"Bazu" Cantacuzino fighter planes profiles, Color profiles of "Bazu" mounts .

And below the Bf-109G4 "white 24" after a force landing and damaged by other pilot from 7th FG in august '43. The plane was scrapped. ( picture courtesy Romanian Military National Museum )




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And below an extras from the same book of Tudor Vasile ( Constantin Bazu Cantacuzinul-Printul asilor) depicting 3 missions in one day ( 16 august'43) flown by Bazu with "white 24" and how he got that 3 victories and one probable over soviet planes.


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And below it's the list for Bazu victories ( official omologated) in 1943 with 7thFG.
( made by Ion Taralunga and published in Aeronautica magazine)

1 Spitfire V - 29-04-'43
1 Spitfire V - 29-04-'43
1 Lagg-3 - 17-07-'43
1 Il-2 - 18-07-'43
1 IAK - 19-07-'43
1 IAK - 27-07-'43
1 Pe-2 - 27-07-'43 - 2 victories acording to rom. sist. for omologation.
1 IAK - 02-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 03-08-'43
1 IAK - 03-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 03-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 04-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 05-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 05-08-'43
1 IAK - 05-08-'43
1 Lagg-3 - 16-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 16-08-'43
1 Lagg-5 - 16-08-'43
1 Lagg-5 - 27-08-'43
1 Il-2 - 30-08-'43

Dan, I dont know if you noticed but Buzu wears a normal civilian shirt while being strapped on its seat at Krematorskaya...also please pots more photos of Buzu if you have available

Thanks
Al

Probably just arrived from a visit to one lovely lady ( with his personal Fleet plane) with his "white shirt" and black trousers . ( and his wife thinking of him fighting with red enemy and not blond ladies )

Ok, just joking

Thank you very much for the photo. It is greatly informative as it is one of those rare photos that show the tops of the wings.
Apparently the aircraft first had german factory markings that were later painted out with a lighter shade of gray :-)
Likewise the swastika seems to be painted out with the same shade of gray, making a distinct lighter square on the tail.
Any ideas what the color was? RLM 75 would seem like a good fit as it was one of the standard colors in use at the time and being in Russia the Romanians should be able to get a hold of it from the Germans, right?
Ahh...what I would give for a color photo
Artur

...also notice the thin narrow yellow band on the tail and the fact that the factory, radio call signs are still showing through.
I think it is pretty crucial in modeling Axis aircraft to account for the fact that originally they all bore crosses and swastikas...and the call letters, which were later painted out better or worse before the other insignia was applied.
I have seen this repeatedly with Finnish, Hungarian and now with Romanian aircraft. Thanks again for the great picture, for a modeler like me it is priceless!
Artur

I find it rather strange, that given the glorious past of Cantacuzino..his remains were never brought back to Roumania, neither photos after the war from Spain were ever available , nor any clear details and records about his flying activities in Spain are available. Maybe anyone can comment this ?

Alex

Alex, in Romania were published some articles ( aviation magazines) and books about Cantacuzino but only in romanian language. In other language only few articles like in Denes book-Romanian Aces or french "Airmagazine" ( in 2 issues) were given data for the romanian Prince saga.
There also some photos with Bazu in Spain in these published articles.
Regarding his remains in Spain from my point of view it's better are there. We romanian aviation fans know what happens with other heroes (Limburg, Rosescu,Lungulescu,Arapi,Manea) burrial graves from Ghencea Military cemetery who disappear and replaced with expensive marble graves for today generals because as you said "Money talks, bullshit walks".

Cheers,
Dan.

Alright Dan, but still there could be someone who may have Cantacuzino records from Spain and photos of its grave, it cant be that he just disappeared like that .....do you know in what city is he burried in Spain as I may look for it next time I am in Spain

Alex

Alex, I am afraid the answer is simple to that one and somewhat mirrors the same treatment of all countries behind the iron curtain.
With the new communist regime the new People's Government wanted to purge all the remnants of its military past, and that is regardless of wether it was with the Allies ( like Poland and Czechoslovakia ) or with the Axis like Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia. The past became tabu and none would speak of it, discuss it or god forbid publish it. Only since 1989 has there been some interest in the historical heritage of people like Contacuzine or Serbanescu, but by that time our countries were inveloped in Market driven pragmatism and there was not enough interest in history to resurrect such personalities like Bazu, Stoyanov or Szentgyorgy. Just recently the top Polish ace of aces has passed away forgotten, robbed and abused in a "senior home". Nobody seemed to notice the fact that the Polish Ace of Aces was withering away in anonymity untill he was gone. Then when the date for the funeral was originally set for Wednesday it was suddenly realized that it was the president's birthday and he did not wish to share the spotlight with a notable funeral, thus it was moved to friday.
The sad summary of this is that besides a few die-hards like the ones on this forum nobody gives a damm about the people that fought for what we have.
For that reason I appreciate living in the US, for they seem to pay more attention to these matters then they do in Europe. The veterans are discussed in schools on November 11 and Memorial Day people go to the cementaries and put flags on the graves....who does that in Europe anymore?
Artur

Dzien Dobre Kammard !

I agree in 100% with your comments as well about the US , please dont forget to post photos of the Bazu ME-109 when you get it ready .Roumania should be proud of Bazu but as Cantacuzino stated there is a sad way they comemorate his memories ....ultimately I wana hope that the street named after him in Bucharest still exists

Alex

There is a street in Bucharest with his name ??

That particular airplane (Werknummer 19607) was damaged during landing by Adj. stag. rez. av. Iosif Moraru of Gr. 7 vân. due to pilot's error, near Kramatorskaya airfield, on 18 August 1943. However, the airplane did not suffer major damages, estimated at 30% - as the enclosed photo prooves - and therefore was not scrapped, but rather returned to the Germans, who subsequently repaired it. Instead, ARR received a replacement airplane, numbered 24A (Werknummer 13902), a G-2.

Note that an area below the cockpit - possibly where a former Luftwaffe emblem was placed - is also apparently painted over with a lighter shade of grey, similarly to the former Luftwaffe markings.

Gen. Dénes

Piaza Cantacuzino langa Calea Victorie, not really a market place but a square place ( it was still there in 1963)

Alex

This post has been edited by alexkdl on January 25, 2005 05:10 pm