization but did not disrupt Ceausescu's trip to China. More of such Soviet intimidations occurred during the 1970s and 1980s with Romania maintaining and even further developing its autonomous position within the Warsaw Pact while not being afraid to criticise and opposing Soviet politics and other military actions. Romania remained a Warsaw Pact member state in 1989, but retained its well-established reputation as a maverick within the Soviet alliance. It maximized its autonomy within the boundaries of the Warsaw Pact, minimized its participation, and avoided an outright withdrawal from the alliance, which the Soviet Union would not have tolerated. Despite its exceptional position within the Warsaw Pact the Romanian Air Force continued to receive modern military hardware from the Soviet Union and sending pilots there for both type conversion as well as shooting practice at the ranges in Astrachan.

Order of Battle November 1990 Statul Major al Fortelor Aeriene, HQ Bucuresti Regimentul 57 Aviatie Vânâtoare Mihail Kogalniceanu MiG-23 (28), MiG-29 (13) Regimentul 86 Aviatie Vânâtoare Borcea-Fetesti MiG-21 (46) Regimentul 91 Aviatie Vânâtoare Caracal-Deveselu MiG-21 (53) Regimentul 93 Aviatie Vânâtoare Timisoara-Giarmata MiG-21 (32), MiG-23 (14) Regimentul 94 Elicoptere Alexeni Mi-8 (19), IAR-316 (8) Escadrila 131 Elicoptere Alexeni IAR-330 (3), Mi-8 (3), IAR-316 (4) Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei Bacau MiG-21 (47) Divizia 59 Aviatie, HQ Cluj-Napoca Regimentul 71 Aviatie Vânâtoare Campia Turzii MiG-21 (44) Regimentul 58 Elicoptere Sibiu-Turnisor IAR-316 (13), IAR-330 (16) Regimentul 73 Elicoptere Caransebes IAR-316 (15), IAR-330 (16) Escadrila 31 Aviatie Cercetare Timisoara-Giarmata MiG-21 (16) Divizia 70 Aviatie, HQ Otopeni Escadrila 38 Aviatie Cercetare Borcea-Fetesti H-5/IL-28U? (15) Regimentul 49 Aviatie Vânâtoare si V. Bombard. Ianca MiG-15 (73), IAR-93 (13) Regimentul 67 Aviatie Vânâtoare si V. Bombard. Craiova MiG-15 (34), MiG-17 (19), IAR-93 (58) Regimentul 59 Elicoptere Tuzla IAR-316 (11), IAR-330 (17) Regimentul 61 Elicoptere Titu-Boteni IAR-316 (14), IAR-330 (14) Escadrila 141 Elicoptere Tecuci IAR-330 (7) Escadrila 183 Elicoptere Tecuci IAR-316 (11) Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport Bucuresti-Otopeni An-24, An-26, An-30,

IAR-316 (10), IAR-330 (6), Mi-8 (5), Mi-17 (2), AS365N (4)

Scoala Militara de Aviatie “Aurel Vlaicu” Grupul Aviatie Scoala Vânâtoare si V. Bombard. Boboc L-29 (45), L-39 (32), IAR-99 (4) Grupul Aviatie Scoala Elicopteresi Transport Buzau IAR-316 (18), An-2 Grupul Aviatie Scoala Legatura Focsani IAR-823, IAK-52 The amount of aircraft in between brackets is drawn from official CFE records and obviously includes stored aircraft such as the MiG-15s and MiG-17s at Craiova. Shortly after the dramatic events from December 1989 the name of the Air Force was changed into its current name Fortele Aeriene ale Romaniei. Escadrila 131 Elicoptere was officially designated as the 131st Helicopter Navigator Training Squadron, the exact Romanian designation of the unit is unknown. Some units were named by 1991 after famous Romanian AF aces and these included Regt.57 “Capt. Constantin Bazu Cantacuzino”, Regt.86 “Lt. Gheorghe Mociornita” and the training unit at Bacau which adopted the name “Lt. Av. Vasile Craiu” somewhere in the 1990’s. Very little changed during the first half of the 90s beside the country licking its wounds imposed by the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena. In 1990 Regt.49 at Ianca was the last unit within the Romanian Air Force to retire the MiG-15. The large number of aircraft which was still in storage gradually decreased during the course of the 1990’s when most of the aircraft were scrapped. Deliveries of the original batch of MiG-29s had been completed just before the revolution which saw the fall of the Ceaucescu regime and operational flying of the Fulcrum commenced in the spring of 1990. Production of the IAR-93 was terminated in 1992 following the outbreak of the civil war in Yugoslavia.

New structure By 1 June 1995 the Forţelor Aeriene Romaniei dropped its communist era regimental system in favour of a system consisting of Air Bases, Groups and Squadrons. Two Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Corps - Corpului Aviatie si Aparare Antiaeriana were formed under the Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence Staff – Statului Major al Aviatiei si Apararii Antiaeriana in Bucharest. Tactical fighter units were designated as Baza Aeriana de Aviatie Vânâtoare si Vânâtoare Bombardament – Fighter and Fighter Bomber Air Base in control of all assets including the Grupul Aviatie Vânâtoare – Fighter Air Group with one or two Escadrila – squadrons assigned to it. Fighter-Bomber units were designated as Baza Aeriana de Aviatie Vânâtoare Bombardament for the base and Grupul Aviatie de Vânâtoare-Bombardament for the group.

Order of Battle January 1997 Statului Major al Aviatiei si Apararii Antiaeriana, HQ Bucuresti Grupul 90 Aviatie de Transport Bucuresti-Otopeni An-24, An-26, An-30, IAR-316 (10), IAR-330 (6), Mi-8 (3), Mi-17 (2), AS365N (4) Grupul 94 Elicoptere Alexeni IAR-316 (12), IAR-330 (6), Mi-8 (17) Corpului 1 Aviatie si Aparare Antiaeriana, HQ Ploiesti Grupul 49 Aviatie de Vânâtoare-Bombardament Ianca IAR-99 (13), L-39 (20) Grupul 57 Aviatie Vânâtoare Mihail Kogalniceanu MiG-23 (12), MiG-29 (18) Grupul 86 Aviatie Vânâtoare Borcea-Fetesti MiG-21 (41) Grupul 95 Aviatie Vânâtoare Bacau MiG-21 (45), An-2 Grupul 59 Elicoptere Tuzla IAR-316 (11), IAR-330 (16), An-2 Grupul 60 Elicoptere Tecuci IAR-316 (11), IAR-330 (7) Grupul 61 Elicoptere Titu-Boteni IAR-316 (14), IAR-330 (14) Escadrila 38 Cercetare Borcea-Fetesti H-5 (12) Flotilla 70 Bucuresti-Otopeni ?? Flotilla 81 Bacau ?? Corpului 2 Aviatie si Aparare Antiaeriana, HQ Timisoara Grupul 67 Aviatie de Vânâtoare-Bombardament Craiova IAR-93 (75), MiG-17 (10), MiG-21 (14) Grupul 71 Aviatie Vânâtoare Campia Turzii MiG-21 (31) Grupul 91 Aviatie Vânâtoare Caracal-Deveselu MiG-21 (60) Grupul 93 Aviatie Vânâtoare Timisoara-Giarmata MiG-21 (18), MiG-23 (26) Grupul 58 Elicoptere Sibiu-Turnisor IAR-316 (13), IAR-330 (12) Grupul 73 Elicoptere Caransebes IAR-316 (15), IAR-330 (13) Escadrila 132 Elicoptere Cluj-Napoca / Someseni IAR-330 (4) Escadrila 31 Cercetare Timisoara-Giarmata MiG-21R (10) Flotilla 30 Craiova ?? Aviation Military Institute 'Aurel Vlaicu', HQ Buzau Grupul 19 Aviatie Scoala Legatura Focsani IAR-823, IAK-52 Grupul 20 Av.Scoala Vanat. si Vanat.-Bomb. Boboc L-29 (45), L-39 (12) Grupul Aviatie Scoala Elicopteresi Transport Buzau IAR-316 (18), An-2 All the units above report to their respective Baza Aeriana which has the same number as the Grupul. The numbers of aircraft shown above apparently also show aircraft in reserve such as the MiG-17s at Craiova which were retired from operational service in 1990 and the total of 219 MiG-21s which almost certainly also include a number of MiG-21PFs that were retired around 1993

and placed in storage at Bacau. Also the number of twelve H-5s is rather high as there were only five aircraft operational during the last years of it's career. At Someseni the four IAR-330s had replaced a similar number of Mi-8s in 1996. Due to financial constraints and unable to buy new fighter aircraft the Romanian AF decided to invest in the upgrade of the most numerous fighter in its inventory being the MiG-21 Fishbed of which over 200 were still around by 1990. The tender was issued in 1992 and after a competition in which several companies were involved Elbit of Israel was contracted as the systems integrator. The program originally dubbed as the ‘DD program’ being a tribute to the Romanian poet Doru Davidovici who was also a MiG-21 pilot and killed in a crash with a MiG-21UM, was later named ‘Lancer’. In Romania the Lancer is designated as LanceR with a capital 'R'. Among the available aircraft the MiG-21M and MiG-21MF were selected as the airframes to be upgraded. The contract initially included 75 Lancer-A air to ground conversions, 25 Lancer-C air-to-air versions and 10 Lancer-B trainers. The number of Lancer-Bs later increased to fourteen while the number of Lancer-A’s decreased to 71 conversions. The remaining MiG-21PFM, R and US versions were all retired by the time the Lancer program was completed in 2003. Following the first flight of the Lancer-A prototype on 22 august 1995 the first squadron of Grupul 95 at Bacau completed conversion on the MiG-21 Lancer on 8 May 1997. The unit had operated the MiG-21PF until 1993 and the MiG-21PFM and M until conversion to the Lancer commenced in 1997. The unit at Bacau has at that time a combined training and combat role. In its training role the unit received both graduates from the Air Force Academy at Boboc as well as experienced pilots for type conversion. In 1998 Grupul 86 was the second unit to receive the Lancer. This unit operated both the MiG-21PFM and MF and the last MiG-21PFM’s were disposed off by 1999. At Timisoara Escadrila 31 Cercetare retired its MiG-21Rs in 1998 after which the squadron was disbanded. The MiG-21MF squadron of Grupul 93 started conversion to the MiG-21 Lancer-A in 1999 and by 2000 the squadron had completed conversion. Grupul 93 is the only unit to exclusively operate the Lancer-A ground attack version but despite this, the squadron employs this version also in the air defence role. Another type which did not make it into the new century was the IAR-93. After numerous incidents throughout its career and a non-fatal crash in April 1998 the type was grounded the same year and since then large numbers of IAR-93s remain in open storage at their former home base Craiova. Following the demise of the IAR-93, Grupul 67 received a small number of IAR-99s from its sister unit, Grupul 49 at Ianca. The latter had disposed off its IAR-93 a few years earlier and had received twenty L-39ZAs from Boboc as a temporary solution for the lack of aircraft with the unit. By 1998 the Albatrosses had returned to Boboc leaving Grupul 49 and Grupul 67 with fourteen IAR-99s divided between the two bases. In 1999 Grupul 57 at Mihail Kogalniceanu ceased operating the MiG-23 and about ten of the fourteen Flogger B/Cs that were still assigned to one of its squadrons were transferred to Timisoara the same year leaving a few non-airworthy aircraft behind at Mihail Kogalniceanu. The units two squadrons continued to operate the eighteen MiG-29s into the new century with the aircraft rapidly running out of flying hours and in need of a major overhaul.

The new millennium After the turn of the century fierce reorganisations struck the Romanian AF hard. One of the first units to be disestablished was the former Esc.38.Av.Cc at Borcea flying the Hong 5s. From 2000 the squadron was assigned to Grupul 86 at its home base Borcea as the Escadrila 862 Recunoastere. The unit was scheduled to fly all reconnaissance platforms in the Romanian Air Force being the H-5, MiG-21 and An-30. However before these plans could materialize they were abandoned following the grounding of the H-5 after two aircraft crashed within a year including 310, which had just emerged from a costly major overhaul at Bacau. The last sortie took place on 27 August 2001 when the sole remaining HJ-5 was flown from Mihail Kogalniceanu to Borcea following the Romanian International Air Show 2001 where it participated as a static exhibit. During the air show at Timisoara a year earlier in 2000 it became clear that the end was near for the MiG-23. Three of the four remaining aircraft participated during the air show after which they were grounded for several months. The following year, a MiG-23UB put up an appearance again during an air show at Ianca followed by RoIAS 2001 at Mihail Kogalniceanu where the same three aircraft as the previous year at Timisoara participated in the air show. The final MiG-23 sortie was flown in September 2001 after which their squadron was disbanded. More aircraft to disappear in 2000 were a number of L-39s and IAR-823 that were sold to the USA. Another major reorganisation was the disbandment of all but one of the tactical helicopter bases. In 2001 Grupul 94 Elicoptere at Alexeni was disbanded and the base closed. A small number of Mi-8s was transferred to Otopeni but the majority was withdrawn from use and put into storage at Ianca. Also in 2001 Grupul 60 Elicoptere at Tecuci was disbanded with some of the helicopters being reassigned to Baza 95 Aeriana at Bacau by 1 May 2001. By the end of 2001 the same happened at Tuzla where Grupul 59 Elicoptere was disbanded after the helicopters had departed to Mihail Kogalniceanu and at Caransebes where Grupul 73 Elicoptere was disbanded with the helicopters taking up residence at Timisoara-Giarmata. Also in 2001 Escadrila 132 Elicoptere at Someseni was disbanded and its personnel transferred to Campia Turzii where they were assigned to Escadrila 713 Elicoptere which was formed in early 2003 after also Grupul 59 Elicoptere at Sibiu was disbanded and their helicopters and staff moved to Campia Turzii. Shortly after these changes the Romanian Air Force started to withdraw the IAR-316s from service while also the number of IAR-330s in service was drastically decreased with only five or six being assigned to a squadron today. The only helicopter base that initially survived was Grupul 61 Elicoptere at Titu-Boteni equipped with the eventually 24 strong IAR-330 SOCAT fleet of which the first were delivered in 2001. Also the structure of the various units changed once again in 2001. By 15 December of that year all Grupuls were disbanded and from that date onwards all Escadrila's which were previously assigned to the Grupul were placed under direct command of the Baza Aeriana. The first two years of the new century also saw the conversion of the two Escadrila of Baza 71 Av.Vt. to the Lancer being the last unit to do so. The unit had operated the MiG-21M/MF before it started its conversion. Fixed wing units to cease operations in 2001 were Baza 49 at Ianca which operated a very small number of IAR-99s after the unit had subsequently lost its MiG-15s, IAR-93s and L-39ZAs during the 1990s. Following the disbandment of Baza 49 Aviatie de Vânâtoare-Bombardament, the IAR-99s were transferred to Craiova after which Ianca became a storage base and since 2002 a temporary home for the L-29s and L-39s from Boboc. 2002 also saw the end of the last non-Lancer MiG-21s in service with the FAR. Baza 91 at Deveselu operated the last mix of non-modified MiG-21s in Romanian service. After operations ceased at Deveselu the base was closed with some two dozen MiG-21s of various types remaining grounded at the base. The disbanding of so many units with the subsequent closure of their home bases also resulted in the disbanding of Divizia 2 Aeriana at Timisoara around late 2002/early 2003. Also the training units

