I.A.R. 80B, nr.229 & I.A.R. 80, nr.19 are flown from Brașov I.A.R. factory to Târgșorul Nou airfield by I.A.R. factory pilots Dipl.-Eng. Nicolae Florescu (nr.229) and Lt. Av. Mihail Iliescu (nr.229), July of 1942.

The author of this color photo is Slt. Av. (r) Sorin Tulea (1915-2005), highly decorated He 111 pilot, WIA in 1944 while bombing soviet positions on Moldavian front (http://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/?article=741).

The newly installed communist regime ”rewarded” him with 16 years in prison, from 1948 to 1964.

Romanian I.A.R. 80B, nr.229 & I.A.R. 80, nr.19

I.A.R. 80 nr.39 of ”Grupul 8 Vânătoare” (8th Fighter Group), pre-May markings, Pipera airfield, early May of 1941.

Romanian I.A.R. 80, nr.39

The aircraft of the famous Italo Balbo's Atlantic flight of 1933, still in service in Romanian Air Force ten years later. Black Sea, 1943. Probably Constanza.
(DVX)