Blackout (Britney Spears album)

Blackout is the fifth studio album by American singer Britney Spears. It was released on October 25, 2007, by Jive Records. Its production and release occurred as Spears' personal struggles were highly publicized and overshadowed her professional projects. She executive-produced the album, working with producers Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Sean Garrett, and the Neptunes, among others; it remains Spears' sole album to be executive produced by her. The final result was primarily a dance-pop and electropop record with Euro disco and dubstep influences, with lyrical themes revolving around love, fame, media scrutiny, sex, and clubbing.

Blackout was originally slated for November 13, 2007, but was rush-released after leaking online. Contemporary reviews were polarized: some critics described it as Spears' most progressive and consistent album to date, while others dismissed it due to Spears' controversial public image. Although it was expected to debut atop the US Billboard 200, it entered at number two due to a last-minute change in Billboard's rules, with first-week sales of 290,000 copies; it became Spears' first studio effort not to debut at the summit. The album was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It won Best Album at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. By the end of 2008, it had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide, but was deemed commercially disappointing compared to its predecessors.

Blackout produced three singles. "Gimme More" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest-peaking single on the chart since "...Baby One More Time" (1998), and reached the top ten in additional 16 countries. "Piece of Me" peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, but replicated the international commercial success of its predecessor. Its accompanying music video won Spears her first MTV Video Music Award, winning Video of the Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video in 2008. "Break the Ice" did not fare as well as its predecessors, peaking at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100. Originally intended as the fourth single, "Radar" was later included on Spears' following studio album Circus and was released as its fourth and final single in June 2009.

Unlike her previous albums, Spears did not heavily promote Blackout; her only televised appearance for the album was a universally panned performance of "Gimme More" at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. However, a number of its songs were performed on her subsequent tour the Circus Starring Britney Spears (2009) and later on her concert residency Britney: Piece of Me (2013–2017). In retrospect, the album has been cited as a career highlight for Spears and has been praised for its significant impact on the ensuing 2010s decade of pop music, being credited for bringing the electropop and avant-disco genres to mainstream prominence. Referred to as the "Bible of Pop" due to its influence, Blackout has been listed among the best albums of all time by multiple publications.

## Background and development

In November 2003, while promoting her fourth studio album In the Zone, Spears told Entertainment Weekly that she was already writing songs for her fifth studio album and was also hoping to start her own record label in 2004. Henrik Jonback later confirmed that he had written songs with her during the European leg of the Onyx Hotel Tour (2004), "in the bus and in her hotel room between the concerts." Following her marriage with Kevin Federline in October 2004, Spears announced through a letter on her official website that she was going to "take some time off to enjoy life." However, on December 30, she made a surprise appearance at the Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM to premiere a rough mix of a new midtempo track "Mona Lisa". Spears had recorded the song live with her band while on tour, and dedicated it to all the "legends and icons out there". The lyrics lament the fall of Mona Lisa, calling her "unforgettable" and "unpredictable", and cautions listeners not to have a "breakdown". She also revealed she wanted the song to be the lead single from her upcoming album, tentatively titled The Original Doll, and hoped to release it "probably before summertime [2005], or maybe a little sooner than that." In January, Spears posted another letter on her website, saying:

> I think I should rephrase myself from my previous letters when I was talking about taking a 'break'. What I meant was I am taking a break from being told what to do. ... It's cool when you look at someone and don't know whether they are at work or play since it's all the same to them. The things I've been doing for work lately have been so much fun, because it's not like work to me anymore. I've been even more 'hands on' in my management and the business side of things, and I feel more in control than ever.

A representative for Jive Records stated that although Spears was working in the studio, "no album is scheduled at the moment" and "there are no plans to service 'Mona Lisa' to radio." "Mona Lisa" was released on the bonus CD included with the DVD of Britney and Kevin: Chaotic (2005), in a re-recorded version with altered lyrics. Spears gave birth to her first son Sean Preston on September 14. In an interview with People in February 2006, Spears explained that she was anxious to resume her career, commenting she missed "traveling [...] the road, seeing different places and being with the dancers and having fun. That feeling of being on the stage, knowing it's your best – I love that. I needed a break. I needed to be hungry again." When asked about her next album, she said she had been experimenting in her home studio with live musicians, stripping down her sound and playing the piano. Spears wanted the album to represent her Louisiana roots, explaining that she grew up listening to blues. "When I was little, I would listen to myself [...] But the record label signs you, and you're just thankful to get a hit song. You can't really show off your voice and where you came from. I would like to try to have more influences of that sound. Not that I'm going to be like frickin' Tina Turner. But you never know", she stated. She also said that she hoped the album would reinvigorate the current pop scene, adding that "It's been boring. Nothing's been wow to me."