received their share of reorganisations. In 2002 Grupul 19 Aviatie Scoala de Legatura at Focsani was disbanded. The IAR-823s of the unit were already withdrawn from service and the units IAK-52s were transferred to Brasov-Ghimbav where they share the base with the IAR-Eurocopter company. Following this move the unit was designated as Escadrila 21 Aviatie Scoala. At Buzau the based Grupul Aviatie Scoala Elicopteresi Transport (GASET) moved to nearby Boboc where its An-2 and IAR-316 element became part of the Scoala de Applicatii a Fortelor Aeriene. Note that by this time Boboc had lost its Baza 20 Aeriana designation and the same had happened at Bacau where Baza 95 Aeriana was redesignated into Centrul 95 Trecere pe Avioane Supersonice or 95 Supersonic Jet Training Center in 2001. At Craiova Grupul 67 Aviatie de Vânâtoare-Bombardament was redesignated into Centrul 67 Pregatire Operationala Avansata si Incercari in Zbor or 67th Advanced Operational Training and Flight Test Center, flying the IAR-99 however in 2002 also this unit was disbanded. The test flight of the unit remained active for some time as the Centrul de Incercari in Zbor (CIZ) operating a small number (probably four) of IAR-99. Four aircraft however participated during a military parade at Alba Lulia on 1 December 2003 indicating that at least some aircraft are serviceable again. It is possible that these aircraft belonged to the earlier mentioned CIZ. The planned move to Boboc finally took place after many delays in the spring of 2004. It is likely that also the CIZ moved to Boboc together with the active IAR-99s. A number of aircraft remained behind at Craiova where they are stored with the Centrul de Mentenara 322 Aviatia awaiting funding for maintenance and modifications. Despite earlier plans to upgrade about twelve MiG-29s to NATO standard the Romanian Ministry of Defense decided on 21 January 2003 to withdraw the MiG-29 from service. Grupul 57, the Fulcrum unit at Mihail Kogalniceanu converted to the Lancer-A shortly afterwards and was based at Borcea. The unit however suffered from an exodus of pilots who resigned following the decision to abandon the plans for the Fulcrum upgrade and retire the aircraft. With the closure of Mihail Kogalniceanu in April 2004 Baza 57 disbanded with the Lancers being reassigned to other units. The jet training escadrila from the S.A.p.A. at Boboc is currently based at nearby Ianca. In the autumn of 2003 the Escadrila 21 Aviatie Scoala was transferred to Boboc where it was absorbed into the S.A.p.A. In addition in late 2003 all An-2 Patrulas disbanded and all An-2s have now taken up residence at Boboc. In early 2004 it was announced that Baza 93 Aeriana at Timisoara was scheduled for disbandment in August 2004 under the 'Objective Force 2007' with the majority of the aircraft moving to Campia Turzii which until then almost exclusively operated the Lancer-C. Also the assigned Puma squadron was placed under command of Baza 71 Aeriana but remained based at Timisoara. Also the last major helicopter base, Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac at Titu-Boteni became a victim of the restructuring plans of the Romanian air force. The base closed on 31 August 2004 with the IAR-330 SOCATs being relocated to Otopeni where the will be assigned to Baza 90. On higher levels Divizia 1 Aeriana with its headquarters in Ploiesti also disbanded on 25 June 2004. All units are now reporting directly to the Statul Major al Fortelor Aeriene (SMFA), the air force headquarters. Also restructured in 2004 was the jet training. Centrul 95 Trecere pe Avioane Supersonice became an operational unit again and was renamed Baza 95 Aeriana on 1 July 2004.

Order of Battle late 2004

Statul Major al Fortelor Aeriene, HQ București

Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport “Gheorghe Banciulescu” București-Otopeni 901? Esc. Av. Transp. Strategic. C-130B, C-130H 902? Esc. Av. Tr. Operativ si Foto An-24RT, An-26, An-30 903 Esc. Elicoptere Transport IAR-330L 904 Esc. Elicoptere de Atac IAR-330 SOCAT 905 Esc. Elicoptere de Atac IAR-330 SOCAT

Baza 71 Aeriana Câmpia Turzii 711 Escadrila Av.Vt. MiG-21 Lancer A/B 712 Escadrila Av.Vt. MiG-21 Lancer B/C 713 Escadrila Elic. IAR-330L 714? Escadrila Elic. IAR-330L (based at Timisoara-Giarmata)

Baza 86 Aeriana “Lt. Gheorghe Mociornita” Borcea-Fetești 861 Escadrila Av.Vt. MiG-21 Lancer B/C 862 Escadrila Av.Vt. MiG-21 Lancer A/B 863 Escadrila Elic. IAR-330L, IAR-316B (based at Mihail Kogalniceanu)

Baza 95 Aeriana Bacău 951 Escadrila Av.Vt. MiG-21 Lancer A/B/C 205? Escadrila MiG-21 Lancer A/B 953 Escadrila Elic. IAR-330L Centrul de Incercari in Zbor (CIZ) Craiova ? Boboc IAR-99 Standard, IAR-99 Soim

Academia Fortelor Aeriene 'Henri Coanda', HQ Brașov

Scoala de Aplicatie a pentru Aviatie 'Aurel Vlaicu’ Boboc 201/4 Escadrila Iak-52, L-29, L-39ZA, IAR-99, IAR-99 Soim, IAR-316B, An-2 Technical School Various instructional a/c The exact structure of the S.A.p.A. is unknown. It is known that the various types in service are assigned to four or five Escadrila or Flights but the exact assignment. A fifth squadron is based at Baza 95 Aeriana at Bacau conducting supersonic training on the MiG-21.

Partnership for Peace, NATO and the future In 1994 the Romanian Air Force was the first East European former WarPac country to sign the Partnership for Peace treaty expressing the country's anxiety to cooperate with and learn from other countries with the eventual goal to join NATO in a later stadium. To achieve all this it started participating in many exercises and sending aircraft abroad to participate in many airshows with great enthusiasm Long before joining NATO and even without being certain that it would be able to, it started to convert one of its core units, Grupul 86 at Borcea, into a NATO compatible unit by making improvements to the base's infrastructure, allowing a part of its pilots to fly a fair amount of training hours and work according to NATO procedures. Among other types Romanian MiG-21 Lancers started participating in PfP exercises in 1998 in exercise ‘Cooperative Change’ at Sliac (Slovakia). More Lancers attended ‘Cooperative Key’ in Turkey in 1999 at St. Dizier (France) in 2002 and at Graf Ignatievo (Bulgaria) in 2001 and 2003. In 2000 the Romanian Air Force was the host country for ‘Cooperative Key’ when this exercise was organised at Mihail Kogalniceanu. In addition Lancers, IAR 330s and C-130Bs could be seen at various bilateral exercises and air shows in France, the Netherlands, Turkey, Austria and the UK but exercises also took place on Romanian soil with Dutch F-16s in 2001 and French Mirage F1s at Timisoara and RAF Harrier GR7s at Mihail Kogalniceanu in 2003. Earlier this year four Lancer Cs deployed from Campia Turzii to Colmar for an exercise with the based Mirage F1CTs. In addition two Lancer-Cs and three SOCAT Puma's participated in the NATO Air Meet in Konya in september 2004 and in the same month RAF Jaguars and Lancers participated in exercise 'Lone Cheetah' at Mihail Kogalniceanu. On 1 April 2004 Romania became part of NATO together with six other former War Pac countries. Currently the Romanian Air Force is reorganising drastically under the 'Objective Force 2007' programme to reach sensible levels of aircraft and personnel. In the foreseeable future the Romanian Air Force has to rely on its fleet of heavily modernised MiG-21s as well as the IAR-330 SOCAT. For its transport needs the Air Force hopes to be able to acquire additional C-130s while the MiG-21 needs to be replaced before the end of the decade. The Romanian air force hopes to be able to acquire 48 new fighters between 2008 and 2012. In addition funds for four more C-130s are sought as well as twelve medium size transport aircraft and twelve helicopters. In addition the IAR-99 Soim is expected to re-enter service soon providing the Air Force with a modern jet trainer which is also capable to carry out light attack tasks.

Romanian Aviation Industry After WWII Romania was prohibited to produce any combat aircraft. This lasted until the late 1960s when the Romanian government decided to develop the IAR-93 light attack aircraft. It has to be noted that by the end of the second World War the Industria Aeronautica Romana (IAR) company in Brasov which was founded in 1925 was demilitarised by the Soviets and switched to the production of tractors. The designation IAR was however retained as a trademark for aircraft manufactured or licence built in Romania. To clear some of the confusion often caused by the IAR designation a short explanation of the structure of the Romanian aviation industry seems useful. The first company to start manufacturing light aircraft was the company ICA (Intreprinderea de Constructii Aeronautice) in Brasov in 1949. Other companies were active mainly in overhauling and scheduled maintenance on Soviet built aircraft. By the early 1960 also IRMA at Baneasa became an important name in the Romanian aviation industry. In line with other communistic countries the development of new aircraft was commonly not the responsibility for construction companies such as those mentioned above, but by government owned aviation research institutes. In Romania this was IMFCA, later INCREST. The actual manufacturing was the responsibility for companies assigned to a central government controlled organisation. By 1978 this was CNIAR or the National Centre of the Romanian Aeronautical Industry. Companies active in the manufacturing of aircraft and helicopters remained government property until the collapse of the Ceausescu regime in 1989 and the disbanding of CNIAR when they were privatised with government interest dropping to 35% Following WWII four companies were responsible for the manufacturing of the majority of aircraft and helicopters in Romania all using the IAR trademark:

Aerostar SA Bacau This company was founded on 1 January 1950 as the Uniza de Reparatii (URA) or Central Aviation Workshop responsible for maintenance of Romanian air force aircraft and the manufacturing of spares and tooling for the Romanian aviation industry. By 1970 the name had changed into Intreprinderea de Reparat Avioane (IRAv) and by 1978 Intreprinderea Avioane (IAv) Bacau. By 1991 the company is known as Aerostar. Over the past fifty year the company was active in reparations and overhaul of types such as the Yak-17, Yak-23, MiG-15, 17, 19 and 21, IL-28 and H-5 and the L-29 and L-39. Between 1972 and 1974 the company was tasked with the manufacture of the IAR-93 prototype. Another important activity for the company was the licence production of the Yak-52 trainer and the conversion of 111 MiG-21s to the improved Lancer variant. In addition the company over the years built many components for other aircraft manufactured in Romania.

Avioane SA Craiova Avioane Craiova was founded on 1 February 1972 as IAv Craiova especially for the manufacture of the IAR-93. On 29 March 1991 the company was renamed into Avioane SA Craiova. The most important aircraft built by the company was the IAR-93 of which serial production commenced in 1975. From 1979 the company also builds the IAR-99 trainer/light attack aircraft which was developed by INCREST. In addition to these types Avioane Craiova has also been building components for various other aircraft. Another project in 1992 was the IAR-109 which was an improved version of the IAR-99 destined for the export market. The project was however not succesful and has been terminated. Since the production of the IAR-93 ceased in the early 1990s the IAR-99 is the only ongoing project and the future for the company as an aircraft company unfortunately seems not to bright once the production of IAR-99 Soim has been completed.

IAR SA Brasov-Ghimbav After a period of building other things than aircraft the old IAR company again started building light aircraft as ICA (Intreprinderea de Constructii Aeronautice) in 1949. Over the years the company constructed aircraft such as the IAR-811, 813, 814, 817, 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827, 828, 831, IAR-28MA. Of some of these only very few aircraft were built and sometimes only a prototype was constructed. From 1971 the company started licence production of the Aerospatiale SA316B Alouette 3 as the IAR-316 followed by the SA330 Puma as the IAR-330. In the early 1980's also an armed derivant of the Alouette 3 was built called the IAR-

317 Airfox. In 1988 the project was cancelled by the Romanian government. Some time ago the company reverted back to its old name IAR SA Brasov.

Romaero SA Baneasa A company which has a complicated history with a lot of mergers in the past. From 1964 the company was named IRMA and subsequently from 1980 IAv Bucuresti and from 1990 Romaero SA Baneasa. Between 1959 and 1968 IRMA built about 140 aircraft for different missions such as the IAR-818 and IAR-821. In addition also prototypes for the IAR-822 and 822B as well as the IAR-827 and 827B were built by IRMA but serial production of these took place in Brasov. The company also licence built the BAC 1-11 airliner as the ROMBAC 1-11 and from 1968 the BN-2 Islander of which no fewer than 500 were built until the mid 1990s. After being completed at Baneasa the aircraft were transferred to the Brittan Norman facility on the Ilse of Wight were they were completed by installing furniture and systems. Over the past decade the company has concentrated on overhaul and maintenance of air force and TAROM aircraft. The production of the BAC 1-11 was however less succesful and eventually turned into a fiasco with only nine aircraft completed in 1991 when production ceased of about 80 envisaged.

Types In the type review below only the aircraft and helicopter types are listed that were active at the time of the collapse of the Ceausescu regime in 1989. Note that the aircraft listed below are all the result of intensive research and it has to be kept in mind that almost none of the lists can be considered as being complete. Additions, comments and corrections are most welcome and can be sent to the editor on mil@scramble.nl. Units in between brackets indicate that the unit or unit designation no longer exists or is no longer operating the type. Note that in some cases the aircraft are listed in construction number order rather then the serial number!

Aero L-29 Delfin In 1966 the Școala Militara de Aviatie ‘Aurel Vlaicu’ took delivery of the first four Aero L-29 Delfins and were followed by other batches totalling 35 aircraft delivered by 1970. The aircraft all originated from the LET Kunovice plant in Czechoslovakia. An additional batch of seventeen improved Delfins were delivered in 1973/1974 making a total of 52 L-29s in service. Some of the aircraft delivered in 1973/74 were still forming the backbone of the Romanian jet training fleet by late 2004. Late 2003 fourteen Delfins remained in service but with the IAR-99 entering service in early 2004 a number of these had been retired by September 2004. 14 993336 d/d jun69, std Boboc sep04 15 993150 d/d jan69, pres Brasov town sep03 16 993149* d/d jan69, std Boboc sep04 17 993148 d/d jan69, std Boboc oct03 18 993147? d/d jan69, std Boboc oct02 19 993146* d/d jan69, std Boboc oct03 20 893145? d/d nov68 21 893144? d/d nov68, std Boboc sep04 22 893143 d/d nov68, std Boboc sep03 23 893142 d/d nov68, std Boboc sep04 24 893141 d/d nov68, std Boboc sep03 25 893050 d/d oct/nov68, std Boboc sep03 26 893049? d/d oct/nov68, Boboc jul92 27 893048? d/d oct/nov68 28 893047? d/d oct/nov68, std Boboc sep04 29 893046? d/d oct/nov68, std Boboc sep04 30 893045 d/d oct/nov68, std Boboc sep04 31 893044 d/d oct/nov68, std Boboc sep04 32 892948 d/d sep68, std Boboc sep03 33 892949 d/d sep68, std Boboc sep03 34 892950 d/d sep68, std Boboc sep03 35 893036 d/d sep68, pres Bacau oct03 36 893037? d/d sep68, w/o 15may70 37 893038? d/d sep68, pres Boboc sep04 38 893039? d/d sep68 39 893040? d/d sep68,std Boboc sep03 40 d/d sep67, std Boboc photo 41 d/d sep67, std Boboc oct02 42 d/d sep67, (Grupul 20 S.V.V.B.) feb95 43 792643 d/d sep67, std Boboc sep04 44 692144 d/d oct66, std Boboc sep04 45 692145? d/d oct66, w/o 30aug72 46 692146? d/d oct66 47 692147? d/d oct66, std Boboc may99 48 395097? d/d oct73, std Ianca sep04 49 395098? d/d oct73, std Boboc sep04 50 395099? d/d oct73, S.A.p.A. sep04 51 3950100? d/d oct73, std Ianca sep04 52 495188? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. sep04 53 495189 d/d jan74, std Boboc sep04 54 495190 d/d jan74, std Ianca sep04 55 495191? d/d jan74, std Ianca sep04 56 495192? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. sep04

57 495193? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. oct03 58 495194? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. or std Ianca? sep04 59 495195? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. sep04 60 495196? d/d jan74 61 495197? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. sep04 62 495198? d/d jan74, std Ianca sep04 63 495199? d/d jan74, S.A.p.A. sep04 64 4951100 d/d jan74, std Ianca sep04 It is known that the c/ns 792641, 792642, 792644 and 792645 were also destined for the Romanian AF. Probably the serials 40, 41 and 42 were allocated to three of them. We think (!!) that the other one might have crashed before delivery and that serial 14 (993336) was delivered afterwards as a replacement aircraft. The c/n of 16 and 19 were positively read off as 193146 and 193149 in oct03! At least two more aircraft were lost in fatal crashes on 15aug74 and 03sep75.

