A(R)R doctrine 2/Did Romanian PZL's had radios?, Two question in a single topic

1. Which was the official ARR doctrine before 1941 (before the arrival of the German Mission instructors for aviation)? I’m referring to the fighter groups/squadrons, did they use the cell/wing system or the things were still about the WW1 “flying circus” system (small 2-4 planes assignments vs. individual assignments)? What about the other air forces from the beginning of WW 2, except the Luftwaffe (French, Italian)? I’m completely ignorant in that matter. Is it true that at the beginning of the war RAF used the cell/wing system and Regia Aeronautica and the French aviation the individual system? When the cell/wing started being used, and in what air force?

2. Did the Romanians PZL 11 have radios? What about the PZL 24s? If not, how did they communicate with the ground aviation/AA centers (and between each other) and how were they used (what aviation doctrine, again)? For example, how were they supposed to be sent to intercept a foe bomber force localized at some coordinates? And what if the ground AA observers noticed that the bomber formation had changed its course but the fighters were already in the air?

Thanks in advance.

This post has been edited by Agarici on November 01, 2005 05:50 am

The celula/patrula system was a German invention, more exactly of the German ace Werner Mölders. He was the first fighter pilot in history to claim more than 100 kills.

The Romanian military aviation used a French system prior to the contact with Luftwaffe mission. This also meant the use of groups with different types of aircraft (for example the 7th Fighter Group initially had one Bf-109E squadron and one Hurricane Mk. I squadron) or mixed groups.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect the P.11fs didn't have a radio.

P.11f prototype received radio. This fact was underlined in the Polish documents. Romanian-built P.11fs got TELEFUNKEN radio set.
And - finally - according to Denes P.24E had TELEFUNKEN type radio set, supplied by SSA.

I remember reading somewhere that the organization in patrule (German Schwarm) was implemented first, and the division in celule (German Rotte) was only a later refinement, but I don't know any details.

I remember that some relatively recent editions of “Modelism” magazine presented quite extensively the actions of the Romanian Me 109 E squadrons on the Basarabian front, in 1941. The articles used many veterans’ accounts and memoirs and emphasized that some of the Romanian fighter planes losses were caused by the improper use of the cell system, recently introduced and insufficiently applied in practice by the pilots. I remember an example where one of the protagonists was adj. aviator Tiberiu Vinca, whose wingman, in order to find the wreck of a downed plane (to confirm his kill), neglected to cover his back.

This post has been edited by Agarici on November 01, 2005 06:47 am

There, I found it: it was an interview with Nicolae Sculy in Revista de istorie militară 5/1991. On 22 june 1941 he was in Escadrila44 equipped with PZL p-11f. He said that he flew two missions that day flying in patrulă and that the organization in celule was only introduced later (he didn't mention when). He didn't say anything about radio.