Photo of Gefr. Heim - Cantacuzino's last victim

As C-2 said, Nicolae Traian was a a lieutenant in the Tudor Vladimirescu Division and was the deputy commander of the AT battalion. The Fw-190F (probably, because it attacked the ground troops) was shot down by the fire of his AT rifles used in AA role. The airplane crashed between the lines and then the infantry started to fight over him. He ended up in Soviet hands. Nicolae Traian went afterwards to see him and it is then he noticed "he was just a boy" (in his own words).

The young FW pilot escaped unhurt from the crash landing ?

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on November 20, 2005 08:40 am

Re-posted: Cantacuzino, I have the same photo. How do you know your namesake sits in 'Red 2'?

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on November 20, 2005 03:09 pm

No. IIRC, Nicolae Traian saw him at the division's ambulance.

I know because I am Cantacuzino



PS: Once upon a time ... I asked you : How do you know that "Bich" was written on IAR 80 nr 133 ?. I didn't get any answer.

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on November 20, 2005 10:01 pm

Here is how I reconstructed the events leading to Gefr. Heim's death, and included it in my book on the Rumanian air force, published by Squadron/Signal in 1999:

Gen. Dénes

Was this the digging mentioned by Dénes in Last victim of Cpt. Constantin Cantacuzino found?

Yes. It's the same issue.

Yes. It's the same issue.

Thanks, Cantacuzino.

I belive these were the same events that led to the death of Adj. Traian Darjan, Bazu's wingman. There were about 8 Fw's on an AT mission, but Bazu chose to attack them anyway. He shot down Gefr. Hermann Heim, but the Focke-Wulfs retaliated. Darjan was hit in the oil pump, and, as he tried to belly-land his plane, was hit in the cockpit by a 20mm shell. He died instantly.
Bazu was hit also by concentrated fire, but managed to crash-land his stricken 109 near the russian lines, and escaped with only bruises and mild concussions.

I learned this story a few years ago, when I first got intrested in aircraft, and started flying sailplanes at Dezmir Airfield, near Cluj- Napoca. The field was settled in the 1920's, and after '90 it was renamed "Traian Darjan Airclub", since the unlucky airman was a native of Cluj.

There was further information on this incident in the issue of Aeromagazin about Constantin Cantacuzino. Unfortunately, although I have the collection in its entirety, the issue in question seems to have gotten misplaced (that's what you get when your house resembles a warehouse of old aeronautic stuff)...
I will get back to you with the information once I find it.

Actually both Cantacuzino and Darjan were shot down by a Rotte of Bf-109Gs led by Hpt. Lipfert.

See the article on Traian Darjan on the website: http://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/?article=692

Strange.
I always knew Darjan was killed by a 20mm shell from one of the FWs he and Bazu so carelessly attacked...
Well, the latter version of the story seems to benefit from better documentation, so it must be true.
Thanks, Victor!

The Bf-109G also had a 20 mm cannon. The story of him being almost beheaded by a shell (I think it was a 13 mm) are likely true.

Indeed. MG 151 20 mm engine-mounted cannon that fired trough the propeller hub. (A few hits from that can obliterate everything but the most robust aircraft. (Try shooting down an Il2 or Tb3 in "Il 2 Sturmovik- Forgotten Battles- Ace Expansion Pack"... it's really hard!)
In fact, the first few versions had a 20mm Oerlikon MG FF, but from the Me 109 F onwards that was changed to a MG 151/15mm because of vibration and overheating problems.
On other versions starting with the late "G-6s" , a 30mm MK108 was prefered, but the latter carried only 30 rounds of ammunition (instead of 200 like the MG 151/15), so it wasn't that popular with pilots.
Also, 109s before the "G-5" variant were equipped with 7.92mm instead of 13mm machineguns.
Please note that unlike that of cannons, mg ammunition does not explode on impact, so a 13mm bullet would not have had enough force to decapitate Darjan, or even penetrate the seat armour, so I'm pretty sure it was a 20mm shell that killed him.

This post has been edited by Wings_of_wrath on February 05, 2006 04:45 pm

Do not try to compare real world with Oleg's world