Rezerva generală a aviației (RGA) or the General Aviation Reserve in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

was a Romanian aircraft factory founded during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It operated between 1916 and 1919 in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

. After the war it was transferred to

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 ...

and renamed to ''Arsenalul Aeronautic''. The maintenance, repair, and assembly of the aircraft and aircraft engines received by Romania during the war took place here.

History

On 27 September 1916, the workshops of the Flight School from

Băneasa Băneasa () is a borough () on the north side of Bucharest, in Sector 1, near the Băneasa Lake (). Like every north-side district of Bucharest, it is relatively sparsely populated, with large areas of parkland. Bordering on Băneasa Fores ...

and

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 ...

were moved to Iași. The RGA was established in the former slaughterhouse with the material base formed by the materials evacuated from Cotroceni and Băneasa, and with requisitioned tools and machine tools. In the spring of 1917, the organization of the Romanian military aviation also included the RGA, as being subordinated to the Aeronautical Directorate 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 ...

's . During its activity, the RGA assembled and repaired a number of 242 - 292 aircraft and 545 engines. The planes sent by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with

General Berthelot General Berthelot (''Fărcădinul de Jos'' until 1923, ''Berthelot'' between 1923 and 1964, ''Unirea'' between 1965 and 2001; ; ) is a commune in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of five villages: Crăguiș (''Kraguis''), F� ...

military mission A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operatio ...

were also assembled in the RGA workshops. The aircraft received by Romania arrived at the ports of

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

and

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, and were then transported by train to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

before reaching Romania. Due to the long journey through

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, a lot of airplanes arrived with severely damaged parts, thus leaving it up to the engineers and designers from RGA to manufacture new ones. Engineer Constantin Silișteanu and Lieutenant Petre Macavei took part in the management of the RGA. The activity of the RGA ended in November 1919 when the material and the majority of the personnel were transferred to

on the field of Cotroceni. On 1 July 1920, it was renamed to

Arsenalul Aeronautic Arsenalul Aeronautic ("Aeronautical Arsenal" in English) in Bucharest was the first factory with an aeronautical profile in Romania. Its activity took place between 1919 and 1939. ''Arsenalul Aeronautic'' manufactured three models of aircraft: Han ...

List of assembled aircraft

History

List of assembled aircraft

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography