The A Vlaicu II was the second powered airplane designed and built by

Aurel Vlaicu Aurel Vlaicu (; 19 November 1882 – 13 September 1913) was a Romanian engineer, inventor, airplane constructor and early pilot.Gheorghiu, 1960 Early years and education Aurel Vlaicu was born in the village of Binținți in Transylvania, Aust ...

Design and development

The construction of ''A. Vlaicu Nr. II'' was started in December 1910 at the '' Școala de Arte și Meserii'' (Arts and Crafts School) in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

, on a budget of 16,000 lei. It was an improved version of Vlaicu's earlier airplane, the ''A. Vlaicu Nr. I''. The ''A. Vlaicu Nr. II'' first flew in April 1911 on Cotroceni airfield in

Operational history

Between 23 and 30 June 1912 Vlaicu flew the A. Vlaicu Nr. II at the Die Internationale Flugwoche at

Aspern Aspern () is part of Donaustadt, the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria. History The area is known because of the Battle of Aspern-Essling, which was fought in the nearby Lobau on 21 and 22 May 1809. In that battle, the Austrian army, led by ...

near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, competing against 42 other aviators including Roland Garros. Vlaicu won prizes totaling 7,500

Austro-Hungarian krone The crown (german: Krone, hu, korona, it, Corona, pl, korona, sl, krona, sh, kruna, cz, koruna, sk, koruna, ro, coroană) was the official currency of Austria-Hungary from 1892 (when it replaced the florin as part of the adoption of the ...

for precision landing, projectile throwing and tight flying around a pole. The competition number of the A. Vlaicu Nr. II was 38, painted on the left wing and stabilizer. On return from Aspern he performed demonstration flights throughout Transylvania at Arad,

Lugoj Lugoj (; hu, Lugos; german: Lugosch; sr, Лугош, Lugoš; bg, Лугож; tr, Logoş) is a city in Timiș County, Romania. The Timiș River divides the city into two halves, the so-called "Romanian Lugoj" that spreads on the right bank and t ...

Hațeg Hațeg (; german: Wallenthal; hu, Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 9,340. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad (''Nalácvád''), Silvașu de Jos (''Alsószilvás''), and Silvașu de Sus ( ...

Orăștie Orăștie (; german: link=no, Broos, hu, Szászváros, la, Saxopolis) is a city in Hunedoara County, south-western Transylvania, central Romania. History 7th–9th century – On the site of an old swamp was a human settlement, now ...

Vršac Vršac ( sr-cyr, Вршац, ; hu, Versec; ro, Vârșeț) is a city and the administrative centre of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the city urban area had a population of 35,701, while ...

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; german: Karlsburg or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; hu, Gyulafehérvár; la, Apulum) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the Mureș River in the historica ...

Săliște Săliște (german: Großendorf or ''Selischte''; hu, Szelistye) is a town in Sibiu County, in the centre of Romania, west of the county capital, Sibiu. Declared a town in 2003, it is the main locality in the Mărginimea Sibiului area. Geograph ...

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; hu, Marosvásárhely ) is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the 16th largest Romanian city, with 134,290 inhabitants as of the 2011 census. It lies on the Mureș River, th ...

and

Dumbrăveni Dumbrăveni (before 1945 ''Ibașfalău''; german: Elisabethstadt; Saxon dialect: ''Eppeschdorf''; hu, Erzsébetváros) is a town in the north of Sibiu County, in the centre of Transylvania, central Romania. The town administers two villages, Er ...

. The year before he flew at

Blaj Blaj (; archaically spelled as ''Blaș''; hu, Balázsfalva; german: Blasendorf; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Blußendref'') is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 20,630 inhabitants. The landmark of the city is the ...

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...

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

, Iași and

Cernăuți Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...

.Gheorghiu, Constantin C. (1960). Aurel Vlaicu, un precursor al aviaţiei româneşti. Bucharest: Editura Tehnică. During the 1912-1913

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

, Aurel Vlaicu flew reconnaissance missions south of Danube in the aircraft. It was destroyed on September 13, 1913, in the crash that cost Aurel Vlaicu his life, when he attempted to make the first flight across the Carpathian Mountains. Parts from the wreckage are preserved in several Romanian museums: the Aurel Vlaicu Memorial House, the

National Military Museum National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland ...

in Bucharest and the Aviation Museum in Bucharest.

Modern replicas

Between 2004 and 2008 a replica of the A Vlaicu II was built by Fundaţia Aerospaţială Română and Romaero in Bucharest on a budget of approximately 200,000

EUR The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. The airplane uses a 100 hp contemporary engine and modern materials, and has its controls modified compared to the original airplane. It was displayed at various commemorative events. In 2009 it won a bronze medal at the

World Air Games The FAI World Air Games (WAG) is an international air sports event organized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (World Air Sports Federation - FAI), inspired by the Olympic Games. Competitions # Aerobatics # Aeromodeling #Air racing # ...

(WAG) in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

. As of 2014 the airplane has not been tested in flight. Other scale models have been built during the last 50 years by amateurs and are on display at various Romanian museums.

Specifications (Military)

References

{{Reflist High-wing aircraft Aurel Vlaicu Rotary-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1911

Design and development

Operational history

Modern replicas

Specifications (Military)

See also

References