Aero L-39ZA Albatros Thirty-two L-39ZA were delivered between 1981 and 1985, serving alongside the L-29s with the Școala Militara de Aviatie ‘Aurel Vlaicu’ at Boboc. Twenty L-39s were temporary based at Ianca with Grupul 49 during the second half of the 1990s following the withdrawal of the IAR-93 from the unit. A large number of Albatross were sold on the US civil market over the past years. Currently only four L-39s remain active with the Scoala de Aplicatie a pentru Aviatie (S.A.p.A.) at Boboc with some additional aircraft in storage at both Boboc and Bacau awaiting a decision on their future. The active L-39s are currently based at Ianca together with the remaining L-29s. 115 132015 d/d 1981, sold as N391ZA, regd 03apr01 118 132018 d/d 1981, w/o 11jun97 (Grupul 20 S.V.V.B.) 121 132021 d/d 1981, sold as N392ZA, regd 29oct01 124 132024 d/d 1981, std Boboc sep04 127 132027 d/d 1981, sold as N401ZA, regd 15jul03 130 132030 d/d 1981, sold as N393ZA, regd 09mar01 133 132033 d/d 1981, sold as N394ZA, regd 23jan01 136 132036 d/d 1981, sold as N404ZA, regd 04jun03 103 232403 d/d 1982, sold as N395ZA, regd 17jan01 106 232406 d/d 1982, sold as N396ZA, regd 17jan01 109 232409 d/d 1982, std Boboc sep04 112 232412 d/d 1982, sold as N397ZA, regd 17jan01 129 332629 d/d 1983, sold as N402ZA, regd 04jun03 132 332632 d/d 1983, std Boboc sep04 135 332635 d/d 1983, sold as N403ZA, regd 04jun03 138 332638 d/d 1983, sold as N398ZA, regd 19jan01 141 332641 d/d 1983, sold as N399ZA, regd 19jan01 144 332644 d/d 1983, sold as N390ZA, regd 19jan01 147 332647 d/d 1983, sold as N405ZA, regd 04jun03 150 332650 d/d 1983, sold as N339ZA, regd 19jul02 128 432828 d/d 1984, std Boboc, gone by sep04! jun04 131 432830 d/d 1984, std Boboc sep04 137 432832 d/d 1984, pres Aerostar Bacau oct03 134 432834 d/d 1984, std Aerostar Bacau sep03 139 432836 d/d 1984, pres Brasov oct03 143 432838 d/d 1984, std Aerostar Bacau sep03 140 432840 d/d 1984, S.A.p.A. sep04 142 432842 d/d 1984, std Boboc, gone by sep04! jun04 145 533218 d/d 1985, S.A.p.A. sep04 146 533220 d/d 1985, S.A.p.A sep04 148 533222 d/d 1985, std Boboc, gone by sep04! jun04 149 533224 d/d 1985, S.A.p.A. sep04 L-39ZA 139 staat preserved op de Henry Coanda academie in Brasov.

Aerostar IAK-52 (Yak-52) The IAK-52, the Romanian designation for the Yak-52, is licence built by Aerostar at Bacau. The first flight of an Aerostar built aircraft c/n 780102 made its first flight on 20 May 1978 and more than 1800 were built since. In the FAR the aircraft entered service from 1986 with the Scoala Militara de Ofiteri de Aviatie at Focsani augmenting and eventually replacing the IAR-823 as the basic trainer of the Romanian Air Force. The exact number is still unclear but it is estimated that approximately two dozen were delivered between 1986 and 1996 of a total of about 1800 built by Aerostar most of which found their way to the Soviet Union as well as some other countries. The unit moved from Focsani to Brasov with approx. sixteen aircraft around 2000 where they took up residence at the airfield of the IAR-Eurocopter factory. However the unit moved again, this time to Boboc in October 2003. 04 photo 12 866306 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 14 866308 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 16 866310 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 18 9111213 m/d 1991, S.A.p.A. sep04 19 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) aug00

24 ..804?304 S.A.p.A. sep04 30 S.A.p.A. jun04 31 photo 32 866411 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 33 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) aug00 34 866413 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 35 866414 m/d 1986, S.A.p.A. sep04 36 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) aug00 38 9111314? m/d 1991, S.A.p.A. sep04 39 S.A.p.A. sep04 40 9111405 m/d 1991, S.A.p.A. sep04 41 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 42 9111407 m/d 1991, S.A.p.A. sep04 43 (Esc 21 Av.S.) oct03 152 856207? m/d 1985?, S.A.p.A sep04 153 856208 m/d 1985, S.A.p.A. sep04 154 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) aug00 155 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 156 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) aug00 158 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 Iak-52W 203 was demonstrated at Le Bourget in June 1999. It has to be noted that despite the presence of a Romanian roundel this aircraft was not a FAR aircraft but an Aerostar demonstrator.

Antonov An-2 Still going strong in the FAR is the An-2 biplane. About two dozen ‘Colts' are believed to have been operated by the Romanian Air Force, some of which probably temporary. As can be seen below there are still many questionmarks about the An-2. Late 2003 about a dozen remain in service. The aircraft currently only serves with the Scoala de Aplicatie a pentru Aviatie (S.A.p.A.) at Boboc where they moved in from Buzau in 2002 for pilot training for those who are destined to fly transport aircraft. Additional An-2s moved in in late 2003 following the disbanding of An-2 equipped Patrulas (flights) at Titu-Boteni, Campia Turzii and Bacau where they were used for liaison and para training. An-2R 28 1G124-28

(1) S.A.p.A. oct03

29 1G124-29(2)

ex YR-API, rtnd to civil user 30 1G124-30

(3) std Boboc (wingless) sep04

31 1G124-31(4)

S.A.p.A sep04 32 1G124-32

(5) std Boboc (wingless) sep04

33 1G124-33(6)

ex YR-APL, rtnd to civil user 34 1G124-34

(7) std Bacau sep04

35 1G124-35(8)

S.A.p.A. sep04 36 1G124-43

(10) ex YR-APZ, S.A.p.A. sep04

37 1G124-37(11)

ex YR-APR, see note 11 and 12 1G124-42

(12) ex YR-APW, Baza 95 Aer. ? stored sep04

38 1G1__-38(13)

std Boboc (wingless) sep04 39 1G124-36

(14) ex YR-APO, never noted, to be confirmed

40 1G124-40(15)

ex YR-APU, never noted, to be confirmed 42 1G116-42

(16) ex YR-APA, never noted, to be confirmed

43 1G116-43(17)

ex YR-APB, never noted, to be confirmed 44 1G124-38

(18) ex YR-APS, never noted, to be confirmed

45 1G116-45(19)

ex YR-APD, never noted, to be confirmed 47 1G124-47

(20) ex YR-PAB, to YR-YAV (Aerostar hack)sep03

An-2T? 53 1G194-53? d/d 05jan82, S.A.p.A. sep04 54 1G194-54? d/d 05jan82, S.A.p.A. sep04 55 1G194-55? d/d 05jan82, (Baza 71 Aeriana) oct02 56 1G194-56? d/d 06mar82, S.A.p.A. sep04 57 1G194-57 d/d 06mar82, S.A.p.A. sep04 58 1G194-58 d/d 05jan82, std Boboc (wingless) sep04 59 1G194-59? d/d 06mar82, S.A.p.A. sep04 60 1G194-60? d/d 05jan82, (B.61 Elic.), prob.std jun04 Notes: (1) 1G124-28 rgd YR-APH 01apr71,canx 18nov76, trfd to Romanian Air Force, plate YR-APH checked in cockpit sep03 (2) 1G124-29 rgd YR-API 01apr71,canx 18nov76, trfd to Romanian Air Force, rr YR-API 24feb86 (3) 1G124-30 rgd YR-APJ 01apr71,canx 18nov76, trfd to Romanian Air Force (4) 1G124-31 rgd YR-APK 01apr71,canx 18nov76, rtnd 09apr86, canx ??, trfd to Romanian Air Force, plate YR-APK

checked in cockpit may98 and sep03 (5) 1G124-32 rgd YR-ANW 09apr71?05may71,canx 16dec76 (6) 1G124-33 rgd YR-APL 23apr71,canx ??, trfd to Romanian Air Force, rtnd to YR-APL 01nov86 or 18aug86? (7) 1G124-34 rgd YR-APM 23apr71, canx 08feb78, trfd to Romanian Air Force, plate YR-APM checked in cockpit may98 (8) 1G124-35 rgd YR-APN 23apr71, canx 08feb78 (10) 1G124-43 regd as YR-APZ 10may71, canx 19feb82, tfrd to Romanian Air Force (as 43?) rgd 36, plate YR-APK

checked in cockpit sep03

(11) 1G124-37 rgd YR-APR 23apr71, canx 08feb78, probably trfd to Romanian Air Force but never noted and not confirmed!, probably never in sevice or 37 replaced by 1G124-42? (12) 1G124-42 regd as YR-APW 10may71, canx 08feb78, trfd to Romanian Air Force, plate checked may98 (13) 1G124-38 rgd YR-APS 23apr71, canx 08feb78, trfd to Romanian Air Force. Aircraft also stated as 1G112-38 rgd YR-ANV 13apr70 and canx in 1984. 1G124-38 is also stated as 44! (14) 1G124-36 rgd YR-APO 23apr71, canx 08feb78, rtnd 01nov86, l/n as YR-APO sep95 (15) 1G124-40 rgd YR-APU 03may71,canx 19feb82, probably trfd to Romanian Air Force but never noted (16) 1G116-42 rgd YR-APA 29jul70, never noted in military service, to be confirmed. Probably rr YR-APA on 24feb86 (17) 1G116-42 rgd YR-APB 29jul70, never noted in military service, to be confirmed. Probably rr YR-APB on 24feb86 (18) 1G124-38 see note 13 (19) 1G116-45 rgd YR-APD 29jul70, never noted in military service, to be confirmed. Probably rr YR-APD on 24feb86 (20) 1G124-47 rgd YR-PAB 12may71, to YR-YAV The aircraft with registrations 28-47 are of the An-2R version drawn from a large number of aircraft in service with the Romanian government agency Aviatia Utilitara with the remainder operating in civil markings. The batch 194 aircraft (53-60) were probably delivered as factory fresh aircraft around 1982 as no former civil identities are known for these aircraft. The latter eight aircraft are probably of the An-2T version.

Antonov An-24 The Romanian Air Force was the operator of a considerable force of Antonov transport aircraft and among the types in use was the An-24 ‘Coke’. At least six, but according to some sources eight, aircraft served with the unit at Otopeni entering service on 16 april 1968. Until the mid 80s the aircraft were wearing civil registrations and titles of the Romavia airline which is a government owned company. Of the six aircraft that remained in storage at Otopeni in October 2002 four were in storage with two remaining in service and one being sold in May 2003. The type is expected to be retired from service before the end of the decade. An-24TV 1801 1021801

(1) ex 801,

std Otopeni sep04

1802 1021802(2)

ex 802, std Otopeni sep04

1911 1021911(3)

ex 911, sold as ER-AZD by 07may03

1912 1021912(4)

ex 912, std Otopeni sep04 An-24RT 5022 1025022

(5) Baza 90 Av.d.Tr.

sep04

5024 1025024(6)

Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. sep04

Noot: (1) 1801 ex 801, regd YR-AML from 12jul70 - 07mar91, to 1801 (2) 1802 ex 802, regd YR-AMM from 12jul70 - 07mar91, to 1802 (3) 1911 ex 911, regd YR-AMS from 12jul70 - 07mar91, to 1911, std Otopeni, sold as ER-AZD by 07may03 (4) 1912 ex 912, regd YR-AMU from 12jul70 - 07mar91, to 1912 (5) 5022 regd as YR-AMO 18mar70, canx 20sep91, to 5022 (6) 5024 regd as YR-AMN 12may70, canx 20sep91, to 5024 Both versions are of the freighter variant with a rear-loading ramp, making them a little bit more complicated to recognise from an An-26. Both 1801 and 1802 were manufactured in 1968 in Zavod No.91 Irkutsk while 1911 and 1912 were built in 1969 and the last two in 1970. Additional aircraft with serials 102 (sep78), 103 (1985) and 104 (sep78) were noted in the past but confirmation is required if these aircraft ever existed or that they were mix-ups with the An-30s in case of 103 and 104.

Antonov An-26 Once the backbone of the Romanian transport fleet is the An-26 ‘Curl’. It is estimated that fourteen aircraft once served with the Romanian Air Force. Today only four aircraft remain active with until recently an additional eight aircraft in storage at Otopeni airport. Recently one aircraft was sold to a Moldovan company with another one moving to Romaero at Baneasa. The aircraft that are still active are sporting a grey colour scheme while the remainder are in a white civil like colour scheme. Same as with the An-24s, the Romanian An-26s operated with civil registrations ranging from YR-ADA to YR-ADN and wearing ‘Romavia’ titles until the mid 1990s. The Romanian AF hopes to replace the remaining Antonov 26s with some additional second hand C-130s in the upcoming years. 205? 2205

(1) d/d 1974, ex YR-ADF

206 2206(2)

d/d 1974, sold as ER-ZAE by 07may03 207 2207

(3) d/d 1974, std Otopeni, ex YR-ADE sep04

306? 13306(4)

ex YR-ADI 307 13307

(5) std Otopeni, ex YR-ADJ, ex UN-988 sep04

405? 13405(6)

std Otopeni? to YR-ADK, ex UN-989 sep04? 606 12606

(7) std Baneasa,ex YR-ADG sep04

706 2706(8)

std Otopeni, ex YR-ADC sep04 707 2707

(9) std Otopeni, ex YR-ADB sep04

710 12710(10)

std Otopeni, ex YR-ADH sep04 801 2801

(11) Baza 90 Av.d.Tr., ex YR-ADA sep04

808 13808(12)

Baza 90 Av.d.Tr., ex YR-ADL sep04 809 13809

(13) Baza 90 Av.d.Tr., ex YR-ADM jun04

810 13810(14)

Baza 90 Av.d.Tr., ex YR-ADN sep04 Noot: (1) 205 d/d 1974, rgd YR-ADF from 1981-17mar91, no longer current, fate unknown

(2) 206 d/d 1974, rgd YR-ADD from 1981-07mar91, temp to CCCP-26229 for o/h, std Otopeni and sold as ER-ZAE by 07may03 (3) 207 d/d 1974, rgd YR-ADE from 22may81-??, f/n as 207 in oct94 (4) 306? only noted as YR-ADI, temp leased as ST-AWC, std Otopeni by sep95, no longer current (5) 307 rgd 15jun84 as YR-ADJ , temp UN-988 with UN (1992-1994), leased to DHL, rr 307 by feb97, std Otopeni (6) 405? rgd as YR-ADK after delivery, temp UN-989 with UN (1992), leased to DHL, std Otopeni without serial (7) 606 rgd 11jun83 as YR-ADG, canx 20sep91, f/n as 606 feb95, std Otopeni, to Romaero Baneasa (8) 706 rgd 09aug75 as YR-ADC, canx 07mar91, f/n as 706 feb94, std Otopeni (9) 707 rgd 05feb75 as YR-ADB, canx 07mar91, f/n as 707 feb95, std Otopeni (10) 710 rgd 11jun83 as YR-ADH, canx 20sep91, f/n as 710 feb95, std Otopeni (11) 801 rgd 17may75 as YR-ADA, canx 07mar91, f/n as 801 feb95, std Otopeni (12) 808 rgd 09apr85 as YR-ADL, temp. UN-989, canx 08aug94, f/n as 808 oct94 (13) 809 rgd 09apr85 as YR-ADM, canx 20sep91, f/n as 809 dec93 (14) 810 rgd 09apr85 as YR-ADN, canx 20sep91, f/n as 810 feb95 205, 306 and 405 were actually only noted as YR-ADF, ADU and ADK but might have been wearing military markings at some time as it is in the civil serial range of the other military aircraft. One additional aircraft in storage at Otopeni is unmarked but wearing DHL titles. This might be 13405 which was last noted jun04.

