GHEORGHE CARANDA 1894-1912

Gheorghe Caranda Collection of Dan I. Hadîrca, 12-6-06

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Aurelian Simionescu, 8-16-06      Gheorghe Caranda (first lieutenant): Was born in 1894 in Iasi, Romania. He died while training on a Farman airplane on June 20, 1912. Attached is a photograph showing a monument erected in his memory in Bucharest not far from Cotroceni palace.      The Chitila school used only Farman planes, (they were assembled there from parts brought from France). I have no doubt that Caranda was flying a Farman biplane when he crashed.

 

Chitila Airfield Photo courtesy of Aurelian Simionescu, 5-26-06

 

CARANDA CRASHES AND DIES From: Istoria Aviatiei Romane, Editura Stiintifica Si Enciclopedica, Bucharest, 1984 Submitted by Dave Lam, 5-24-05 Translation from Romanian and Remarks by Aurelian Simionescu, 5-25-05      In the excerpt from this book from Mr. Lam, there is also a reference to lieutenant Gheorghe Caranda, the first Romanian aviator to die in a plane crash. He lost his life on April 20th 1912 in an accident on Chitila Piloting School airfield while training for his license. On the pedestal of Airmen Heroes Statue erected in Bucharest in 1935, Gheorghe Caranda is named first on a list of 179 Romanian airmen that died in plane crushes between 1912 and 1934.      You can see a beautiful photograph of the monument by clicking on: Airmen Heroes Statue

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Gheorghe Caranda", using the Google search engine, (5-2-05), you will find about 22 links. They are in Romanian, which I don't read, but it appears that they refer to a street named in his honor.

 

Caranda Monument Bucharest, near Cotroceni palace. Photo & description courtesy of Aurelian Simionescu, 8-16-06

ONLINE RESOURCES AIR HEROES STATUE       Aurelian Simionescu has alerted me to this page on the Fortele Ariene Romane webpsge on which you will find several pictures of the monument, along with the name of the sculptor and the dimensions of the sculpture. You can access it by clicking on the title above. Be sure to click on the thuimbnails at the bottom of the page. In the Romanian extended text it says that a model of the statue accompanied Dumitru Prunariu, first Romanian cosmonaut, in his flight aboard Soiuz-40 of Mai 1981 performed together with the soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov. Aurelian has added these explanatory remarks:       "In the Romanian extended text it says that a model of the statue accompanied Dumitru Prunariu, first Romanian cosmonaut, in his flight aboard Soiuz-40 of Mai 1981 performed together with the soviet cosmonaut Leonid Popov. As I mentioned previously, Gheorghe Caranda's name appears on the pedestal. The Romanian text also mentions the last entry on the list of 179 airmen heroes, that of aviator Rotaru Sava, who died in the morning of May 29, 1934 near Cernavoda in a plane crush caused by dense fog. ."

 

Gheorghe Caranda died in a crash on June 20, 1912   If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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