On May 9, Spears announced she was pregnant with her second child. A few days later, producers such as J. R. Rotem and Sean Garrett told MTV News they were working with Spears. On September 12, Spears gave birth to her second son Jayden James. She filed for divorce from Federline on November 7, citing irreconcilable differences; the divorce was finalized in July 2007, when the two reached a global settlement and agreed to share joint custody of their sons. During the divorce, her partying and public behavior drew attention from the worldwide media. Spears' maternal aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, died of ovarian cancer in January. In February, Spears suffered from a nervous breakdown and shaved her head, which caused intense media scrutiny. Consequently, she ended with two separate stints at Promises Treatment Centers in Malibu, California. Her manager Larry Rudolph released a statement on March 20, saying that she "successfully complet[ed] their program." In May, she produced a series of promotional concerts at House of Blues venues across the United States, titled The M+M's Tour.

## Recording and production

Spears was the executive producer of Blackout, and the album remains her sole album to be executive produced by her. Earnest recording of the album began in 2006, according to a Spears representative. Spears first met J.R. Rotem in Las Vegas in March, and enlisted him to work on the album after listening to Rihanna's "SOS". They wrote and recorded four songs together, including "Everybody", which was originally offered to Rihanna and the Cheetah Girls. In July, she started working with Danja, who contacted songwriters such as Keri Hilson, Jim Beanz and Corté Ellis to work with him. The team wrote seven tracks for Spears–"Gimme More", "Break the Ice", "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)", "Hot as Ice", "Perfect Lover", "Outta This World" and "Get Back". Danja explained that the creative process was not difficult at first since he was "left to do pretty much whatever I wanted to", and "if she felt it, she was gonna ride with it. If she didn't, you'd see it in her face." Hilson wrote "Gimme More" with Spears in mind after Danja played her the instrumental, saying: "I just started singing, 'Give me, Give me' and added a little more in and just having fun and messing around really." Spears began recording with them at the Studio at the Palms in Las Vegas in August, while she was eight months pregnant with Jayden James. Recording continued at Spears' house in Los Angeles, three weeks after she gave birth. Hilson commented that "She gave 150 percent. [...] I don't know any other mother that would do that." Danja added that despite all the problems in her personal life, "As far as her work ethic, I haven't seen anybody come in like that and do what you go to do." Regarding the sound of the album, he deemed it as bigger, more mature and "a new Britney", explaining: "I come from hip-hop, so it's underlined with [it], but I throw it down."

Kara DioGuardi, who also worked on "Heaven on Earth", co-produced and co-wrote "Ooh Ooh Baby" with a pregnant Spears. DioGuardi said that Spears "worked really hard" and called her "unstoppable". In September, Rotem told MTV News that he and Spears were trying to innovate the current sound of radio at the time, exemplifying Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous". On November 8, the day after she filed for divorce from Federline, Spears recorded "Radar" with Ezekiel Lewis and Patrick M. Smith of the Clutch at the Sony Music Studios in New York City. Lewis had wanted to work with her for a long time and was motivated to produce something for her that was going to "help her project become a great project to come back with". Smith stated that the team tried to create a record "for the Britney Spears that we know and love" and that it did not "touch on anything that was really dealing with all the stuff that she was dealing with." Both commented that although Spears arrived late to the recording sessions, she caught them off guard with her efficiency and professionalism, with Lewis adding: "It was absolutely nuts, and she took directions very well. [...] I don't know what I was expecting because we went in to cut that record the day after she filed divorce from Kevin [Federline]."