Antonov An-30 Three aircraft, codenamed ‘Clank’ by NATO, entered service from December 1976 for aerial photography. The two aircraft that are still in service unfortunately lost their attractive colour scheme and are now painted in a grey scheme, similar to that of the An-26s and one of the An-24s. Beside the aerial photography task, the aircraft is also serving as an ‘Open Skies’ aircraft. 1103 1103 std Otopeni sep04 1104 1104 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 1105 1105 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr., Open Skies a/c sep04

Harbin Hong-5 After the Romanian Air Force already operated the Soviet built IL-28 Beagle since 1955, the first Chinese built Harbin H-5s were delivered in 1972. From the original Soviet built variant fifteen were delivered between 1955 and 1961 comprising of four IL-28Us in 1955 and one in 1957, four IL-28B in 1956 and a further two in 1958 and two IL-28R in 1959 and the final one in 1961. The arrival of the new Hong-5s enabled the Romanian AF to retire the original batch of IL-28s, however two IL-28U's soldiered on until the late 1980s. Of the Chinese built version in total four H-5Rs (also designated as H-5C for Cercetare in Romania) were delivered in 1971/72 followed by eight H-5Bs in 1973 and two HJ-5s much later in 1979. Throughout its career the Hong-5s served with Escadrila 38 Aviatie Cercetare at Borcea except for the very last year, when the unit became part of the based Grupul 86 Av.Vt. as Escadrila 862 Recunoastere. During the last years of service only the H-5R variant which was originally the reconnaissance version remained in service. One of the four H-5Rs (307) was modified for target towing. The Hong 5 was grouned in August 2001 following the crash of two of the four H-5Rs within a year including 307 (see above) and 310 which had just emerged from major overhaul by Aerostar Bacau. This aircraft crashed during a rehearsal for the Royal International Air Tattoo. They were officially retired on 7 June 2002. The bomber version which was grounded since the mid 1990s was officially retired a little earlier on 20 December 2000. H-5R: 307 307 m/d mar71, w/o 02aug00, wreck at Borcea sep04 308 308 m/d mar71, std Borcea sep04 309 309 m/d mar71, std Borcea sep04 310 310 m/d mar71, w/o 21jul01, wreck at Borcea sep04 H-5B: 701 701 m/d jan73?, w/o may91 703 703 m/d jan73, std Bacau sep04 704 704 m/d jan73, std Borcea sep04 706 706 m/d jan73, std Bacau sep04 707 707 m/d jan73, std Borcea sep04 708 708 m/d jan73, std Bacau sep04 709 709 m/d jan73, std Borcea sep04 710 710 m/d jan73, w/o 1985 HJ-5: 407 407 m/d jun79, std Bacau sep04 408 408 m/d jun79, std Borcea sep04

IAR-93 Following the strong disapproval of the War Pac invasion in Czechoslovakia in August 1968, one of Romanias closest allies, the Romanian government launched an ambitious programme together with Yugoslavia to built the first non-Soviet combat aircraft in Eastern Europe. The result of the so-called YUROM programme would be a light combat aircraft primarily destined for close air support. On 31 October 1974 the first aircraft, designated IAR-93s in Romania and J-22 Orao in Yugoslavia, took to the air on the same day in Bacau and Mostar respectively. In total four different basic versions emerged from the production plant at IAv Craiova being the IAR-93A, IAR-93B and IAR-93MB. The single seaters were commonly designated as the IAR-93SC (for ‘Simplǎ Comandǎ’ – single command) in the FAR with the IAR-93DC (‘Dublǎ Comandǎ’ – double command) being the two seat version. The IAR-93 entered service with Regt.67 Av.Vt.B. at Craiova on 8 December 1978 becoming operational in 1981 when the unit had twelve aircraft on strength The second unit to reequip with the IAR-93 was Regt.49 Av.Vt.B. at Ianca in 1988. Both units

operated the MiG-15 and MiG-17 before and Regt.49 retired its last aircraft in 1990. Ten IAR-93s were withdrawn from Ianca in 1990 following an incident involving one of the units IAR-93DC. During 1996 and 1997 Regt.49 reportedly also operated 11 IAR-93MBs and three IAR-93DCs. Regt.49 operated the L-39ZA in the mid 1990s as a replacement for the IAR-93s and to supplement the IAR-99s assigned to the unit. At Craiova Regt.67 received some MiG-21Ms due to the poor serviceability of the IAR-93's. By 1998 operation of the IAR-93 was terminated with many airframes remaining uncompleted in the factory in Craiova after production was already ceased in 1992 following the outbreak of the war in Yugoslavia. In 1998 74 IAR-93s were officially still on strength and the majority of the aircraft are now sitting in storage at Craiova awaiting a decision on their fates. 69 aircraft were offered for sale in mid 2004 after the type was officially withdrawn from use on 13 December 2000.

IAR-93 prototypes/pre-production aircraft 001 f/f 31oct74, w/o 20sep79 002 f/f 29jan77, DC prototype Otopeni museum sep04 003 f/f 04jul77, w/o 11nov77 or 24nov77, DC pre-prod. 004 f/f 31oct78, w/o 20feb79, pre-prod. single seater

Preseries 1 The preseries 1 IAR-93A was equipped with the non afterburning Viper Mk632-41 engine. Preserie 1 consisted of 11 IAR-93A single seaters and four two seaters. The four two seaters were built between June 1979 and March 1980 while the single seaters were built between June 1980 and June 1981.

IAR-93A:

109 93180109 m/d 1980, std Craiova sep04 110 93180110 m/d 1980, std Craiova sep03# 111 93180111 m/d 1980, std Craiova oct02# 112 93180112 m/d 1980, std Craiova oct03# 113 9318_113 w/o 08mar83 (Regt.67 Av.Vt.B.) 114 9318_114 pres. Otopeni museum sep04 115 93181115 m/d 1981, std Craiova oct02# 116 93181116 m/d 1981?, std Craiova? aug00 117 93181117 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep03# 118 93181118 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 119 93181119 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 IAR-93DC: 005 93279005 m/d 1979, std Craiova sep04 006 93279006 m/d 1979, std Craiova jun04# 007 93279007 m/d 1979, std Craiova sep03# 008 93280008 m/d 1980, std Craiova oct02#

Preseries 2 The preseries 2 IAR-93A was powered by the same engine as the preseries 1 aircraft. The preseries 2 aircraft featured a number of aerodynamic and avionics improvements. The fifteen preseries 2 single seat aircraft were manufactured in the sep81-jun83 timeblock while the four two seaters were manufactured between sep81-apr83. IAR-93A: 150 93181150 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 151 93181151 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 152 93181152 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 153 93181153 pres Muzeul Militar National Bucuresti jun04 154 93181154 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 155 93182155 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 156 93182156 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep03# 157 93182157 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 158 93182158 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 159 93182159 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 160 93182160 m/d 1982, std Craiova aug00# 161 93182161 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 162 93182162 m/d 1982, std Craiova? never noted sep04# 163 93183163 m/d 1983, std Craiova jun04# 164 93183164 m/d 1983, fate unknown nn Aircraft 164 requires confirmation. The aircraft was never noted and was also not part of the fleet of stored aircraft. As 164 is the last aircraft of this batch it is possible that the aircraft never existed. IAR-93DC: 180 93281180 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 181 93281181 m/d 1981, std Craiova sep04 182 93282182 m/d 1982, std Craiova sep04 183 9328_183 m/d 1982/83, std Craiova oct02 184 93283184 m/d 1983, std Craiova sep04 Note that 183 was no longer on the inventory in sep04.

IAR-93B The IAR-93B was the definate production version of the IAR-93 fitted with two Viper Mk633-41 engines with afterburner. In addition the aircraft featured leading edge root extentions, ventral fins and no fuselage streaks. The IAR-93B entered production in 1987 and 26 were manufactured from May 1987 before production was ceased in September 1991 when the last single seater was delivered. Of the two seater version seven were built between May 1987 and late 1992. Due to to the new engines still not being available the IAR-93MB was launched as an interim version. The IAR-93MB was basicly a IAR-93B but still with the old Viper Mk633-47 engines without afterburner. Fifteen IAR-93MBs were built between September 1985 and April 1987. 200 93184200 prototype f/f 12jul84, w/o 26nov96 (CIZ)

IAR-93MB

201 93185201 m/d 1985, std Craiova, ex std Ianca? oct02# 202 93185202 m/d 1985, std Craiova, ex std Ianca? oct02# 203 93185203 m/d 1985, std Craiova sep04 204 93186204 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 205 93186205 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 206 93186206 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 207 93186207 m/d 1986, std Craiova, ex std Ianca oct02# 208 93186208 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 209 93186209 m/d 1986, std Craiova, ex std Ianca oct02# 210 93186210 m/d 1986, w/o 09jul97 (Grupul 67 Av.Vt.B.) 211 93186211 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 212 93186212 m/d 1986, std Craiova sep04 213 93186213 m/d 1986, std Craiova oct02# 214 93186214 m/d 1986, i/a Timisoara sep03# 215 93186215 m/d 1986, std Craiova oct02# IAR-93B 216 93187216 m/d 1987, std Craiova sep04 217 93187217 m/d 1987, std Craiova sep04 218 93187218 m/d 1987, std Craiova sep04 219 9318_219 m/d 198_, w/o 09apr98 (Grupul 67 Av.Vt.B.) 220 93188220 m/d 1988, std Craiova sep04 221 93188221 m/d 1988, std Criaova sep04 222 93188222 m/d 1988, std Craiova oct02# 223 93188223 m/d 1988, std Craiova sep04 224 93188224 m/d 1988, std Craiova jun04# 225 93188225 m/d 1988, std Craiova sep04 226 93188226 m/d 1988, std Craiova sep04 227 93188227 m/d 1988, std Craiova oct02# 228 93188228 m/d 1988, std Craiova sep04 229 93189229 m/d 1989, std Craiova oct02# 230 93189230 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep03# 231 93189231 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 232 93189232 m/d 1989, std Craiova oct02# 233 93189233 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 234 93189234 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 235 93189235 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 236 9318_236 m/d 1989/90, fate unknown nn 237 93190237 m/d 1990, std Craiova sep04 238 93189238 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 239 931__239 m/d 19??, std Avioane Craiova sep04 240 93191240 m/d 1991, std Craiova sep04 241 93191241 m/d 1991, std Craiova sep04 Twenty-two fuselages with serials in the range of 242-270 have been noted uncompleted in the Avioane Craiova factory on various occasions. It is highly likely that these will eventually be scrapped. 239 is retained by Avioane Craiova in an airworthy condition for possible buyers.

IAR-93DC (IAR-93B trainer version)

600 93287600 m/d 1987, i/a Brasov, noted Craiova sep03?jun02# 601 932__601 m/d 19??, dam.1990 but repaired? sep95 602 932__602 m/d 19??, w/o 25aug92 603 93289603 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 604 93289604 m/d 1989, std Craiova sep04 605 93292605 m/d 1992, std Craiova oct02# 606 932__606 m/d 19??, std Craiova oct03 In addition the fuselages of 608-613 have been noted at Avioane Craiova in an uncompleted state. As with the other unfinished fuselages also these will most likely be scrapped. 606 was no longer on the inventory in sep04. Note that the aircraft was only noted once in oct03. Other aircraft noted in the past were 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 120, 130 and 134 but these are presumed to be incorrect as they most likely do not exist. Another possibility is that they were airframes destined for the Yugoslavian AF.

Note! # behind the last note date indicates that the aircraft was recently offered for sale so should still be current in sep04 but was not noted during a recent visit at its known storage location (mostly Craiova) where it was last noted on the mentioned date. During a visit in september 45 aircraft were seen at Craiova. It is likely that all 69 aircraft which were still on the inventory in mid 2004 are present here.

IAR-99 Based on the experience gained from the development of the IAR-93 the IAR-99 advanced jet trainer was first flown on 21 December 1985. Three prototypes were built including one for static fatigue tests. Production of the IAR-99 commenced in 1987 and in 1991 the first aircraft was delivered by Avioane Craiova, formerly known as IAv Craiova. The aircraft entered service with Regt.49 Av.Vt.B. in the first half of the 90s. By 1998 the unit operated fourteen IAR-99s and shortly afterwards some aircraft were transferred to Grupul 67 Av.Vt.B. at Craiova after this unit ceased operations with the IAR-93. When both units were disbanded at the beginning of the century the aircraft were due for transfer to the Application School at Boboc. By late 2004 finally at least nine aircraft had taken up residence at Ianca to operate with the fast jet training squadron. Before their delivery to Ianca several aircraft underwent maintenance and modifications with Avioane Craiova while four others were assigned to the Centrul de Incercari in Zbor (CIZ) which is the test unit of the Romanian air force. It is likely that the CIZ was absorbed in the IAR-99 element of S.A.p.A. when the IAR-99s were delivered to Ianca. IAR-99 Prototypes S-001 rr 7001, w/o S-002 rr 7002, w/o S-003 rr 7003, to IAR-109 Swift demonstrator IAR-99: 701 std Craiova sep04 702 std Craiova sep04 703 S.A.p.A. sep04 704 S.A.p.A. sep04 705 std Craiova sep04 706 S.A.p.A. sep04 707 S.A.p.A. sep04 708 S.A.p.A. sep04 709 o/h Avioane Craiova sep04 710 w/o? 711 std Craiova sep04 712 std Craiova sep04 713 std Craiova sep04 714 w/o 1995 715 S.A.p.A. sep04 716 S.A.p.A. sep04 717 std Craiova sep04 As can be seen above some confusion exists about the true identity of the IAR109 demonstrator. According to reliable sources S-003 was renumbered into 7003 and converted into IAR-109 Swift demonstrator. However the aircraft is also wearing 715 on its tail suggesting that is is ex IAR-99 715. It was noted with Avioane Craiova in sep04 as the IAR109 demonstrator still wearing both 715 and 7003 however two days later also IAR-99 Standard 715 was noted at Ianca and photoproof exists. It is unknown why IAR-109 7003 is also wearing 715. In addition 714 is reported as being crashed in 1995 as the IAR109 demonstrator.

