Pilot Info: IAR-80a # 142.

[Der Maresal]

Who flew the IAR-80a , serial number 142. I could use some information on the pilot and his deeds.



(This plane - the four leaf clove)

[Victor]

The airplane belonged to the 48th FIghter Squadron/9th Fighter Group in 1942.
According to Vanatorul IAR-80 by Dan Antoniu and George Cicos, it was shot down on 25 September 1944 at Turda. It was then part of the 2nd Fighter Group. The pilot, adj. av. Mircea Mazilu, bailed out. In early 1944 it had been rearmed with two Mauser 20 mm guns.

[Victor]

Btw, the four leaf clove was the early insignia of the 9th Fighter Group.

[Der Maresal]

:ro:
That's very good information Victor. Soon, I will show what I needed this information for - or rather, someone alse asked me about this plane.

Thanks, and I'll get back.

[Dénes]

According to my sources, that day Mazilu flew I.A.R. 81C No. 422 (excerpt from my ARR loss list):

25-Sep-44 I.A.R. 81C+ 422 Gr. 2 van., Esc. 66 van. adj. Mircea Mazilu {ranit} comuna Mihai Viteazul doborit de germani, AFB, av. ars. D.A. da gresit No. 142 [JurnOp CAR] [Arhive]

Dénes

[Der Maresal]

This plane has markings of the 1941-1944 period, the Michael's Cross, as well as the Yellow "Eastern Front" band on the fuselage - not the white 'anti-fascist band" campaign stripe...
Maybe after 23 August, # 142 changed hands, and Mazilu flew a different plane..

Thanks, this was helpfull. A friend asked about this aircraft before making a 'skin' for it, for Il-2 flight simulator. - I think it looks awesome. He included the info about the pilot, which you provided, (i told him it's from the experts on this forum)

IAR-80a #142 (Flyable) :wink:

[Dénes]

The model looks more or less O.K., except for the rear fuselage, which had different cross section (identical to the P.Z.L. P.11/24).

The upper wing tips were not painted yellow. Also, the adjustable panels aft the NACA ring were painted yellow as well.

Because the info from the book mentioned by Victor is erroneous, there is no proof that Adj. av. Mazilu ever flew this particular airplane. Therefore I suggest removing his name, for historical accuracy. The unit (Gr. 9 vân.), is O.K., though.

Dénes

[Victor]

QUOTE

According to my sources, that day Mazilu flew I.A.R. 81C No. 422 (excerpt from my ARR loss list): 25-Sep-44 I.A.R. 81C+ 422 Gr. 2 van., Esc. 66 van. adj. Mircea Mazilu {ranit} comuna Mihai Viteazul doborit de germani, AFB, av. ars. D.A. da gresit No. 142 [JurnOp CAR] [Arhive] Dénes

No. 422 appears to have been shot down the same day, but was flown by a adj. av. Georgescu. Two people can't fly the same IAR-80 and get shot down the same day. Maybe it was GEorgescu that was shot down with the 142.

Btw, no. 142 was an IAR-80A up until 1944, so it should have 6 7.92 mm MGs, not 4.

[Dénes]

Adj. av. Georgescu flew No. 270:

25-Sep-44 I.A.R. 80C+ 270 Gr. 6 van. adj. Ion Georgescu+ Turda zone doborit de germani, pilot disparut. D.A. da gresit No. 422 [JurnOp CAR] [Arhive 2002]

These data are taken directly from the Combat Diary of CAR.

Dénes

[Der Maresal]

[quote][/quote]
No. 422 appears to have been shot down the same day, but was flown by a adj. av. Georgescu. Two people can't fly the same IAR-80 and get shot down the same day.[/quote]

[quote]Adj. av. Georgescu flew No. 270:..

Dénes[/quote]

:shock:



we got problems!

[Dénes]

There is no serious problem here. Simply, there are contradictions between various published sources, which is quite common.
As I stated above, I stand by my primary sources.

BTW, I checked a bit more my notebooks for Adj. av. Mazilu and found him flying No. 243 in May 1943, while part of Esc. 44 vân.

Regarding No. 142, why doesn't the modeller use tail number of aircraft that is well known? It would make things much simpler...

Dénes