"Heaven on Earth" was written by Nicole Morier, Nick Huntington and Michael McGroarty, the latter two known as Freescha. Although Morier had been writing songs with Greg Kurstin and other artists, she felt she "hadn't really found [her] niche" until she wrote "Heaven on Earth", which she described as "a very honest song". After she played the song to her publisher, they met with Spears and her A&R executive Teresa LaBarbera Whites, who both loved it. Morier described "Heaven on Earth" as the song that transformed her career. T-Pain, who co-wrote "Hot as Ice", was in the studio with Spears in February 2007, and stated that one of the three songs they recorded was finished in only an hour. He said that he "thought she was going to be sitting on the couch eating Doritos or nachos or something [...] but she came in, shook my hand, gave me a hug and went right in the booth. She got in there and put it down." Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, known as Bloodshy & Avant, co-wrote and co-produced "Radar", "Freakshow" and "Toy Soldier" in late 2006. When the album was considered to be finished, they were persuaded by LaBarbera Whites to work on a new track. Winnberg commented that it had always been "an unwritten rule" to not write songs about Spears' personal life, since "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex", an answer song to Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River", was rejected by Jive Records. However, the duo wrote "Piece of Me" with Klas Åhlund anyway, as an answer to Spears' critics, and sent it to Spears, who "loved it". Winnberg stated: "We knew that the song broke all the rules we had, [...] When she came to the studio, she was extremely psyched, had learned the lyrics by heart in the car, and recorded the song on half an hour." Before the album's release, LaBarbera Whites told MTV News that the album "shows a lot of growth as a performer. [...] She was very involved in the songs and how they turned out. It's her magic that turns these songs into what they are." Among the producers who worked on Blackout but didn't make the album were Scott Storch, Dr. Luke and Ne-Yo.

## Music and lyrics

Danja stated that Spears' objective was to make Blackout a fun, danceable album with uptempo, high-energy music, saying: "She wanted to stay away from being personal. It's fun, it's basic and there's nothing wrong with that. It's about feeling good, celebrating womanhood." The result was a primarily dance-pop, electropop, techno and avant-disco album with R&B elements. The album opens with the lead single "Gimme More", a dance-pop and electropop song. The song opens with a spoken intro in which Spears says the line "It's Britney, bitch". While the lyrics appear to be about dance and sex, they are actually about the media's fascination with her private life, as noted in the lines "Cameras are flashin' while we're dirty dancin' / They keep watchin', keep watchin'". The next track and second single "Piece of Me" runs through a down-tempo dance beat and consists of over-the-top vocal distortions, causing a split sound effect and making it difficult to discern which voice is Spears'. It talks about fame and is written as a biography retelling her mishaps, while she sings in a nearly spoken manner. The third track "Radar" is an electropop and Eurodisco song which features distorted synthesizers emulating sonar pulses, that received comparisons to those of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" (1981). In its lyrics, Spears lets the subject know he is on her radar, while she lists the qualities the man has.

The fourth track and third single "Break the Ice" opens with Spears singing the lines "It's been a while / I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting / But I'm here now". The song features a choir, with Keri Hilson providing backing vocals, causing the song to sound almost like a duet. Hilson explained the song is about "two people, a girl and a guy, [...] and the girl is saying, 'You're a little cold. Let me warm things up and break the ice.'" After the chorus, the bridge begins with Spears saying "I like this part", mimicking Janet Jackson on "Nasty" (1986). The album's fifth track "Heaven on Earth" is a Eurodisco love song with new wave influences. It was inspired by Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" (1977), with three vocal lines taking place over the beat. Nicole Morier commented that the song was written from a very dark place, saying: "I was thinking of someone and thinking they were so perfect and that I have all these imperfections. [...] I think what's touching about it is that it's from the perspective of someone who feels like they really need this person just to feel safe and feel good." At the time of its release, Spears named the song her favorite from Blackout. "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)" is an uptempo track about sex. It is a duet between Spears and Danja, who sings the chorus with his voice distorted to sound like a decaying moan. Spears contributes a series of gasps, sighs and chants and her voice is also distorted. "Freakshow" is built around the "wobbler" effect of dubstep. Spears sings about dancing and being in the spotlight in lyrics such as "Make them other chicks so mad / I'm 'bout to shake my ass / Snatch that boy so fast". During the bridge, her vocals are pitched down low, making her sound masculine. Nearly a decade after the release of Blackout, Spears stated "Freakshow" was one of her favorite non-single tracks, describing it as "sassy".

