The Romanian air tours over Africa were a series of trips, called "raids" in Romanian literature, made by the Romanian airmen over Africa between 1933 and 1935, with the purpose of promoting air tourism, Romanian airplanes, as well as Romanian aviation in general. Given global aviation development, exploring its possibilities and setting up aircraft records were an everyday occurrence.
The one who had the idea of making a major air tour was Lieutenant colonel Alexandru Cernescu, in 1932. A core of aircraft pilots consisting of Alexandru Cernescu and captains George Davidescu and began to organize the air tour. They chose the distance from Bucharest to Cape Town and return to be the route. The first air tour of 1933 did not reach its goal, as it stopped at Malakal. In 1933 and 1935, Gheorghe Bănciulescu also conducted two air tours over Africa, the first to Cairo, over the Near East, returning over North Africa and Italy, and the last exploring the possible air routes over Central Africa. At the beginning of 1935, also attempted to cover the route to Cape Town by her own plane, reaching the Victoria Lake. In 1935 Cernescu, Davidescu, Pantazi, , Gheorghe Olteanu and Anton Stengher managed to complete the air tour.
Historical background Aviation began to develop rapidly after World War I. There appeared various types of aircraft, not only military but also civil aircraft, including passengers, postal and private aircraft.Istoria Aviației Române, p. 232 Each aircraft manufacturer wanted to bring their airplanes in the public eye, the airline companies explored new routes, whereas military aviation was interested in increasing the performance of the military aircraft: the speed, the ceiling, the rate of climb, the transport capacity etc.Istoria Aviației Române, p. 128 Besides record-breaking, aviation asserted itself by air "tours", long-distance travels, such as those from London to Melbourne, from Paris to Tokyo and return, or from Bucharest to Saigon and return.Cernescu, p. 13
Due to its difficult climatic, meteorological and terrain conditions, Africa was considered a continent where the qualities of the aircraft and the skill of the pilots could be fully aired. As far back as October 1913, the French aviator and his mechanic, Henri J. Roux, attempted to fly a Borel monoplane from Paris to Cairo, but they could not fly above the Taurus Mountains. L'aviateur Daucourt et son passager m. Roux : voyage aérien de Paris au Caire, L'illustration, no.;3690, 15nov 1913Jacques Rodot, Jacques Prudhomme. Pierre Daucourt, un merveilleux fou volant…, free.fr, access date 2014-03-08Ucrain, pp.155–157 The first air tour over Africa, from Cairo to Khartoum, was conducted by Marc Pourpe between 4–12January 1914, flying around 2,000km, via Luxor, Wadi Halfa and Abu Hamad. He carried a mail bag during the tour. The return flight to Cairo was conducted between the 19January and the 3February.Camille Allaz (1988). La grande aventure de la poste et du fret aériens du 18e siècle à nos jours, Presses de l'Institut du transport aérien, The South Africans Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand (1920) and the Englishman Alan Cobham (1925)Alan J. Cobham (1926). My Flight to the Cape and Back, London: A & C Black conducted air tours from London to Cape Town. The Cairo to Cape Town air route will become the target of many records, such as those broken by Reinhold Ferdinand Caspareuthus (1930, 77 hours),London to Cape Town – New record established, The Advertiser, 15 October 1930, Adelaide, p. 229Cernescu, p. 14) or Glen Kidston (1931, 57 hours)J. McAdam, Birth of an Airline, rhodesia.nl, access date 2014-03-15
Planning the tours The idea behind Romanian air tours conducted in Africa appeared in 1932, when a core group of three officers, Lieutenant colonelEquivalent to Wing commander Alexandru Cernescu, Captains George Davidescu and Mihail Pantazi began to do some research for this purpose.Cernescu, p. 24 At that time Alexandru Cernescu held the highest rank as a flight instructor at the Military Aviation School. George Davidescu, as a member of the State Undersecretariat for Air, dealt with the proper organization of the tour, as he was also the main navigator. Mihail Pantazi was a flight instructor and director and he taught the aircraft engines at the (ARPA) Flight School.Cernescu, p. 25Ucrain, p. 159Gheorghiu, p. 75
First, they studied the route of a flight around the Mediterranean Sea, which started from Bucharest, then continued over Asia Minor, Egypt, North Africa, Spain, France, and back to Bucharest. Although the route exceeded 10,000km, they did not considered it difficult enough. In order to demonstrate the performance the Romanian aircraft could reach, the route over the centre of Africa to Cape Town was conducted by a flight formation of three school and training aircraft, which technically reached a small private aircraft performance. The round-trip route exceeded 24,000km.
