When it comes to building and testing various flying machines, Romania
\nboasts a tradition of more than 100 years. In early 20th century,
\nsome Romanians showed a keen interest in aviation and got involved in this emerging
\ndomain purely out of passion. States also got increasingly involved with the
\nnew domain, which became of economic, military and strategic importance. Some
\nof the pioneering aviators became leading figures in this new life domain while
\nothers became part of the community of enthusiasts, who pushed this new domain into
\ngaining momentum. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, inventors were not the only ones to have made a name for
\nthemselves in aviation. They shot to fame thanks to the performances they achieved,
\nthe time in history when their talents and inspiration manifested themselves and
\neven to destiny. A major name of the Romanian military aviation was WWII hero,
\nlieutenant Gheorghe Mociornita who had been killed in action at the age of only
\n26 in the Czech Republic, on April 21st 1945, nine days before the
\nwar was over. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gheorghe Mociorni\u021b\u0103 came
\nfrom a famous family in inter-war Romania. His father was a petroleum
\ntechnician while his uncle was the well-known industrialist Dumitru Mociornita,
\na major entrepreneur in the country’s then leather and footwear industry.
\nStrangely enough for a future fighter pilot, Mociornita had graduated from the
\nFaculty of Letters and Philosophy with the Bucharest University. He got his
\nflight permit and in 1943, when war was raging in Europe, after graduating from
\nthe military academy he became a fighter pilot. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Mociornita family was dealt a heavy blow back in 1941 when his elder
\nbrother was killed in the fights of Sevastopol in Crimea. In 1993, pilot Tudor
\nGreceanu, a colleague of Mociornita’s, recollected the time he was flying the
\nMesserschmitt fighters back in 1941 when the Romanian army conquered
\nOdessa. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Tudor
\nGreceanu: A fighter squadron usually consisted of 15 planes at that time. Not
\nall of them were operational but we counted on at least 12 flightworthy planes
\nalmost on a daily basis. The rest were undergoing various maintenance works or
\nrepairs. However, at a certain time after the fall of Odessa, out of all the 45
\nplanes of our three squadrons, we ended up only with 3. Because they were
\nunable to replace them in due time back then. The Romanian state had initially
\npurchased from Germany 3 squadrons of Messerschmitt fighters bf 109. We received
\nthe planes, got them ready and went straight to war. What was hit, damaged or
\nin need of repair of course became unavailable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After getting his pilot license, Mociornita joined the 1st
\nFighting Squadron to do his training. In the spring of 1944 after the first
\nallied bombs had fallen in the oil area of the Prahova Valley, Mociornita’s squadron
\nwas sent to intercept the US bombers. In the month of May, he scored his first
\nvictory against the enemy when he brought down two US bombers, which took off
\nfrom the air base in Foggia, Italy. Until August the 23rd 1944, when
\nRomania left the Axis, second lieutenant Mociornita had taken part in all the
\nmissions carried by his group. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After August 23rd
\n1944, Mociornita became lieutenant and was awarded the Romanian Crown medal for
\nvalor in the fight against the enemy and for the support given to the ground
\ntroops. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The frontline moved to the West now and the young fighter pilot joined
\nthe efforts to liberate northern Transylvania from under Hungarian occupation
\nand also in the liberation of Czechoslovakia. He was assigned various missions ranging
\nfrom reconnaissance to air support for the ground troops. Taking off from air
\nbases in Hungary, the 2nd Fighting Group, Mociornita was part of, provided
\nair support to the advancing 27th Soviet army. In his last mission,
\nthe 29th, Mociornita was patrolling an area used by the retreating
\nGerman troops. He was flying a Romanian-made fighter plane IAR 80 and with his
\nwing-man started strafing the German columns. Because he had to fly at a lower
\naltitude he was shot down by the anti-aircraft guns. His body was buried in the
\ncemetery of Romanian heroes in Zvolen, Slovakia. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
During his 29 missions, the Romanian pilot Gheorghe Mociornita managed
\nto shoot down three planes and is considered an ace. He was posthumously
\nawarded the Romanian Star, the Romanian Crown and the Air Force Virtue while
\nparts of his fighter plane were placed on display at the National Military
\nMuseum in Bucharest. A statue was erected to his memory in his native town in
\n2015 and Romania’s 86 Fighting Group is bearing his name. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gheorghe Mociornita was an ace of Romania’s Royal Air Force back in WWII<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":50395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[36750,42823,45617,45616,41951,34239],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-169804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-fighter","tag-iar","tag-messerschmitt","tag-mociornita","tag-pilot","tag-wwii"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n