• Source: 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 lei, and Minister of Public Education was paying Vlaicu a 300 lei 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)
Major (probably) Mihailov
Colonel D. Iliescu
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 Băneasa Hippodrome.
Last public display was on September 17, 1913, part of Aurel Vlaicu's funeral procession.




Operators


Romania
Romanian Air Corps




Galley







































Specifications (Military)


Data from General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Height: 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 25 m2 (270 sq ft)
Gross weight: 300 kg (661 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Omega air-cooled rotary piston engine, 37 kW (50 hp)
Propellers: (2 coaxial, counter-rotating) 2-bladed, 3 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter
Performance

Maximum speed: 110 km/h (68 mph, 59 kn)
Service ceiling: 1,000 m (3,300 ft)




See also


Aurel Vlaicu
A Vlaicu II
A Vlaicu III
List of aircraft (pre-1914)




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Ketsaran Vidin
• Lajos I dari Hungaria
• Pendudukan Vidin oleh Hungaria
• Bukares
• A Vlaicu I
• Aurel Vlaicu
• A Vlaicu II
• A Vlaicu III
• Vladislav I of Wallachia
• Aviation in Romania
• Romanian Air Force
• Ladislaus I
• Arms industry in Romania
• Romanian military equipment of World War I