The eighth track "Toy Soldier" is an upbeat dance-pop song reminiscent of Destiny's Child's song "Lose My Breath" (2004), showcasing a military drumroll and features Spears singing about needing a new lover. On "Hot as Ice", she sings in a higher register: "I'm just a girl with the ability to drive a man crazy / Make him call me 'mama', make him my new baby." "Ooh Ooh Baby" contains a flamenco guitar and blends the beat from Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll" (1972) and the melody of the Turtles' "Happy Together" (1967). In its lyrics, she sings to a lover: "Touch me and I come alive / I can feel you on my lips / I can feel you deep inside". Kara DioGuardi said she was inspired by the relationship between Spears and her first son in the studio, saying: "I would look at the two of them, the way they looked at each other and the way she would hold the baby. It kind of struck me as interesting. At times it'd be about a kid at times about a lover." "Perfect Lover" has a propulsive, clattery belly-dance beat, against which Spears sings lyrics such as "Tick-tock / Tick-tock / Come and get me while I'm hot". Standard edition of Blackout closes with "Why Should I Be Sad", a midtempo song directed to her ex-husband Kevin Federline. Bonus track "Outta This World" is a mid-tempo electro song with Spears singing romantic lyrics to a lover: "I keep singing universes about you / There'll always be verses about you." "Everybody" samples Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983) and features Spears singing about the dancefloor in a breathy lower register. "Get Back" is an uptempo dance track with a dark musical tone described as "spooky-sassy".

## Title and packaging

In June 2007, Spears posted a message on her official website asking for assistance with a title for her fifth studio album. Among the options were OMG Is Like Lindsay Lohan Like Okay Like, What If the Joke Is on You, Down Boy, Integrity and Dignity. On October 6, Jive Records announced through a press release that the album would be titled Blackout, referring to "blocking out negativity and embracing life fully." Its album cover and booklet images were photographed by Ellen von Unwerth. Jive revealed the cover alongside the album's track listing on October 12. It features Spears sporting black hair and wearing a pink dress, and a white fedora; the rear cover of the physical CD pressings shows the dress in blue. The cover received negative critical response. The album's booklet contains photographs of empty chairs with ripped tabloid pages and still images from the music video for "Gimme More". It does not include a thank-you list, unlike her previous albums' booklets.

The centerfold photographs for Blackout feature Spears and a priest posing suggestively inside a confessional. The first image shows Spears, who wears a cross and fishnet stockings, sitting on the priest's lap, while in the second one she leans suggestively against the confessional with the priest sitting on the other side of the partition. After the album was released, the Catholic League's director of communications Kiera McCaffrey stated that the group considered the photos a "cheap publicity stunt" to promote the album and condemned Spears for "mocking a Catholic sacrament". McCaffrey added: "All we see is how troubled this girl is now, especially with her family, losing her kids, with her career on a downward slide. And now she's put out this album and this is her tactic to promote it?" Gil Kaufman of MTV said that the images were reminiscent of Madonna's music video for "Like a Prayer" (1989).

## Release and promotion

After days of media speculation, it was confirmed on September 6, 2007, that Spears would open the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Hotel and Casino's Pearl Theatre in Las Vegas on September 9. It was also announced that she was going to perform "Gimme More", with a magic act from illusionist Criss Angel in some parts of the performance. However, the bit is thought to have been rejected by the show's organizers at the last minute. The performance began with Spears singing the first lines of Elvis Presley's 1958 song "Trouble". "Gimme More" began, and the camera panned out to reveal Spears wearing a black, jewel-encrusted bikini and black boots. She was accompanied by male and female dancers dressed in black outfits. Several pole dancers danced in smaller stages around the audience. The performance was universally panned by critics. Jeff Leeds of The New York Times said that "no one was prepared for Sunday night's fiasco, in which a listless Ms. Spears teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words in a wan attempt to lip-synch her new single". Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star commented Spears "looked hopelessly dazed. She was wearing the expression of somebody who had been deposited at the Palms Casino Resort by a tornado, one that promptly twisted away, taking her clothing and sense of purpose. [...] [She was] lumbering, in slow motion, as if somebody had poured cement into her streetwalker boots". David Willis of BBC stated her performance would "go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards".

Blackout was set to be released on November 13. However, Jive Records announced on October 10 that the release date would be moved up two weeks, to October 30, due to unauthorized leaks. The following day, Zomba Label Group filed a lawsuit against Perez Hilton, claiming he illegally obtained and posted on his gossip blog at least ten songs and unfinished demos of the album. Zomba representatives alleged the posts had taken place over the course of the previous three months, and requested real and punitive damages as well as legal costs. On June 30, 2009, the parties submitted a stipulation to dismiss the case, pursuant to an undisclosed settlement agreement. The following month, The District Court judge dismissed the case with prejudice. Unlike Spears' previous studio albums, Blackout was not heavily promoted through magazine interviews, talk show appearances or televised performances besides the performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, and was not accompanied by a tour either. On November 27, 2007, MTV launched the contest "Britney Spears Wants a Piece of You", in which fans could direct a separate video for "Piece of Me", using footage of interviews and performances from Spears. Using the MTV Video Remixer, fans could mix and create a mashup of the footage. The winning video premiered on Total Request Live on December 20, and MTV, Jive Records, and Spears herself picked the winner. The winner also received a Haier Ibiza Rhapsody device along with a one-year subscription to Rhapsody, as well as Spears' entire discography released in the United States.

## Singles

"Gimme More" was released as the lead single from Blackout on August 31, 2007, to critical acclaim. It peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her fifth top-ten entry and also her second highest-peaking single at the time, after her number-one debut single "...Baby One More Time" (1998). It also peaked atop the Canadian Hot 100 and within the top five in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Its Jake Sarfaty-directed accompanying music video premiered on October 5. It displayed Spears as a stripper and introduced a departure from Spears' previous highly-choreographed music videos. The video received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who panned Spears' pole dancing as well as the lack of storyline.

"Piece of Me" was released as the second single from Blackout on November 27, 2007. Critics gave the song positive reviews, praising its production and defiant lyrics, while citing it as one of the highlights from the album. Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 15 on their list of the 100 best songs of 2007. It peaked at number one in Ireland and within the top ten in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became Spears' fourth Dance Club Songs number-one single, and peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its accompanying music video, directed by Wayne Isham, portrayed Spears' life at the time and showed her with her friends disguising themselves in order to confuse the paparazzi. Isham's concept was to have Spears confidently parodying her situation. It received mixed reviews from critics, most of whom argued her body was digitally altered. The video was nominated in three categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and won all of them–Video of the Year, Best Female Video and Best Pop Video–marking Spears' first MTV Video Music Award wins ever.

"Break the Ice" was released as the third and final single from Blackout on March 3, 2008. It received acclaim from critics, some of whom called it an album highlight. The song reached the top ten in Canada, Finland and Ireland, peaking within the top 40 in most other countries. In the US, the song peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, but became Spears' third consecutive Dance Club Songs number-one single. An accompanying music video, directed by Robert Hales, was released on March 12. The anime video was based on the superheroine character of Spears' 2004 music video for "Toxic", and portrays her destroying a highly secured laboratory with several clones, including one of herself.

"Radar" was originally planned to be released as the third single from Blackout, according to Ezekiel Lewis of the Clutch. "Break the Ice" was released instead and "Radar" was chosen as the fourth single. It had already charted in the CIS, New Zealand and Sweden prior to its official release, even reaching the top ten in Sweden. However, the release was pushed back when Spears began recording new material for her sixth studio album Circus (2008). It was later included as a bonus track on Circus and released as the fourth and final single from the album on June 22, 2009. Peaking at number 88 on the US Billboard Hot 100, it became Spears' lowest-peaking US single.

## Critical reception

Upon its release, Blackout received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. On music review aggregator Metacritic, the album holds a score of 61 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 24 reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor of AllMusic, described the album as "state-of-the-art dance-pop, a testament to skills of the producers and perhaps even Britney being somehow cognizant enough to realize she should hire the best, even if she's not at her best." Dennis Lim of Blender deemed it "her most consistent [album], a seamlessly entertaining collection of bright, brash electropop." Margeaux Watson of Entertainment Weekly commented that while the album was not poetry, "there is something delightfully escapist about Blackout, a perfectly serviceable dance album abundant in the kind of bouncy electro elements that buttressed her hottest hits." A reviewer for NME said that the heavily-processed vocals made Spears sound robotic, adding that "it could really do with a few more human touches." Pitchfork'''s Tom Ewing called "Get Naked (I Got a Plan)" the centerpiece of Blackout, and branded the album "superb modern pop, which could probably only have been released by this star at this moment. Britney as walking catastrophe makes for great car-crash copy and her record can fit into that if you want it to." Ewing also compared the relationship between Spears and the album with American television series Twin Peaks, saying that what made the show "so great wasn't the central good-girl-gone-bad story, it was the strangeness that story liberated. And Britney's off-disc life is both distraction from and enabler for this extraordinary album".

Mike Schiller of PopMatters was more critical, saying: "Right down to its utterly garish cover, Blackout is utterly disposable and ultimately forgettable." Melissa Maerz from Rolling Stone explained that the album "is the first time in her career that she's voiced any real thoughts about her life" and that "she's gonna crank the best pop booty jams until a social worker cuts off her supply of hits." Slant Magazine writer Sal Cinquemani unfavorably compared the album to In the Zone, saying that although Blackout "scores well, and its hotness quotient is remarkably high, [it] isn't much of a step forward for Britney following 2003's surprisingly strong In the Zone, for which she received a writing credit on a majority of the songs (as opposed to a scant three here)." Andy Battaglia of The A.V. Club said the album "counts both as a significant event and as a disquieting aberration that couldn't be more mysteriously manufactured or bizarrely ill-timed" in which "every song counts as markedly progressive and strange." Alexis Petridis from The Guardian called it "a bold, exciting album: the question is whether anyone will be able to hear its contents over the deafening roar of tittle-tattle." He elaborated that when faced with a public image in freefall, an artist has two options: making music "that harks back to your golden, pre-tailspin days" to "underlin[e] your complete normality" or "to throw caution to the wind: given your waning fortunes, what's the harm in taking a few musical risks?" Petridis commented that Spears opted for the latter and the results were "largely fantastic."

Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times said: "The electronic beats and bass lines are as thick as Ms. Spears's voice is thin, and as the album title suggests, the general mood is bracingly unapologetic." Sanneh added that Spears had a spectral presence on the album, explaining that when compared to her previous records, "[she] cuts a startlingly low profile on Blackout [...] Even when she was being marketed as a clean-cut ex-Mouseketeer, and even when she was touring the country with a microphone that functioned largely as a prop, something about her was intense." Peter Robinson of The Observer stated that Spears "delivered the best album of her career, raising the bar for modern pop music with an incendiary mix of Timbaland's Shock Value and her own back catalogue." The Phoenix's Ellee Dean said the album "may be more a tribute to the skills of the A-list producers who guided her through the disc than to any of her own talents. But at least she was smart enough to accept that guidance." In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B+ and said that "From 'Gimme More''s 'It's Britney bitch' hiya to 'Piece of Me''s single-of-the-year sonics, from 'Ooh Ooh Baby''s 'feel you deep inside' to 'Perfect Lover''s 'touch me there', this album is pure, juicy, plastic get-naked."

Retrospective critical reviews, however, have praised Blackout and noted its strong influence on the music of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone described it as "one of the most influential albums in modern pop". In a retrospective review published in 2017, Alim Kheraj of Dazed called the album "one of the most inventive pop records in recent history", the record that "forevermore proved that [Spears'] career was way more than just an 'inept pantomime'[.]" Kheraj also said that the album "was the result of a hazardous moment in pop culture history that saw a serendipitous and symbiotic relationship between an artist eroding her past and producers forging their future that payed off." Publications such as Billboard, The Fader, Nylon and Vice have regarded Blackout as Spears' best effort to date. In 2022, Elise Soutar of PopMatters noted the album "feels fresher than ever 15 years on".

