Aviation in Romania

Romania has a rich tradition in aviation. At the beginning of the 20th century, pioneers such as Henri Coandă, Aurel Vlaicu, Traian Vuia and George Valentin Bibescu made important contributions to early aviation history, building revolutionary aeroplanes and contributing to the international scene. In the present, the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority oversees all aviation activities. George Valentin Bibescu was a Romanian aristocrat who became an early aviation pioneer and international figure. He flew a balloon named "Romania" brought from France 1905. Later he tried to teach himself how to fly a Voisin airplane, also brought from France, but without success. After Louis Blériot's demonstrative flights in Bucharest on October 18, 1909, Bibescu went to Paris and enrolled in Blériot's flying school where, in 1910, he obtained International Pilot License number 20. After returning from France, Bibescu organized the Cotroceni Piloting School in Bucharest where Mircea Zorileanu and Nicolae Capșa were licensed. On May 5, 1912, he founded the Romanian National Aeronautic League. Bibescu would later be instrumental in founding the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the international regulatory body for aeronautics. Between 1927 and 1930 he was its vice-president, and becoming president in 1930 and remaining so until 1941. Traian Vuia was a Romanian inventor and aviation pioneer. He constructed his first powered, fixed wing aircraft with wheeled undercarriage and in 1906 he flew short hops in it at Montesson near Paris, France. On March 18 he flew about 12 metres at a height of 1 foot, and on 19 August he flew for 24 metres. Although unsuccessful at true flight, Vuia's aircraft has been credited as "the first man-carrying monoplane of basically modern configuration" and influenced the more successful Brazilian pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. Vuia went on to experiment with another monoplane and two helicopters but none was successful. Aurel Vlaicu was born in Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary.