Cerchez & Co. was the first

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

company, the first

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

and the first flight school in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The company was founded and registered on 20 November 1909, being inaugurated on 11 June 1910 by the lawyer and industrialist Mihail Cerchez. The company manufactured the first serial production aircraft in Romania in 1911.

History

On 20 November 1909, the "Cerchez & Co." company was registered at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, based at

Chitila Chitila () is a town in the west of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania, situated to the north-west of Bucharest. It is often seen as a satellite town of Bucharest. One village, Rudeni, is administered by the town. Transport Chitila is linked to B ...

near

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. The inauguration of the complex took place on 11 June 1910. On the same day, a telegram was addressed to the Ministry of War, requesting support for developing the construction of aircraft at Chitila. This was the first official document issued in Romania for the aeronautics field. Goliescu Avioplan

With Order no. 2900 of 6 July 1910, Major Ioan Macri, commander of the ''Batalionul 2 Pionieri'' (2nd Pioneer Battalion), was commissioned by the Ministry of War to visit the "Aerodrome" in Chitila for evaluation. At that time, the aerodrome had the following aircraft: a

Farman Farman Aviation Works () was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rational ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, a

Wright Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...

biplane, a

Santos-Dumont Demoiselle The Santos-Dumont ''Demoiselle'' is a series of aircraft built in France by the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. They were light-weight monoplanes with a wire-braced wing mounted above an open-framework fuselage built from bamb ...

which didn't yet have an engine mounted, and Lieutenant Goliescu's aircraft which was disassembled. Following his visit, he proposed that two officers be sent to Chitila to learn to fly and to follow the aircraft manufacturing process. The company hired the French pilot Guillemin as head of the piloting school and instructor. However, after an accident, he was replaced by Michel-Paul Molla. On 14 August 1910, the Cerchez & Co. workshops finished the first license-built Henry Farman model 1910 for use as a school plane. The next day, the aerodrome at Chitila was open to the public, with Michel-Paul Molla performing two flights on the Farman biplane. On 23 August, Molla took off towards

Cotroceni Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania, located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5. The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor, Academia Militară, and Politehnica. History The Hill of Cotroceni was once cove ...

(an aerodrome and a piloting school will be established here in 1911) where Prince

George Valentin Bibescu George III Valentin, Prince Bibescu (; 22 March 1880 – 2 July 1941) was a Romanian early aviation pioneer and automobile enthusiast. Family His parents were Prince George Bibescu (1834–1902; son of Gheorghe Bibescu) and Valentine de Riquet ...

was training on his Blériot

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

and

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 Bințințiencenc in Transylvan ...

on his Vlaicu I. The three of them performed some flights together around Cotroceni with their aircraft, after which Molla returned to Chitila. On 25 August 1910, Molla flew for the first time over Bucharest, landing on the ''

Șoseaua Kiseleff ''Șoseaua Kiseleff'' (''Kiseleff Road'') is a major road in Bucharest, Romania. Situated in Sector 1 (Bucharest), Sector 1, the boulevard runs as a northward continuation of Calea Victoriei. History The road was created in 1832 by Pavel Kisel ...

'' before returning to the aerodrome. This was the second flight over a city in the world, being preceded by

Émile Dubonnet Émile Dubonnet (18 October 1883 - 4 October 1950) was a French balloonist active from 1908 to 1913. He participated in the 1908, 1909, and 1911 Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning and was a member of the Aéro-Club de France. He won the La Grande M ...

's flight over

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in April 1910. In April 1911, the Ministry of War ordered 4 Farmans from the workshops of Cerchez & Co, this order was followed by another for 2 more Farmans. The first officers also started their pilot training, with '' Sublocotenent''

Ștefan Protopopescu Ștefan Protopopescu (14 January 1886 – 10 October 1929) was a Romanian officer and aviation pioneer, he held the no. 1 pilot license in Romania, being the first licensed pilot in Romania and the first pilot of the Romanian Army. Military care ...

receiving the first pilot license in Romania and becoming the first pilot of the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

. The first Farmans were delivered to the army in August and September 1911. Polihroniade "Poly" Vacas delivered the 4th plane at

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

in September, where the autumn military maneuvers were taking place, setting a new national distance record of traveled in flight from

Focșani Focșani (; ) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. , it has a population of 66,719. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...

to Roman. After the delivery of the last aircraft, the Ministry of War did not issue any new orders for aircraft construction and did not send new officers to the piloting school. At the initiative of Prince

, a military piloting school was set up in Cotroceni, and orders went to factories in France. At the end of 1912, Mihail Cerchez was forced to declare bankruptcy of the company.

Legacy

Cerchez & Co. manufactured a total of 7 Henry Farman aircraft, 1 in 1910 for the school and 6 in 1911 for the military. Six military pilots and six civilian pilots were trained at the flight school, the company remaining in the history of world aviation as one of the first in the world to serially produce aircraft. The next initiative to start an aeronautical industry in Romania happened in 1915, however it was not successful either due to lack of funding.

References

Aircraft manufacturers of Romania Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Romania Manufacturing companies established in 1909 1909 establishments in Romania Airports established in 1909 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerchez and Co.

History

Legacy

See also

References