Bucharest – Malakal tour
Three aircraft of the ARPA, registered as YR-AAP, YR-ABL și YR-ABO,Romanian Civil Aircraft Registers & Production, yumpu.com, access date 2017-06-18 were selected to perform the tour. Through the efforts of the State Undersecretariat for Air, the fuel necessary for the tour was provided by the refinery, and delivered by Shell. Shell also provided the documentation: air guides, newsletters and weather forecasts.Ucrain, pp. 160-161 The aircraft were overhauled and fitted with additional gas tanks providing an 800km flight autonomy, improved fuel tanks, dust filters for engines. They were supplied with spare parts (even a propeller attached above the posterior fuselage of YR-AAP aircraft, as shown in the picture below) and repair kits, signaling missiles, a first aid kits, food and water supplies, 1:1,000,000 or 1:2,000,000-scale maps, papers, even handguns.Cernescu, pp. 27-28
Lieutenant and , aerobatics pilots and flight instructors at the ARPA piloting school, as well as the aircraft technician Dumitru Ploeșteanu also took part in the team. The crews were distributed as follows: Cernescu and Manolescu on board the YR-AAP, Davidescu and Ivanovici on board the YR-ABL, and Ploeșteanu and Pantazi on board the YR-ABO.Cernescu, pp. 25-26
The planned route of the flight was Bucharest– Istanbul– Eskişehir– Konya– Adana– Aleppo– Gaza– Cairo– Assiut– Assuan– Wadi Halfa– Atbara– Khartum– Kosti– Malakal– Juba– Kisumu– Nairobi– Moshi– Dodoma– Mbeya– Mpika– Broken Hill– Salisbury– Bulawayo– Pietersburg– Johannesburg– Kimberley– Victoria West– Cape Town and return.Cernescu, p. 29 Some of these customs points were compulsory.Cernescu, p. 30
Climactically, air tours could be organized in March–April or September–October. The air tour started with enough delay, on the 22October, because Pantazi was ill.
The one-way air route is marked in red on the map herewith. They passed through the compulsory customs points of Giurgiu, Varna and Istanbul. Because of the bad weather they stopped in Istanbul, where they visited the Galata Tower, the Pera district, Taksim Square, the ruins of the Valens Aqueduct, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı Palace, the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, the Military Museum, the Grand Bazaar, different mosques.Cernescu, pp.30–43 On 25October, they could hardly managed to fly over the Taurus Mountains, through a saddle at the height of 1,750metres, which is the ceiling that loaded aircraft can reach. Then they reached the Mediterranean above Silifke (the old Seleucia). After that they flew over Mersin and had the customs formalities carried out at Adana. After flying around the Gulf of Alexandretta they landed at Aleppo. The following day they took off, flew over Baalbek and the site of the Battle of Qadesh, and stopped over at Rayak Air Base to deliver a message from the French air attaché in Bucharest. They fly through the valley of the Jordan River over Lake Tiberias. After the Dead Sea they turned to Jerusalem and reached Gaza. They entered Egypt through the compulsory customs point of El-Qantarah el-Sharqiyya, and then they landed in Cairo, where they spent three days, overhauling their aircraft and visiting the Pyramids.Cernescu, pp.43–64Ucrain, pp.162–168