IAR-99 Soim Several upgrade programs for the standard IAR-99 were launched throughout the 1990s for which 708 and 709 were involved in 1990 when these aircraft were equipped with Honeywell avionics. In 1991 712 was involved in another upgrade program, this time by the Collins Company. The IAR-109 'Swift’ program for which IAI was the systems integrator followed these. Also this program was cancelled but with the experience gained from these projects the IAR-99 Soim (Hawk) was developed. The first prototype (718) was first flown on 22 May 1997 and in mid 2000 a contract was signed for 24 IAR-99 Soims. This order has however been brought back to twelve aircraft. Despite that 721 was displayed at Le Bourget in 2003 with 722 also completed at Craiova it took until mid 2004 before the first aircraft had been delivered to the S.A.p.A at Boboc. The delay was reportedly due to some technical problems with the aircraft. Eventually the aircraft is expected to replace the remaining L-29s and L-39s in service with the Application School at Boboc. 718 Avioane Craiova sep04 719 Avioane Craiova aug00 720 S.A.p.A. sep04 721 S.A.p.A. sep04 722 Avioane Craiova jun03 723 Avioane Craiova, under construction sep04 724 Avioane Craiova, under construction sep04 Despite that most aircraft have been first noted as long ago as 1998/1999 only a few of the Soims have been delivered to date. One S.A.p.A. IAR-99, reported to be a Soim, was lost in an accident on 22 September 2004.

IAR-316B Alouette 3 Romania’s relatively good ties with the West resulted in licence agreements for the production of the Aerospatiale Alouette 3. Production was launched in 1973 with the first IAR-316 being delivered on 23 October of that year. Production continued until the late 80s and it is estimated that slightly over 150 IAR-316s were built by the IAR Company in Brasov, a number of them were

exported or delivered to civil agencies in Romania. In 1990 104 aircraft were in use with the Air Force including 16 of the armed version. The type remained in service with several combined Alouette/Puma regiments until the beginning of the century when these helicopter units were moved to nearby larger fighter bases where they merged with the based units. At the same time the Air Force started to retire the Alouette 3 and by the end of 2003 the IAR-316 remained only with the rotary training squadron at Boboc, which has five or six on strength and the naval element of the helicopter squadron at Mihail Kogalniceanu, which has an estimated number of two or three remaining. The last Alouette 3s are scheduled for retirement within a few years. In mid 2004 60 Alouette 3's were offered for sale by the Romanian ministry of defense. 01 m/d 25oct73?, std Boboc sep04 03 09 m/d 16sep72, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 04 11 m/d 21dec72, std Sibiu-Turnisor aug01# 05 12 m/d 03jan73, , for sale in late 2004, std ?? 06 m/d 28mar73, std Boboc sep04 07 14 m/d 04jan73, (Grupul 73 Elicoptere) may99# 08 std Boboc sep04 09 16 m/d 18jun73, std Sibiu-Turnisor aug01 10 m/d 29jun73, std Boboc sep04 12 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) feb97 13 (GASET) jul01 14 28 m/d 01jan74, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 16 30 m/d 02jan74, std Tuzla feb97# 17 27 m/d 07mar74, std Sibiu-Turnisor aug00# 20 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) aug01 21 38 m/d 18jun74, std Buzau aug00# 22 41 m/d 30aug74, , for sale in late 2004, std ?? 23 37 pres. Muzeul Militar Nat. Bucuresti

(1) jun04

25 54 m/d 18jul75, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 27 68 m/d 24jun76, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 28 std Boboc sep04 29 70 m/d 09jan76, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 30 71 m/d 08jan76, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 32 73 m/d 09jan76, (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug01# 33 (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) oct02 34 34? m/d 26oct76, (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) may99# 35 76 m/d 23dec76, (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) jul01# 36 S.A.p.A. sep04 37 78 m/d 12jan76, (Grupul 60 Elicoptere) jun97# 38 79 m/d 12jan76, std Sibiu-Turnisor aug00# 39 10? Grupul 57 Av.Vt. jun04 42 83 m/d 03jan77 aug99# 43 86 m/d 06jan76, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 44 w/o 01jul99 (Grupul 60 Elicoptere) 45 162? pres Otopeni museum sep04 47 96 m/d 27feb78, (GASET) feb95# 48 w/o 29jan04 (S.A.p.A) 49 98 S.A.p.A oct03 50 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug00 51 S.A.p.A sep04 53 m/d 25dec78, std Boboc sep04 54 m/d 28feb79, std Boboc sep04 56 99 m/d 03jan79, , for sale in late 2004, std ?? 57 m/d 31mar79, std Boboc sep04 58 114 m/d 01jun79, dam. 09may96 (B.58E) aug01# 59 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug01 60 (Regt.73 Elicoptere) jun91 61 S.A.p.A oct02 62 118 m/d 21jul79, (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) aug01# 63 std Boboc sep04 64 181 m/d 10jan79, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 65 124 m/d 12jan79, std Tuzla aug00# 66 (Grupul 57 Av.Vt.) oct02 67 126 m/d 12jan79, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 68 127 m/d 01jan80, (Grupul 59 Elicoptere) sep95# 69 m/d 21may80, std Boboc sep04 70 std Boboc sep04 71 135 m/d 06jan80, (GASET) jul01# 72 m/d 01aug80, std Boboc sep04 73 139 m/d 12jan80, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 74 143 m/d 09jan80, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 75 144 m/d 11jan80, (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug00# 76 145 m/d 12dec?80, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 77 146 m/d 12jan80, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 78 153 m/d 11may81, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 79 154 m/d 22may81, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 80 155 m/d 18jun81, for sale in late 2004, std ??

81 156 m/d 03jul81, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 82 m/d 02dec81, std Boboc sep04 83 168 m/d 14dec81, std Buzau jul01# 84 169 m/d 12jan81, (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug01# 85 170 m/d 03jan82, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 86 pres Otopeni museum sep04 88 173 m/d 01jan84, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 89 196?174 m/d 07jan84, (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug00# 91 (GASET) jul01 92 (GASET) aug98 93 (GASET) rep. as stored jul01 94 (GASET) aug98 95 (GASET) rep. as stored jul01 96 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) aug98 97 (GASET) rep. as stored aug00 99 (Baza 90 Av.d.Tr.) oct02 100 (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) sep95 101 (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) sep95 102 (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) sep95 106 may99 108 187 m/d 12jan85, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 109 188 m/d 12jan85 feb95# 110 189 m/d 12jan85, (Grupul 73 Elicoptere) may99# 111 176?183 m/d 12jan85, (Grupul 59 Elicoptere) may99# 112 184 m/d 12jan85, (Grupul 59 Elicoptere) may99# 113 m/d 01dec85, std Boboc sep04 114 114? m/d 20feb86, (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) jul01# 115 191 m/d 03jan86, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 116 192 m/d 04jan86, std Tuzla aug01# 117 193 m/d 05jan86, for sale in late 2004, std ?? 118 m/d 29jun86, std Boboc sep03 119 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) feb95 120 196 m/d 08jan86, (Grupul 73 Elicoptere) may99# 121 197 m/d 10jan86 1990# 122 m/d 01jun87, std Boboc sep03 123 199 m/d 02jan87, (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) jun00# 124 124? m/d 06jan87, (Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr.) jul01# 125 (Baza 90 Av.d.Tr.) oct02 128 (Grupul 73 Elicoptere) may99 129 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) feb97 152

(2) pres Brasov Henry Coanda academy jun02

(1) 23 in the museum in Bucuresti is believed to have a bogus serial. The real serial is believed to have a '4' as the first digit with the second possibly being a '0'. The c/n of this Alouette is 37 (2) 152 might also have a bogus serial as the serial of this Alouette is way out of range Out of the Alouette 3, IAR developed the IAR-317 being an attack version of the Alouette 3 in the 1980s. The sole aircraft with serial number '01' was seen stored at Brasov in sep98.

IAR-330L Puma In 1977 the licence production of the Alouette 3 was joined by another product out of the Aerospatiale family namely the SA330 Puma. The type joined the Alouette 3 in service in a variety of roles. Throughout the 1990s the Puma served in five dedicated tactical helicopter regiments which had about 12-16 on strength together with a comparable number of Alouette 3s. In addition a number of Pumas were assigned to other units at Someseni, Otopeni and Alexeni for other tasks such as training and VIP transport. Initially the Romanian Puma's were built as IAR-330Hs but before production ended IAR was delivering the Puma's as the improved IAR-330L variant. Aircraft that were delivered as the H model were later converted into the L variant. Same as with the Alouettes the Pumas were transferred to larger bases after the turn of the century where they were placed under control of the resident unit. Today the four units each have only five or six Pumas on strength. An exception was Baza 61 Elicoptere at Titu-Boteni which was until recently the unit flying the IAR-330 SOCAT anti tank version of the Puma. However also this base was recently closed with the SOCATs moving to Otopeni where the unit became part of Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport. 01 w/o 02 std Titu-Boteni jun04 03 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. oct02 04 dam.09may96 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) jun02 06 Converted to SOCAT 07 Baza 57 Aeriana oct02 08 photo 09 1384? m/d 09jan76, (Gr.59 E) orange c/s sep95# 10 137? Baza 57 Aeriana (c/n read as 10 aug01) sep03 11 Baza 93 Aeriana sep03 12 dam.09may96 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) 14 002 Baza 57 Aeriana oct02 18 std Sibiu-Turnisor jun02 20 009 pres Muzeul Militar National Bucuresti jun04

21 std Mihail Kogalniceanu, orange c/s sep03 22 26 38 Baza 93 Aeriana oct02 28 40 converted to SOCAT, 1st prototype 30 31 converted to SOCAT 32 34 Baza 57 Aeriana sep03 35 49 m/d jan80, std Tuzla feb97# 36 50 m/d jan80, std Tuzla feb97# 37 51 m/d jan80, (Grupul 59 Elicoptere) feb97# 38 converted to SOCAT 40 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. oct02 41 55 converted to SOCAT aug03 44 jun00 45 46 52 converted to SOCAT 47 67 m/d mar81, pres Otopeni museum sep04 48 65 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. oct02 49 66 Baza 71 Aeriana

(1) oct03

50 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) jun97 51 68 Baza 57 Aeriana oct02 53 converted to SOCAT 55 72 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 56 73 converted to SOCAT 57 74 (2) o/h Craiova (Baza 93 Aeriana sep03)sep04 59 converted to SOCAT 60 converted to SOCAT 61 converted to SOCAT 62 converted to SOCAT 63 converted to SOCAT 64 converted to SOCAT 65 converted to SOCAT 66 converted to SOCAT 67 82 std Bacau sep04 68 (Grupul 73 Elicoptere) may99 69 converted to SOCAT 71 109 m/d jul84, std Bacau sep04 72 w/o 23dec89 (Regt. 59 Elicoptere) 74 137 m/d nov89?, Baza 95 Aeriana sep04 75 126 Baza 95 Aeriana sep04 76 jun99 77 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) jun99 78 129 converted to SOCAT 79 130 converted to SOCAT 80 (Grupul 60 Elicoptere) feb95 81 102?9 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) aug00 82 std Mihail Kogalniceanu sep03 83 (Baza 58 Aeriana) jun02 84 dam.09may96 and wfu (Baza 58 Aer.) oct02 85 Baza 57 Aeriana jun04 86 converted to SOCAT 87 std Titu-Boteni jun04 88 dam.09may96 and wfu (Grupul 58 Elic.) jun02 90 123 converted to SOCAT 91 128 Baza 71 Aeriana oct03 92 std Titu-Boteni jun04 93 (Grupul 58 Elicoptere) jul01 94 (Regt.58 Elicoptere) jul90 95 120 converted to SOCAT 96 142 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 97 (Grupul 61 Elicoptere) feb97 98 Baza 71 Aeriana sep03 99 o/h Craiova (Baza 71 Aeriana sep03) sep04 100 o/h Craiova (Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. oct02) sep04 101 146 converted to SOCAT 102 154 converted to SOCAT 103 (Centrul 95 T.p.A.S.) oct03 104 136 Baza 57 Aeriana oct02 105 144 Coast Guard, to Dubai as 181? 106 157 m/d dec89, Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 107 156 sep98 108 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr. oct02 109 Baza 90 Av.d.Tr.? Min of Interior sep04 119 dam.09may96 and wfu (Grupul 58 Elic.)

(1) The c/n plate of 47 is showing nov98 as the manufacturing date which is highly unlikely. The meaning of this date remains unknown to date. It might be the date of the last overhaul or probably the conversion date from IAR-330H to IAR-330L. (2) The c/n plate of 57 is showing dec97 as the manufacturing date. Same as with 47 this is unlikely. (3) 72 was the only victim of the 1989 revolution when this helicopter was shot down by rebels while transporting two captured Securitate generals. The two generals as well as the crew of three were killed in this crash. Of the 163 Pumas built by IAR S.A. Ghimbav Brasov 104 IAR-330s were delivered to the FAR but it is noteworthy that by late 1990 only 79 were in service while our database is showing a total of 89 records. Several Pumas were lost in crashes including one, which crashed after take off from Tuzla on 06jan94 killing seven on board. In addition at least five Pumas and two Alouettes were heavily damaged during a hangar fire at Sibiu on 05sep96. The most recent crash occurred on 07apr03 when an as yet unknown Grupul 57 Puma crashed on a flight from Borcea to its home base Mihail Kogalniceanu

IAR-330 SOCAT In 1992 the SOCAT program was initiated as the Puma 2000 program. In 1994 the Israeli Elbit Company was selected as the main contractor for the systems integration and in September 1995 the Romanian Ministry of Defence signed a contract for 24 IAR-330 SOCAT antitank gunship helicopters. The first flight of the first prototype, serialnumber 28, took place on 26 May 1998 followed by the second, serialnumber 41 on 23 October 1999. In early 2001 Escadrila 612 Elicoptere Atac at Titu-Boteni received its first SOCAT. After Titu-Boteni was closed in mid 2004 the SOCAT Pumas took up residence at Otopeni where they became part of Grupul 90. All 24 conversions have been recorded by late 2004 indicating that the program is nearly completed. Note that all SOCAT are conversions from standard IAR-330s rather than newly-built helicopters. 06 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 28 40 IAR Brasov, 1st SOCAT prototype jun00 31 IAR Brasov for SOCAT conversion oct02 38 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) jun04 41 55 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport

(1) sep04

46 52 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 53 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 56 73 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) aug03 59 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 60 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 61 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 62 IAR Brasov for SOCAT conversion oct02 63 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) jun04 64 IAR Brasov for SOCAT conversion oct02 65 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 66 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 69 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) jun04 78 129 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 79 130 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) aug03 86 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 90 123 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04 95 120 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) jun01 101 146 (Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac) jun04 102 154 Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport sep04

IAR-823 Development of this two seat trainer was initiated in the late 1960s with the first flight of the type taking place in July 1973. Deliveries commenced in 1974 and it is reported that approximately 60 from a total of about 80 constructed were in service by 1985 but this number requires confirmation. The type served with the Scoala Militara de Ofiteri de Aviatie (later (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) at Focsani with about 36 remaining in service in the late 1990s but was retired by the end of the century. Many aircraft have found their way to private owners in the US. It is not confirmed that the tie-ups for the serials and construction numbers are identical but pictures indicate that in most cases the former military s/n is the number which is used in the civil register. It is believed that most if not all civil-registered aircraft have a military background. 01 pres Muzeul Militar National Bucuresti jun04 02 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N823JE, rgd. 03oct00 03 std Brasov sep98 04 m/d 1975, to N90823, regd 14aug00 05 to N823DJ 06 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 07 m/d 1974, std Brasov sep98, to N2240Q, rgd 02mar01 08 m/d 1974, to N6134J, regd 30aug01 10 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N721AR, rgd 16nov00 12 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N823SH, rgd 20oct00 15 pres Otopeni museum jun04 17 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N823DK, rgd 08jul03 18 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 19 pres Otopeni museum oct03 20 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 22 m/d 1976, (Gr.19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N66KB, rgd 27mar01 23 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97

24 m/d 1976, to N823WT, rgd 05dec00 25 to N823W, rgd 20feb03 26 std Brasov sep98 27 m/d 1976, std Brasov sep98, to N823JT, rgd 06dec00 28 std Brasov may99 29 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L), picture as N823EH!

