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A Vlaicu I

The A Vlaicu I was the first powered airplane built by Aurel Vlaicu.

Design and development

After flying his glider in Binținți, Aurel Vlaicu moved to the Kingdom of Romania. With help from Romanian-Transylvanian expatriates in Bucharest, he obtained financial support to build his first powered airplane, following a number of demonstration flights with rubber-powered models in front of Romanian government officials and journalists.

On November 1, 1909, he began the construction of his first powered airplane, the A. Vlaicu Nr. I at the Army Arsenal in Bucharest. The Romanian Ministry of War provided an initial grant of 2000 , and Minister of Public Education was paying Vlaicu a 300 monthly stipend.

The A. Vlaicu Nr. I flew for the first time on June 17, 1910, over Cotroceni airfield.

For his design, Aurel Vlaicu was granted in 1911 patents: AT60800, CH54597, DK15328, FR422554 and GB191026658.

Military Commission Report

Below are the minutes after aerial demonstrations held by Aurel Vlaicu in August 1910 before a military commission :

Underwriters assisting in day August 13, 1910, from flights performed by the airplane or engineer Vlaicu I agree to the following conclusions to be made to the Ministry of War, which subsidizes this engineer .

Signatures:

Captain (indecipherable)<br /> Major (probably) Mihailov<br /> Colonel D. Iliescu<br /> General Georgescu

Operational history

On September 28, 1910, as a part of the Fall military exercises, Vlaicu flew his airplane from Slatina to Piatra Olt carrying a message, an early instance of an airplane being used for military purposes.

On October 17, 1910, he performed a demonstration flight on .

Last public display was on September 17, 1913, part of Aurel Vlaicu's funeral procession.

Operators

: Romanian Air Corps

Galley

Specifications (Military)

See also

References