ALEXANDROS KARAMANLAKIS -1912

 

THE BALKAN WARS 1912-1913 via email from George Kandylakis, 5-31-04      During 1992, together with three friends from IPMS Greece, ('Nea Apo IPMS Ellados' Title means News from International Plastic Modeler's Society Hellasy), we put together a book on aircraft of the Greek Air Force, from the beginning until that time, mainly a pictorial catalogue of every type (known to us at the moment) that served with Greek colors. My responsibility was the period 1912-1922, since I like old aircraft and already had a lot of information.      Other types that were flown during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) were 2 Maurice Farmans, 1 Henry Farman 20, 1 Astra hydroplane, 1 Maurice Farman hydroplane, 1 Nieuport IV G monoplane and a captured Turkish Bleriot XI.      The last two have a close association with another name in your list, Emmanuel Argyropoulos, who was the first private pilot in Greece, and the first to fly in Greece, with his Nieuport, named "Halcyon" on 8th February 1912. I have a good picture of it and him, I' ll scan it ( as soon as I find a scanner) and mail it to you. During the wars the Nieuport was damaged, so he was flying the captured Turkish Bleriot (found intact during the liberation of Thessaloniki, my home town). On 4/4/1913 he crashed with it and died together with a passenger.      The first Greek aviation casualty was however Alexandros Karamanlakis, a journalist who also went to France for training, and brought with him a Bleriot XXI monoplane. During a long distance flight he fell to the sea and drowned, on 27th August 1912.      On the other hand, Dimitrios Kamperos, not only was he the first Greek military pilot, he survived the Balkan Wars, the First World War, he was chief instructor for many years in the Greek military flying school and eventually died of cold and hunger, during the German occupation of 1941-44.

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Alexandros Karamanlakis" using Google, (6-29-04), you will find one link.

 

THE FIRST STEP      This page on the Chronicle of the Hellenic Air Force website revues the early developments of the Air Force in 1911 and 1912. You will find brief mention of the four principal aviators, including Emmanuel Argyropoulos. You will also find six small photographs of the aviators and their planes. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.        If time permits, I suggest that you visit the homepage of the site by clicking on its name above. This is an extensive website which offers information on the development of the Air Force from its beginnings in 1912, through the b alkan wars, 1st world war, campaign in asia minor, inter-war period, grecoitalian war, middle east - italy, south korea, the first jets, first generation aircraft, second generation aircraft, third generation aircraft and towards the 21st century.. The following introductory paragraph is extracted from that page:      "To accomplish this, 13 officers from France were transferred to Hellas to establish the foundation with which the Hellenic Air Force could operate and expand on. The first officers to join this new branch were Dimitrios Kampero (First Lieutenant Artillery), Mihail Moutousis (First Lieutenant Corp of Engineers), Mihail Adamidis (Second Lieutenant Cavalry), and a little later Loukas Papaloukas (First Lieutenant Infantry), Markos Drakos (First Lieutenant Artillery), and Panoutsos Notaras (Second Lieutenant Cavalry). These officers were trained in France, where they obtained their diplomas. "      You can go directly to the homepage by clicking on the name above.

 

During a long distance flight he fell to the sea and drowned, on 27th August 1912. Personal communication from George Kandylakis, 5-31-04   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

Back