(1) jun97

30 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N47XX, rgd 19apr00 31 m/d 1977, to N823BC, rgd 10jul01 32 to N823PL, rgd 17feb00 33 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N823EH, rgd 30may00

(1)

34 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N9047F, rgd 19may00 35 m/d 1977, std Brasov, sep98, to N823RM, rgd 31oct00 36 m/d 1977, to N2087P, rgd 26oct00 38 c/n 45 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N6135 40 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N40160 42 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 43 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 44 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 45 m/d 1978, to N6135B, rgd 30aug00 46 std Brasov sep98 47 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 48 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 49 m/d 1978 (Gr.19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N823PB, rgd 06oct00 50 m/d 1979 (Gr.19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N103DJ, rgd 03may02 51 m/d 1979, pres Henry Coanda Ac. Brasov

(2) oct03

52 m/d 1979 (Gr.19 Av.S.L) jun97, to N60512 rgd 09nov00 53 m/d 1979, std Brasov sep98, to N121AR, regd 26feb03 54 m/d 1975?,std Brasov sep98, to N680MG 55 m/d 1980, to N129GC, regd 11sep00 56 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 57 (Grupul 19 Av.S.L) jun97 68 m/d 1981, to N823HR, regd 17may00 70 to N823LV, regd 27dec01 71 to N823TA, regd 11oct00 73 to N823DC, regd 31jun00 74 m/d 1982, to N20875 75 m/d 1984?, to N2114Z, regd 05may03 76 m/d 1982, to N10MX, regd 23aug00 77 m/d 1982, to N9132X, regd 19sep00 78 m/d 1983, to N823DC, regd 19apr00 Notes: (1) N823EH is painted as 29 but stated as c/n 31 on the US civil register. This might indicate that c/ns and s/n differ for some aircraft. (2) 51 is also reported to have been sold to the USA as N823KU where it was registered on 24apr01 At least four aircraft were lost in fatal crashes on 06aug77, 10apr80, 06jul81 and 20aug91. Two improved trainers were developed from the IAR-823 being the IAR-825TP Triumf (01 and also YR-IGB) and the IAR-831 Pelican (01 and also YR-IGA). Both aircraft made it into the flight test phase but never entered production.

Lockheed C-130B On 25 October 1996 the Romanian Air Force received its first western aircraft when the first two of four former USAF C-130Bs were delivered. The aircraft are augmenting the An-26s operated by Baza 90 Aeriana and since the first mission was launched on 18 March 1997 they are heavily tasked ever since. Three aircraft are in service while the fourth is in use for spares recovery. Currently funds are sought for the purchase of another eight C-130Bs to replace the remaining two An-24 and four An-26 still in service. Recently the FAR acquired a former AMI C-130H which is due to enter service in 2005. 5927 3568 d/d 23oct96, ex 59-1527, B.90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 5930 3576 d/d 12feb97, ex 59-1530, B.90 Av.d.Tr. oct03 6150 3626 d/d 23oct96, ex 61-0950, std Otopeni sep04 6166 3653 d/d 16feb97, ex 61-0966, B.90 Av.d.Tr. sep04 4447 h/o 24jun04, ex MM61991, for B.90 Av.d.Tr. According to some reports one additional aircraft was also offered but was eventually not taken on charge being C-130B 58-0711 3506. The aircraft was due to become 5811 in Romanian service.

Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21

MiG-21F-13 The first variant of the Fishbed was the F-13 (Izdelye (type) 74) variant produced of which twelve aircraft were delivered to Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara-Giarmata AB in October 1962. All came from the plant in Gorki/Nizhni Novogorod-Sormovo (also designated as Zavod No.21 MAP). Another batch of again twelve aircraft, built at the plant in Moskow-Khodynka (Zavod No.30 MAP 'Znamya Truda'), followed August 1963 to equip one squadron of Regt.57 Av.Vt. at Mihail Kogalniceanu. From 1967/68 the aircraft were

spread among the two original units as well as Regt.86 Av.Vt. at Borcea and Regt.91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu. The MiG-21F-13 was retired from active service in 1975/1976. 10 . d/d oct62, pres Otopeni museum sep04 11 d/d oct62 12 d/d oct62 13 d/d oct62 16 742216

(1) d/d oct62, pres Craiova jun04

17 d/d oct62 18 d/d oct62, pres Bucuresti

(2) sep03

20 d/d oct62, i/a Medias, repainted as 709?aug98 21 d/d oct62 22 d/d oct62 23 d/d oct62, pres Bacau sep04 24 d/d oct62 705 740705 d/d aug63, std Deveselu

(5)? sep04

706 740706 d/d aug63? to be confirmed, never noted 707 740707 d/d aug63 708 740708 d/d aug63 709 740709 d/d aug63, i/a Boboc, ex Medias

(3) sep04

710 740710 d/d aug63 711 740711 d/d aug63, pres Otopeni museum jun04 712 740712 d/d aug63 713 740713 d/d aug63 714 740714 d/d aug63, pres Otopeni museum sep04 715 740715 d/d aug63 801 740801 d/d aug63, pres Borcea

(4) sep04

(1) As 16 was built in Gorki, the full c/n should be 74212216. The aircraft is preserved at the Facultetaj de Electrotechnica. (2) 18 is preserved at the Grupul Scolar de Aeronautica Henri Coanda (3) According to some reports 709 which was preserved at Medias was the former 20 but this requires confirmation (4) One aircraft with serial 801 was offered for sale in late 2004. The identity of the aircraft at Borcea therefore requires confimation (5) One MiG-21F-13 was seen stored at Deveselu in sep04 and with 705 being offered for sale was are pretty confident that this is the aircraft involved. At least one MiG-21F-13 was lost on 29 September 1964 killing the pilot.

MiG-21PF (MiG-21RFM) Entering service in 1965 was the MiG-21PF (Izdelye 76) which was produced at Zavod No.30 MAP production plant in Moscow. In Romania the aircraft was designated MiG-21RFM for Radar Fortaj Modernizat or Radar-Afterburner-Modernised. According to Romanian sources 38 were delivered, enough to equip three squadrons. The first batch of fourteen aircraft to arrive in Romania was delivered on 20 January 1965 followed by the remaining 24 aircraft on 18 July 1965. According to some sources the first aircraft arrived at Borcea to equip a squadron of the based Regt.86 Av.Vt. in 1965 but according to other sources the MiG-21PF was based in Borcea not earlier than 1969 serving alongside the MiG-21F-13. Also Regt.91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu and Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara are known to have operated the MiG-21PF throughout its operational career. By 1971 twenty MiG-21RFMs were assigned to the Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei at Bacau which was the Romanian fast jet conversion unit. Here the aircraft was finally retired in the early 1990s. In 1997/98 a considerable number of MiG-21RFMs were still in storage at Bacau. The aircraft had however departed by the turn of the century, most if not all of them being transferred to the storage centre at Craiova. We have strong reasons to believe that the MiG-21RFM soldiered on for quit a while with Grupul 91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu after the type had been retired at Bacau possibly as late as the turn of the century. This however requires confirmation. 705 760705 d/d jan65, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 706 760706 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 707 760707 d/d jan65, (Regt.86 Av.Vt.) to be conf. sep98 708 760708 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 709 760709 d/d jan65, std Criaova, ex Bacau sep04 710 760710 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 711 760711 d/d jan65, std Criaova, ex Bacau sep04 712 760712 d/d jan65, std Bacau (to be confirmed) sep98 713 760713 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 714 760714 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 715 760715 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 801 760801 d/d jan65, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 802 760802 d/d jan65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 803 760803 d/d jan65, std Bacau (to be confirmed) jun97 401 761401 d/d jul65, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 403 761403 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 404 761404 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 405 761405 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 406 761406 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 407 761407 d/d jul65, std Bacau, (to be confirmed) sep98 408 761408 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 409 761409 d/d jul65, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 410 761410 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 411 761411 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 412 761412 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04

413 761413 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 414 761414 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 415 761415 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 501 761501 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 502 761502 d/d jul65, , tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 503 761503 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 504 761504 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 505 761505 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 507 761507 d/d jul65, std Devesulu, ex Bacau sep04 508 761508 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 509 761509 d/d jul65, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 510 761510 d/d jul65, std Deveselu, ex Bacau sep04 609 761609 d/d jul65, std Deveselu sep04 According to an article in AFM, 407 was not delivered to Romania. The aircraft was noted however at Bacau in sep98 and is fitting in the batch 14 aircraft delivered. The sighting of this aircraft however requires confirmation as the aircraft has not been noted ever since. Also 502 was not listed in the article in AFM but this one and 507 (confirmed as stored at Bacau in addition the the MiG-21M with the same number!) are likely to make up the number of 38 aircraft delivered.

MiG-21PFM/PFMA (MiG-21RFMM) Next in line in the Romanian Fishbed family was the MiG-21PFM (Izdelye 94A), also known as the MiG-21SPS and, in Romania as the MiG-21RFMM for Radar Fortaj Modernizat Modernizat. Units that operated the MiG-21RFMM include the Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei at Bacau, which operated the type for a brief period in the late 1960s when it had eight aircraft on strength. The unit at Bacau disposed of the MiG-21PFM during the 1970s but reequipped with the MiG-21PFM again in a later stage operating the type to well in the 1990s until converting to the Lancer in 1997. Another unit to fly this Fishbed variant was Regt.86 Av.Vt. at Borcea which transitioned to the MiG-21RFMM in 1974 and operated the type until 1999 when the unit converted to the MiG-21 Lancer. Also Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara operated the MiG-21RFMM but the exact details remain unknown. Both units at Borcea and Bacau transferred a number of aircraft to Grupul 91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu where a small number of MiG-21RFMMs continued to serve until 2001/2002 when the unit was disbanded. MiG-21PFM: 4707 94A4707 d/d 1966, std Deveselu, ex Bacau sep04 4708 94A4708 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 4709 94A4709 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 4710 94A4710 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 4711 94A4711 d/d 1966, std Deveselu, ex Bacau sep04 4712 94A4712 d/d 1966, std Deveselu, ex Bacau sep04 4713 94A4713 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 4714 94A4714 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 4715 94A4715 d/d 1966, i/a Boboc, ex Medias sep04 4801 94A4801 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 4802 94A4802 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 4803 94A4803 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 4804 94A4804 d/d 1966, (Regt.86 Av.Vt.) jun91 4907 94A4907 d/d 1966, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 5809 94A5809 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5810 94A5810 d/d nov67, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 5811 94A5811 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5812 94A5812 d/d nov67, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 5813 94A5813 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5814 94A5814 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5815 94A5815 d/d nov67, std Craiova sep04 5903 94A5903 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5904 94A5904 d/d nov67, std Deveselu sep04 5906 94A5906 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5907 94A5907 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5908 94A5908 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 5910 94A5910 d/d nov67, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 6405 94A6405 d/d nov67, std Craiova sep04 The first batch MiG-21PFM's van het type 94A, reported by Romanian sources as thirteen aircraft, arrived in 1966 followed by another batch of reportedly again thirteen in 1967. This totals twenty-six aircraft while there are 28 in the list above, some aircraft however require confirmation. MiG-21PFMA: 8003 94N8003 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8004 94N8004 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8005 94N8005 d/d feb68, i/a Boboc (ex std) sep04 8006 94N8006 d/d feb68, std Deveselu, ex Borcea sep04 8007 94N8007 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 8008 94N8008 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 8009 94N8009 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 8010 94N8010 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 8011 94N8011 d/d feb68, std Borcea may99 8012 94N8012 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8013 94N8013 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o

8014 94N8014 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 8015 94N8015 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8101 94N8101 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8102 94N8102 d/d feb68, std Deveselu sep04 8103 94N8103 d/d feb68, std Deveselu, ex Borcea sep04 8104 94N8104 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 8105 94N8105 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8106 94N8106 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Bacau sep04 8107 94N8107 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 8108 94N8108 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 8109 94N8109 d/d feb68, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 8110 94N8110 d/d feb68, std Craiova, ex Borcea sep04 Additional MiG-21PFMs followed in 1968 albeit in another variant being the MiG-21PFMA (type 94N) According to unconfirmed reports 21 MiG-21PFMAs have been delivered but note that there are 23 in our list. During a visit to Deveselu in September 2003 and 2004 seven MiG-21RFMMs were seen in storage but three remained unidentified. We however believe that the aircraft listed above are correct. Currently 33 MiG-21RFMMs are stored at Craiova where they are part of a total of 70 stored MiG-21's.

MiG-21M One of the most numerous Fishbed variants in Romanian service was the third generation MiG-21M (Izdelye 96A). According to Romanian sources 60 aircraft were delivered to the FAR in 1969 and 1970. All aircraft were built at Zavod 30 MAP ‘Znamya Truda’ in Moscow. The exact deployment of the MiG-21Ms is unknown but it is known that Regimentul 57 Av.Vt. was the main user of the type by 1975 when 42 aircraft were in service with the regiment. After two squadrons of the unit converted to the MiG-23 from 1979 it transferred a part of its aircraft to other units including fourteen to the Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei at Bacau where they replaced the last MiG-15s with this training unit operating alongside the MiG-21RFM and MiG-21RFMM. By 1983 Regt.57 still had 32 MiG-21Ms assigned. Ten of these were delivered to the newly formed Regt.71 Av.Vt. in 1986. The last aircraft were disposed of to the Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei at Bacau following the delivery of the MiG-29s in 1989. Another unit that is known to have operated the MiG-21M at some time is Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara. In addition also Regt.67 Av.Vt.B. at Craiova operated one squadron of MiG-21Ms between 1991 and 1995, due to serviceability problems of the units IAR-93s. By 1997 34 surviving MiG-21Ms were converted to Lancer-A status. A small number of MiG-21Ms have been noted in storage at Craiova and Deveselu but unfortunately fates for the remainder remain unknown to date. A substantial number of these aircraft were probably lost in accidents before the Lancer programme commenced. As can be seen in the list below which only has 59 aircraft, a considerable number of aircraft require confirmation. 211 961211 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 212 961212 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 213 961213 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 214 961214 d/d aug69, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 215 961215 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 301 961301 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 302 961302 d/d aug69?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 303 961303 d/d aug69?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 304 961304 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 305 961305 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 306 961306 d/d aug69, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 307 961307 d/d aug69, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 308 961308 d/d aug69, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 503 961503 d/d aug69, std Deveselu sep04 504 961504 d/d aug69, std Craiova sep04 505 961505 d/d aug69?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 506 961506 d/d aug69, converted to Lancer-A 507 961507 d/d aug69, std Craiova sep04 708 962708 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 709 962709 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 710 962710 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 711 962711 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 712 962712 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 713 962713 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 714 962714 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 715 962715 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 801 962801 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 802 962802 d/d sep70, tbc, picture only, possibly w/o 803 962803 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 804 962804 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 805 962805 d/d sep70, std Craiova sep04 806 962806 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 807 962807 d/d sep70, std ??

(1), ex Bacau sep04

808 962808 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 809 962809 d/d sep70, std ??

(1) sep04

810 962810 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 811 962811 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 812 962812 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 813 962813 d/d sep70, (Grupul 67 Av.Vt.B.), fate? feb97 814 962814 d/d sep70, tbc, picture only, possibly w/o

815 962815 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 901 962901 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 902 962902 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 903 962903 d/d sep70, i/a Boboc, ex Medias sep04 904 962904 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 905 962905 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 906 962906 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 907 962907 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 908 962908 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 909 962909 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 910 962910 d/d sep70, std Bacau, fate unknown sep98 911 962911 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 912 962912 d/d sep70, (Regt.67 Av.Vt.B.), fate? jun95 913 962913 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 914 962914 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 915 962915 d/d sep70?, tbc, never noted, possibly w/o 3001 963001 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 3002 963002 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A 3003 963003 d/d sep70, converted to Lancer-A (1) MiG-21Ms 807 and 809 were both on the inventory in sep04 but their storage location is unknown. It is confirmed that they are not among those in open storage at Craiova.

MiG-21MF The MiG-21MF (Izdelye 96F) was the improved successor of the MiG-21M and deliveries commenced in September 1972. Between 1972 and 1974 37 aircraft, all produced at the Zavod No.30 plant in Moscow, entered service with the Romanian Air Force. These were followed in 1975 by an additional number of aircraft manufactured at the productionplant in Gorki where most of the Fishbeds for the Soviet air force were produced. These were from the MiG-21MF-75 version and these aircraft are listed below. Only few details are known but the majority of the type is known to have served with Regt.71 Av.Vt. at Campia Turzii, Regt.86 Av.Vt. at Borcea and Regt.91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu. The latter was the last operator of the type before it lost its aircraft to the Lancer conversion line. Thirty Moskow built MiG-21MFs were converted to Lancer-A status by Aerostar at Bacau as well as one which was being converted to Lancer-C status as a replacement for another aircraft that crashed during a post conversion check flight with Aerostar. *** serials *** (1) 9611 was the very last Lancer conversion and was delivered on 16apr03 (2) 9809 was the Lancer-A prototype and was first flown on 22aug95 (3) the wreck of 9811 which crashed on 26mar02 was noted at Campia Turzii in sep03 The MiG-21MF constructionnumber consists of six digits as can be seen above. 96 is for Izdelye 96F (MiG-21MF), the second pair is the batchnumber in which the aircraft was built while that last pair is the position in this badge ranging from 01 through 15. MiG-21MF-75 The last single seat MiG-21s to enter service with the FAR were a batch Gorki built MiG-21MFs which is unofficially designated as MiG-21MF-75 due to its similarity of the cockpit layout to that of the Izdelye 75 MiG-21bis. According to Romanian sources 35 aircraft were delivered in November 1975 but the actual number of aircraft might be slightly higher but confirmation is required. Reg.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara was an all MiG-21MF-75 operator throughout the 1990s and also Regt.91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu is thought to have operated the type in this period. Most of the aircraft of this type remained in service when the Lancer conversion programme began and eventually seven were converted to Lancer-A standard and another 25 to Lancer-C standard leaving only one surviving aircraft unmodified being 6040 which serves as a gate guard at Timisoara. MiG-21MF-75 5902 was presented at Le Bourget in 1993 as a marketing object for the MiG-21-2000 upgrade project by the Israeli company IAI. According to unconfirmed reports the aircraft was lost while in service with Grupul 91 at Deveselu. *** serials *** Notes: (1) The l/n of 6421 was actually read off as 0508 but is almost certainly 0511. 0508 might be a 'slam' error. (2) 6607 was the Lancer-C prototype and first flown on 06nov96, the aircraft was used by Aerostar until now but might be redelivered to the Air Force after its overhaul has been completed. (3) 6721 was the first production Lancer-C. The aircraft was temporarily stored at Campia Turzii in sep03 awaiting maintenance. (4) 7017 crashed following a post Lancer-C conversion check flight while still being with Aerostar. The aircraft was replaced by MiG-21MF 9611. The five digit 'factory numbers' are preceded by '960' Again as with the MiG-21MF 96 is for Izdelye 96F while the 0 indicates that this is a Gorki built aircraft. The four digit numbers behind the factory number are the line-numbers of the aircraft. The number consists of the batch number and the position of the aircraft in this batch ranging from 01-25. Line numbers 0421 and/or 0507 might also have been operated by the Romanian Air Force but were possibly lost before the fall of the Ceausescu regime. Several other aircraft were recorded in the past such as 5742, 5891, 5918, 6018, 6315, 6579, 6710 and 6813 but these are most likely misreads probably caused by tarpaulins covering part of the serial and/or heatwaves.

MiG-21R (MiG-21C) The first MiG-21Rs (Izdelye 94R) arrived in Romania on 12 December 1968. In Romania this variant was designated MiG-21C (for Cercetare – Reconnaissance) for service with Escadrila 31 Aviatie Cercetare. This unit which was based at Timisoara before being disbanded in June 1998, remained the sole operator of the MiG-21R throughout its carreer. A total of ten Fishbed-Hs were

delivered to Romania between 1968 and 1972 all were built at MAP productionplant in Gorki. After being retired from service the aircraft remained at Timisoara-Giarmata before being transferred to Craiova for storage. *** serials *** As with the MiG-21MF-75 the MiG-21Rs delivered in 1972 received the new six digit factorynumbers and four digit line numbers inside the nosewheelbay. As with the earlier aircraft their five digit numbers are preceded by 94R0

MiG-21bis The MiG-21bis (Izdelye 75A) is the 4th Generation Fishbed. One aircraft was acquired by Aerostar from an unknown former Soviet state during the late 1990's to serve as the Lancer III prototype. It has to be noted that despite that the aircraft is wearing the grey Lancer-C colourscheme as well as Romanian roundels, it never operated with the Romanian air force. The aircraft was converted and tested by Aerostar in order to attract orders from foreign customers. It made its first flight from Bacau on 6 oktober 1998. For the sake of completeness the aircraft is included in this article. *** serials *** The aircraft is interesting in that it was only the second MiG-21bis built which would indicate that the aircraft was built in Gorki in 1972. The full factorynumber is 75001012. It has to be noted that the factorynumbers of the aircraft built in Gorki are often preceded by the letter 'N'.

MiG-21U (MiG-21DC) In May 1965 Romania received a small number of MiG-21U (Izdelye 66) trainers. The MiG-21U was the training version of the first generation Fishbeds. Deliveries include four MiG-21U-400 variants which can be recognised from its small tails as well as three dragshute equipped MiG-21U-600s. All came from the 'Znamya Truda' plant in Moskow which produced all MiG-21Us for the export market. The U/US and UM versions were sometimes designated as MiG-21DC. Several units operated the MiG-21U before the type was withdrawn from service reportedly in the early 1990s but a small number might have been retained in service with Grupul 86 at Borcea and Grupul 91 at Deveselu but this requires confirmation. MiG-21U-400 *** serials *** MiG-21U-600 *** serials *** It is reported that a small number of MiG-21U have been delivered to India after they had been retired by the Romanian Air Force but as all aircraft exept 1716 are accounted for, this is unlikely. However, despite being unlikely, it cannot be completely ruled out that some additional MiG-21U's have been on strength in the past. In 1998 (U-3001) and 1999 (U-661) two Indian Air Force MiG-21U-400 were seen at the Aerostar company in Bacau and two MiG-21Us in Romanian type camouflage can be seen on an Indian Air Force website suggesting that these aircraft are former Romanian air force aircraft. U-3001 mentioned above should however be a former Hungarian air force MiG-21U-400 which was delivered to India in 1987. The aircraft on the picture, U-661, is a MiG-21U-600 eliminating 1716 as a possible candidate. It is likely that the aircraft noted in 1998 and 1999 went to Aerostar for some kind of maintenance.

MiG-21US (MiG-21DC) With a considerable number of second generation MiG-21PF and MiG-21PFMs entering service also the second generation trainer version entered service with the FAR. In 1969 and 1970 probably ten MiG-21US (Izdelye 68) were delivered, all manufactured at the Zavod No.31 MAP plant in Tblisi in the former Soviet state of Georgia. Note that twelve aircraft are listed below. By 1971 all were assigned to the Centrul de Instructie a Aviatiei at Bacau. Later the aircraft were dispersed among other units with the last aircraft serving with Grupul 91 Av.Vt. at Deveselu until at least 2001 when one MiG-21US participated in an air show at Ianca. In late 2004 there were still six MiG-21US in storage at both Craiova and Deveselu. *** serials *** MiG-21US 3908 (Bacau feb95), 3910 (Bacau, various occasions) and 4309 (Bacau jun90) were not delivered to the Romanian Air Force according to an article about the Romanian MiG-21 in AFM. According to the same article 3407, 3408, 3409, 3410 and 4107 have been delivered but none of these aircraft have ever been noted. It is likely that of those mentioned above some are in error except for 3910 which was noted on various occasions and for which photo proof exists.

MiG-21UM (MiG-21DC) The MiG-21UM (Izdelye 69) was the main trainer version in service. Initially 25 aircraft were delivered in several batches between September 1972 and November 1980. Five additional MiG-21UMs followed during in early 1990s from an unkown supplier making a total of 30 MiG-21UMs in Romanian service. The type was assigned to all units flying Fishbeds. Ten MiG-21UMs were included in the Lancer upgrade programme but this number was eventually altered to fourteen. Some unmodified aircraft are stored at Craiova while others are stored with Aerostar at Bacau awaiting their fates. *** serials *** (1) 327 was the Lancer-B prototype, the aircraft was first flown 06may96 Note! # means that these aircraft were last noted on the mentioned last note date but are confirmed to still be on the inventory in sep04 most likely at their mentioned respective storage location.

It is believed that the first batch in September 1972 included another as yet unknown MiG-21UM. The origin of the five Mongols that were delivered after 1989 is unknown. According to Romanian sources they are former East German Air Force aircraft but this is highly unlikely as all former NVA MiG-21UMs are accounted for. MiG-21UM 516999339 has been noted in storage with Aerostar at Bacau on various occasions over the past years but is not believed to be a Romanian AF aircraft. The aircraft was last noted in August 2001 but appeared to be no longer present by September 2003.

MiG-21 Lancer-A *** serials ***

MiG-21 Lancer-B *** serials ***

MiG-21 Lancer-C *** serials ***

Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-23

MiG-23MF The mighty MiG-23 entered service in 1979 with the delivery of the first two MiG-23UBs on 23 January 1979. The first twelve MiG-23MFs arrived on 19 May 1979 for service with the 1

st squadron of Regt.57 Av.Vt. at Mihail Kogalniceanu where they replaced a

similar number of MiG-21Ms. Another unit to re-equip with the MiG-23 was Regt.93 Av.Vt. which also received twelve single seaters between September 1979 and May 1980. Deliveries continued until 1983 when 37 single seaters had been delivered along with originally seven MiG-23UBs. In 1990 42 MiG-23s were surviving and until the mid 1990s two thirds of the fleet was assigned to two squadrons of Regt.57 Av.Vt. while the remainder served with a squadron of Regt.93 Av.Vt. at Timisoara-Giarmata. In the early 90s Regt.57 Av.Vt. transferred another fourteen Floggers to Timisoara after two squadrons of Regt.57 had converted to the MiG-29. At Timisoara the additional Floggers enabled this regiment to transfer fourteen MiG-21s to other units. In 1998 also the last airworthy Floggers were transferred to Timisoara but by 2000 only four aircraft remained active after the remainder of the fleet was officially retired on 25 april 2000. These were MiG-23MF 203 and 205 and MiG-23UB 135 and 137. The remaining four aircraft were finally grounded in November 2001 and eventually retired on 7 June 2002. In September 2003 33 Floggers were still in storage at Timisoara with one additional aircraft guarding the main gate. Another five aircraft were still in storage at Mihail Kogalniceanu. ***serials*** Note! # behind the last note date indicates that the aircraft was recently offered for sale so should still be current in sep04 but was not noted during a recent visit at its known storage location (mostly Timisoara) where it was last noted on the mentioned date. In addition to those mentioned above, 220 was noted in storage at Timisoara on one occasion in may99 while another one, 248 was noted active with Grupul 93 Av.Vt. in aug98. 403 was noted once with Grupul 93 Av.Vt. in aug98 while 408 apeared in an exellent article about the MiG-23 in Romanian service in a recent issue of AFM by Danut Vlad. All are believed to be incorrect. 240-247 were stated as 390215140-390215147 in the article Air Forces Monthly but this is incorrect. The constructionnumbers of these aircraft are as listed above. The five digit numbers, believed to be unintelligible computer generated numbers as with for example the MiG-21MF-75s, are preceded by '03902'. The '039' is a code, which indicates that the aircraft was built at Zavod No.30 MAP in Moscow. '02' stands for Izdelye 02 which is MiG designation for the MiG-23MF. The last five of this number are usually stencilled on various places on the aircraft. The five digit numbers behind the factory number is the line number of the aircraft. The number consists of the batch number (the first three digits) and the position of the aircraft in this batch ranging from 10-15 in early production batches and 01-10 in later production batches. The latter five digit numbers can be found on a series of small plates of which three are in the right main wheel bay. The fourth plate is in the nosewheel bay of the aircraft, to be seen when facing the rear of the bay. The plate in the nosewheel bay is believed to represent the true identity of the aircraft while it is believed that the other plates might indicate the c/n of other components of the aircraft such as the wings.

MiG-23UB The Romanian Air Force originally received seven MiG-23UB trainers. As is mentioned under the MiG-23MFs, the first two aircraft were delivered on 23 January 1979 to Regt.57 Av.Vt. after which flying operations commenced on 23 February 1979. Two others followed on 17 July 1979 with deliveries of the remaining aircraft continuing until august 1983 with one additional aircraft delivered as an early attrition replacement for 110 and 140 which had both crashed by 1985. In total four MiG-23UBs were lost in accidents and in 1996 two additional MiG-23UBs were acquired from the Russian Federation as attrition replacements and not Ukrainia as stated in the article in AFM. *** serials *** Another aircraft was 138 noted in aug98 but this is in error. As with the MiG-23MFs there are again two types of numbers on the two seaters. Export MiG-23UB typically have a number starting with 'A103' The meaning of this is unknown. The following two digits indicate the year of production while the following number is a follow-on number. As can be seen on 311 and 512, aircraft for the Soviet market had different construction number systems. In case of the aircraft above the first digit refers to the last digit of the

year of manufacture (in case of 311 1977 and in case of 512 1979). '90' is a code for the MAP plant in Irkutsk (Zavod No.39) while the following two digits give the batch number and the last two the position in this batch (probably 20 in one batch). The number starting with '1250' appears to be some kind of a sequence number however some aircraft also have '2U-..' on the same plate being the Izdelye 2U for a MiG-23UB and a number which also appears to be the sequence number!

Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-29 During the collapse of the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu in December 1989 the Romanian Air Force was in the process of receiving a batch of initially eighteen MiG-29 Fulcrums comprising of fourteen MiG-29 (Izdelye 9-12) Fulcrum-A single seaters and four MiG-29UB (Izdelye 9-51) Fulcrum-B trainers. Two additional single seaters were later added as attrition replacements for two aircraft that were lost due to various causes. In addition one MiG-29 Izdelye 9-13 (Fulcrum-C) was received from Moldova in 1992. Between 1989 and 2003 the aircraft were assigned to Regt.57 Av.Vt. (later Grupul 57 Av.Vt.) Serviceability was poor during the last years as the number of aircraft in need for an overhaul increased. Despite plans to overhaul and upgrade at least a dozen Fulcrums the Romanian government decided to retire the MiG-29 in January 2003. A decision which was met with great unbelief and disapproval within the FAR. The decision led to the resignation of many of the disillusioned former MiG-29 pilots. All MiG-29s were offered for sale in late 2004.