The crew left Cairo on 29October along the length of the Nile. At Assiut they met Muhammed Taher Pasha, Chairman of the Aero Club of Egypt.About Aero Club of Egypt, aeroclubofegypt.net. Retrieved 2018-12-26 They flew over Abydos, the Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Luxor and Karnak and stopped at Assuan. The following day they flew over the first cataract of the Nile, the Philae Island, and hedgehopped over the temples of Ramesses II and Nefertari at Abu Simbel. They entered Sudan and stopped at the customs point of Wadi Halfa. They flew over the second cataract, then cut the meander of the Nile through the desert, along the Wadi Halfa– Abu Hamad railway line up to Railway Station No. 6, where they overnighted. The following day they flew over the fifth cataract, Atbara, and after the sixth cataract they reached Khartum, where they stayed for two days as the engine of Pantazi's aircraft needed overhauling.Cernescu, pp. 64-80Ucrain, pp. 168-170
After a short stage to Kosti, they reached Malakal on the 4 November, where they were caught in a torrential rain that deformed the plywood on the wings and empennage. As the aircraft could not be repaired on the spot, the pilots decided to return on the same route. Since the aircraft were lighter and thus they could fly longer routes, they chose some stops instead of others (Atbara instead of Railway Station No. 6, and Luxor instead of Assuan, respectively), and cancelled others (Assiut, Rayak, Konya), as you can see the purple marks on the map hereby. They reached Cairo on the 11November and left on the 14November. Due to the light aircraft they flew over the Taurus Mountains with no difficulty, and reached Bucharest on the 17November. They flew over 10,500km in that journey.Cernescu, pp. 80-111Ucrain, pp. 170-171
Bănciulescu's tour In 1933 Lieutenant colonel George Bănciulescu was Secretary General of the (ARR). He took over the position in 1927 from Commander Andrei Popovici.Bănciulescu-Cozadini, pp.73–75Gheorghiu, p.44 In this capacity he would participate, together with George Valentin Bibescu, and George Constantinescu, at the 33rd General Conference of the International Aeronautical Federation (IAF), which took place in Cairo between 20 and 25December 1933.1905-2004 General Conferences, fai.org, access date 2014-03-22 Different air shows were planned on that occasion.The Postal History of ICAO, icao.int, access date 2014-03-22Bănciulescu-Cozadini, pp.98–99Gheorghiu, p.49
They flew the Stinson S Junior aircraft of Prince Bibescu, registered as YR-GVB, to Cairo. Martha Bibescu, the Prince's wife, also accompanied the crew.
The route was Bucharest– Sofia– Istanbul– Eskişehir– Adana– Aleppo– Rayak Air Base– Gaza– Cairo.Cozadini-Bănciulescu, p.101 After they took part in the conference Martha Bibescu took Bănciulescu round the Sphinx and the Pyramids.Cozadini-Bănciulescu, p. 99 They also flew over several cities south of Cairo.
He returned alone to Bucharest, following the route: Cairo– Alexandria– Mersa Matruh– Tobruk– Benghazi– Tripoli– Tunis– Palermo– Roma– Venice– Zagreb– Belgrade– Bucharest. In the first stage, he flew to Tripoli, where he received a glorious welcome. Crossing over the Mediterranean from Tripoli to Palermo lasted three hours. He flew at a low altitude because of the fog. The stage was very dangerous, and no matter how high he had flown higher, an engine breakdown of a single-engined aircraft would have caused a fatal alighting, due to the long flight of about 150km over the water between the Cape Bon and Marsala. The stage ended in Rome. The following day he took off at 5.00a.m. and reached Bucharest after stopping at Lido di Venezia, Zagreb and Belgrade, being welcomed enthusiastically all over the place.Cozadini-Bănciulescu, pp.101–103Ucrain, pp.189–190