MiG-29 *** serials *** Notes: (1) 48 was undergoing overhaul with Aerostar when it was decided to retire the Fulcrum fleet after which work was terminated. (2) 53 is the only MiG-29 9-13 Fulcrum-C and was delivered from the Moldovan Air Force in 1992. (3) In 2000 an Aerostar company launched the ‘Sniper’ programme together with Elbit from Israel as an upgrade package for the Fulcrum. The program was abandoned following the retirement of the MiG-29s in Januari 2003. MiG-29 ‘67’ served as the programmes prototype. The single seater five digit factorynumbers are preceded by 29603 while the four digit number is the linenumber of the aircraft which can be found in the nosewheel bay of the aircraft.

MiG-29UB *** serials *** (1) 22 was damaged during a landing incident in 1998 and was with Aerostar when the Fulcrum fleet was retired.

Mil Mi-8 Before IAR Brasov launched the production of the Alouette 3 and the Puma, Romania purchased the first of thirty-six Mi-8 Hips the first of which arrived in 1968 with deliveries continuing until the late 1980s. By 1990 there were still 27 Hips on strength of the Air Force. The main operator of the Mi-8 was Grupul 94 Elicoptere at Alexeni which was disbanded in 2001 and at the time had 17 Mi-8s on strength. Other units were Escadrila 132 Elicoptere at Someseni near Cluj-Napoca operating four Hips until 1996 and Grupul 90 Av.d.Tr. which operated three Mi-8PS but gained some additional aircraft following the disbandment of Grupul 94 Elicoptere. The majority of the remaining Mi-8s is currently in storage at Ianca where at least nine were seen in open store in September 2003. Three Mi-8PS were transferred to and are still in service with the police air squadron at Baneasa airport. *** serials *** Notes: (1) Special VIP version based on the Mi-8T (2) 707 regd YR-EVR(1) on 05jan71 and canx 15nov76 and trfd to the FAR (3) 708 regd YR-EVS on 05jan76 and canx 15nov76 and trfd to the FAR, also reported to be a Mi-8PS (4) 709 regd YR-EVP(1) on 05jan71 and canx 17nov76 and trfd to the FAR as 09 (5) 710 regd YR-EVR(2), canx 05sep85. To Yemen AF as 710 and operated for the PLO as SU-YAA (6) 711 regd YR-EVI and canx 17nov76 and trfd to FAR (7) 720 regd ER-MGE 2004. (8) 722 regd YR-EVP, in 1983 rr YR-EVP(2) canx 05sep85. To Yemen AF as 722 and operated for the PLO as SU-YAB. (9) 728 regd ER-MGF 2004 As can be seen above several aircraft are not confirmed to have been in military service. We believe however that it is highly likely that the complete batch of Mi-8s delivered to Romania were in government service. The numbers presented as construction numbers are actually some kind of export numbers rather than construction numbers except for those listed under 03,04.05 and 10 which are batch 26 helicopters. Note that the list of export numbers usually starts after the last helicopter which retained its original c/n. One missing Hip in the list is 10733. According to reliable German sources this helicopter was delivered to the NVA. However one as yet unidentified Mi-8T with serial '33' was noted at Alexeni with Grupul 94 in June 1997. As can be seen above there are no candidates for this helicopter. It might be possible that the original German Hip was replaced at last minute by a helicopter originally destined for Romania and that the aircraft therefore retained its Romanian export number. As with the other Romanian examples from 10728 onwards also the German aircraft is a Mi-8PS. As it seems unlikely that the serie of export numbers is incomplete it is likely that a replacement 10733 was delivered to Romania possibly being the aircraft noted at Alexeni in June 1997. This might explain why 33 was reported as being a Mi-8T instead of a Mi-8PS which one might expect.

Mil Mi-17 Five examples of this more modern version of the Mi-8 were delivered to Romania. Two serving with Grupul 90 were withdrawn from service in the late 90s, strangely enough. The remaining three were assigned to the police squadron at Baneasa. One additional Mi-17 was delivered following the crash of 109 in September 1995.

*** serials ***

SA365N Dauphin Four SA365N were delivered as the personal transports for Nicolea Ceausescu serving with the transport regiment at Otopeni. The aircraft were hardly flown during the 1990s and at least some of them were offered for sale. One aircraft was noted in September 2003 at the civil airport at Bacau still wearing its military colours. According to the latest information, the helicopter is operated by the Ministry of Interior which also operates a small number of Mi-8's.

*** serials ***

Government flying agencies As can be read under the Antonov types as well as the Mi-8/17 several government operated organisations operated a number of these types. In a former communist state as Romania it is a thin line between civil (government owned) and military aviation. The majority of the military transport types appear to have been operated in civillian markings in the past alongside others that never appeared in military service such as LAR Romanian Airlines which operated from Buchurest-Banease airport between 1975 and 1997 being a division of TAROM and especially Romavia which was founded in 1990 by the Romanian government. The latter also operated some Mi-8/17s in the VIP transport role. It is likely that this was to generate some money to offset some of the operating costs for the Romanian transport fleet. Romavia also operated a considerable number of An-24s and some IL-18s which were never operated by the Air Force. An additional government owned company is Aviatia Utilitara which is operating a number of Alouette 3s, Ka-26 and a large number (up to 150) of An-2s for agricultural tasks such as crop spraying, a task carried out by the government in the communist days as all farms were owned by the state. Some Aviatia Utilitara An-2s were (temporary) transferred to the Romanian Air Force in the late1970s. Aircraft which need to be mentioned in this article are those of the government VIP flight of Romavia. *** serials *** In addition to these aircraft also a number of helicopters are known to be in service with the Ministry of Interior. Only little is known about these helicopters. At Otopeni at least one of the former air force Dauphins is in service with this ministry as well as possibly some Mi-8s and Pumas. Also the Mi-8s and Mi-17s of the police flight at Baneasa might be in service with the Ministry of Interior. In the past also some Alouette 3s have been noted wearing police titles.

Abbreviations Academia Fortelor Aeriene - Air Force Academy Aviatie Baza de Transport - Transport Air Base Escadrila - Squadron Grupul Aviatie Scoala de Legatura - Basic Aviation Training Group Grupul Aviatie Vânâtoare - Fighter Aviation Group Grupul Aviatie Vânâtoare si Vânâtoare-Bombardament - Fighter and Fighter-Bomber Aviation Group. Grupul Elicoptere - Helicopter Group Reconuastere / Cercetare - Reconnaissance Scoala de Aplicatie a Fortelor Aeriene - 'Basic Training' Air Force School Credits: AIM, Air Forces Monthy, Bob Archer, Aviatia de Lupta Reactiva in Romania, Frank van der Avoort, Joost van de Burgt, Marijn van de Burgt, Marian Coste, Paul Gross, Bart Gruyters, Alex Hamelink, International Air Power Review, Colin Johnson, Marcel de Jong, Paul Kievit, Berry Kluytmans, Carlo Kuit, Chris Lofting, Hans Looijmans, Hugo Mambour/Aviascribe, Jeroen Nijmeijer, Paul Coppin/Touchdown Tours, Robin Polderman www.arrow-aviation.nl, Patrick Rougies, Dimitri Schmidt, Soviet Transports, Jeffrey van Summeren. Paul van der Linden

Photocaptions: Page 122: On this picture a group of Lancer-A and Lancer-Bs is being turned around after landing before being towed back to the flightline for another sortie. (Patrick Rougies, Bacau, 15 September 2004) Page 123: In 1984 the aircraft and helicopters of the Romanian air force lost their local variant of the communist star, common in use with the countries within the Warsaw Pact, which was replaced by a roundel in the colours of the Romanian flag. The tail of the stored MiG-23 on this picture is clearly showing the signs of the old star underneath the new roundel. (Berry Kluytmans) Page 126: The badge of the Escadrila Aerophotogrammetrica is worn by the An-30s of Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport. (Paul Kievit) Page 126: This badge is that of Baza 90 Aviatie de Transport "Gheorghe Banciulescu" as it can be found on a number of aircraft of this unit. (Paul Kievit) Page 128: In the mid 1990s Avioane Craiova launched a program called the IAR-109 Swift. For this project one of the IAR-99 prototypes was used for the sole IAR-109 Swift prototype. The project was aimed at the export market but unfortunately for Avioane Craiova no orders were received. Currently the aircraft is hangared at Avioane at Craiova in an immaculate condition. (Craiova, 12 September 2004, Paul Gross) Page 129: The first Aero L-29 Delfins from a total of 52 aircraft operated by the Romanian Air Force entered service in late 1966 with the last aircraft entering service in 1974. Despite its age the Delfin is still the most important trainer in the inventory and about

a dozen remain active with the S.A.p.A. The aircraft will be replaced by the IAR-99. (Borcea-Fetesti, august 2001, Hugo Mambour/AviaScribe ) Page 131: 32 L-39ZA Albatros jet trainers were delivered between 1981 and 1985. Surprisingly most of these relatively young aircraft have already been sold on the US civil market or are in storage at either Bacau or Boboc with only four aircraft remaining on strength. It is remarkable that the aircraft is outlived by the ten year older L-29 Delfin in the advanced training role. (Boboc, 5 September 2003, Berry Kluytmans) Page 132 : The first Aero L-29 Delfins from a total of 52 aircraft operated by the Romanian Air Force entered service in late 1966 with the last aircraft entering service in 1974. Despite its age the Delfin is still the most important trainer in the inventory and about a dozen remain active with the S.A.p.A. The aircraft will be replaced by the IAR-99. (Borcea-Fetesti, august 2001, Hugo Mambour/AviaScribe ) Page 133: As most of the other WarPac countries also the Romanian Air Force took delivery of the An-2 biplane. The aircraft on this picture is painted in a smart turquoise and two-tone brown colour scheme. On the nose the aircraft carries a badge containing a spider with the text 'Patrula An-2'. The aircraft belongs to the An-2 flight at Bacau which had two aircraft on strength until the unit disbanded in late 2003. (Bacau, 3 September 2003, Paul van der Linden) Page 134: Despite the fact that the An-26 on this picture was in storage for already quit a while when this picture was taken in October 2002, this contrary to a number of its counterparts. As can be seen the aircraft was even receiving maintenance. The aircraft is still in the old white/blue colourscheme. In 2003/2004 the aircraft was transferred to Romaero at Baneasa where it is currently awaiting refurbishment. (Otopeni, October 2002, Paul Kievit) Page 135: After the IAR-93 was grounded in 1998 the fleet of more than 70 aircraft was placed in open storage at their old homebase Craiova. One aircraft escaped the elements namely 239 on this picture. The aircraft was among the last aircraft completed in 1990 by Avioane Craiova which retained the aircraft for demonstration purposes to possible foreign customers for the aircraft. The picture shows the aircraft in a perfect state in a hangar in september 2004. (Craiova, 12 September 2004, Paul Gross) Page 136: Over the past decennia only few aircraft types served so brief as the IAR-93. The production of the type was ceased in the early 1990s following the outbreak of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia after which many uncompleted fuselages destined for both the Romanian and the Yugoslavian air force remained behind with Avioane Craiova. Currently around 70 retired IAR-93s remain in storage at Craiova awaiting a decision on their fates including the aircraft on this picture. 182 is an IAR-93DC in an attractive colourscheme. The aircraft was delivered in 1982 and with 744 hours on the airframe it is in the top five of high houred IAR-93s. (Craiova, 15 September 2004, Paul Kievit) Page 137: During the 1990s two units operated the indiginous IAR-99 trainer/light attack aircraft. Most of the aircraft have been grounded over the past few years undergoing maintenance and modifications with Avioane Craiova. The aircraft recently re-entered service with the Scoala de Aplicatie a Fortelor Aeriene (S.A.p.A) along with a number of new built IAR-99 Soims. (Timisoara-Giarmata, 17 June 2000, Anton Rutten) Page 138: Only a handful of IAR-316s remain in service today, the majority of which is operated by the S.A.p.A at Boboc for rotary training and with the naval flight of the helicopter squadron at Mihail Kogalniceanu. The last remaining Alouettes are expected to be retired within a couple of years. The helicopter on this picture is assigned to the training squadron at Boboc. (Boboc, 14 September 2004, Patrick Rougies) Page 140: Only very few standard IAR-330s remain following the reorganisation of the helicopter fleet. Those at Campia Turzii, where this picture was taken, originate from Grupul 60 Elicoptere at Tecuci and Escadrila 132 Elicoptere at Someseni which were both disbanded at the beginning of the century. (Campia Turzii, 2 September 2003, Berry Kluytmans) Page 141: During the conversion of a number of IAR-330Ls to SOCAT standard the Puma's were heavily modernised as can be seen on this picture. Currently all 24 SOCAT conversions are recorded suggesting that the program is nearly completed. During the summer of 2004 the SOCAT Puma's which were previously assigned to Baza 61 Elicoptere de Atac to their new base Otopeni where they are now assigned to Baza 90. (Otopeni, 13 September 2004, Paul Kievit) Page 144: The most favourite MiG-21 type with many of its pilots is the MiG-21PFM, designated MiG-21RFMM in the Romanian Air Force and nicknamed "Supersonicul sportiv" by its pilots. The type was retired in 2001 after Lancer conversions had been completed. The last unit to operate the MiG-21PFM was Grupul 91 at Deveselu which was disbanded. The aircraft on this picture was assigned to Grupul 86 at Borcea when this picture was taken and transferred to Craiova for storage shortly afterwards. (Borcea, 22 August 2000, Erwin van Dijkman) Page 145: Twenty years after entering service a large number of MiG-21MFs is still going strong after having been modernised as Lancer-A and Lancer-C during the late 1990s. Unfortunately the first aircraft are expected to be retired within the next couple of years with the last Lancers scheduled for retirement by the end of the decade. The Lancers converted from a MiG-21M differ from the MiG-21MF by having retained their original R11-300 engine while the MiG-21MF has the more powerful R13-300 engine. (Bacau, 3 September 2003, Paul van der Linden) Page 147: The air defense version of the MiG-21 Lancer is the Lancer-C. In total 26 MiG-21MFs were converted to Lancer-C of which four aircraft have been lost to date including one before delivery. The majority of the Lancer-Cs are shared by Baza 71 Aeriana at Campia Turzii and Baza 86 Aeriana at Borcea-Fetesti. In the recent past also the unit at Bacau had a small number of Lancer-Cs assigned but during a recent visit to that base only one Lancer-C was recorded. (Bacau, 3 September 2003, Paul van der Linden) Page 148: After the mighty Flogger was retired in September 2001 the majority of the surviving aircraft is sitting in storage at Timisoara-Giarmata, the home base of Grupul 93 which was the last unit to operate the MiG-23 after Grupul 57 retired the aircraft

in 1998. The storage area at Timisoara included 32 aircraft in late 2003 comprising of twenty-six MiG-23MFs and six MiG-23UBs. (Timisoara-Giarmata, 1 September 2003, Berry Kluytmans) Page 150: This pictures clearly shows the shapes of the MiG-23. 137 on this picture was one of the last two MiG-23UBs remaining in service in 2001. The aircraft received a major overhaul at Graf Ignatievo in Bulgaria in 1996 and eventually it was grounded in September 2001 and retired on 7 June 2002 (Timisoara-Giarmata, 24 August 2000, Hans van den Berg) Page 152: After Grupul 94 Elicoptere at Alexeni was disbanded, the transport unit at Otopeni was the sole military unit operating the Mi-8 Hip. The majority of the Mi-8s previously assigned to Grupul 94 were retired. One aircraft escaping this fate was 723 on this picture which was transferred to Baza 90 at Otopeni. Contrary to the other Mi-8s assigned to this unit, 723 is not in the standard blue/white colourscheme but in an attractive camouflage common to the Mi-8s based at Alexeni. Currently 723 is also stored at Otopeni together with its blue/white sister aircraft. (Otopeni, May 2004, Didier Kories)