## Accolades

### Awards and nominations

\|- ! scope="row"\| 2008 \| NRJ Music Award \| International Album of the Year \| rowspan="2"\| Blackout \| \| align="center"\| \|- ! scope="row"\| 2008 \| MTV Europe Music Award \| Best Album \| \| align="center"\|

### Listings

## Commercial performance

In the United States, Blackout sold 124,000 copies during its first day of availability according to Nielsen SoundScan. Jessica Letkemann of Billboard compared the sales favorably to those of the previous week's number-one album Carnival Ride by Carrie Underwood, which sold 49,000 copies, estimating that Blackout would possibly debut atop the Billboard 200. On November 6, 2007, Billboard announced that even though the Eagles's first-week sales of Long Road Out of Eden had handily surpassed Spears, they would not debut atop the chart because of rules forbidding albums exclusively sold at one retail outlet–Walmart in this case–from entering the Billboard 200. During the afternoon of the same day, Walmart issued a press release announcing that Long Road Out of Eden had sold 711,000 copies. At night, it was announced through an article on Billboard.biz that after an agreement with Nielsen SoundScan, Billboard would allow exclusive albums only available through one retailer to appear on the charts, effective that same week. Hence, Long Road Out of Eden topped the Billboard 200, while Blackout debuted at number two, with first-week sales of 290,000 copies. It became Spears' first studio album not to debut at number one. The album, however, set the record for the highest first-week digital sales for a female artist at the time. Following the release of Circus in December 2008, Blackout re-entered the chart at number 198, with sales of 4,600 copies; it has spent a total of 34 weeks on the chart. As of March 2015, the album has sold one million copies in the country, being certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

In Canada, Blackout debuted atop the Canadian Albums Chart with sales of 29,000 units, becoming her first number-one album there since Britney (2001). It was certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipments of 100,000 copies. In Mexico, the album debuted at number 18, peaking at number two in its third week. In Australia and New Zealand, the album debuted at numbers three and eight, respectively. It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). In Japan, the album peaked at number four on the Oricon Albums Chart, being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). In the United Kingdom, Blackout debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with sales of 42,000 units, behind Long Road Out of Eden, and stayed on the chart for 28 weeks. It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 300,000 copies. The album debuted at the summit in Ireland and on the European Top 100 Albums. Across Europe, it reached the top ten in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the album was the world's 32nd best-selling album of 2007. By the end of 2008, Blackout had sold 3.1 million copies worldwide.

## Impact and legacy

When Blackout was released, Spears' behavior in public began to clash with her image. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated that Spears was an artist that always relied on her "carefully sculpted sexpot-next-door persona", but for Blackout "those images [we]re replaced by images of Britney beating cars up with umbrellas, wiping her greasy fingers on designer dresses, and nodding off on-stage, each new disaster stripping away any residual sexiness in her public image." Erlewine added that the album served as a soundtrack "for Britney's hazy, drunken days, reflecting the excess that's splashed all over the tabloids", while noting that the album had a coherence that the public Spears lacked. "When she dropped Blackout in 2007, the music industry scoffed, but then proceeded to spend the next few years imitating it to death, to the point where everything on pop radio sounded like Blackout," said Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone.

Blackout has been referred by contemporary critics and fans as the "Bible of Pop" for its impact on the music industry, and is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. English singer and songwriter Sam Smith wrote on their Instagram page, "One of the greatest fucking albums of all time. No arguments". Tom Ewing of Pitchfork noted that after "Freakshow" leaked online, a dubstep forum thread on the song hit seven pages in twenty-four hours, generating mixed reactions and exemplifying that "it still seems [that] when the mainstream borrows underground music, [it] brings it into the wider pop vocabulary." He also attributed the quality of every track of Blackout to economic reasons, since one of the main causes album sales began to suffer during the digital era is due to the "unbundling" of albums in online stores – making it easier for consumers to buy some tracks rather than the entire album. Ewing explained that "The Revolver blueprint for pop albums – every track good, every track a potential hit – makes more sense than ever. Especially if a star can keep sonically up-to-date in a fast-moving market."

Reviewers noted the use of Auto-Tune in Spears' voice. Ewing said that Blackout serves as a reminder of how instantly recognizable Spears' vocals are, saying that "treated or untreated: her thin Southern huskiness is one of the defining sounds of 00s pop." He noted that the album "is a masterclass in autotune and vocal treatment as a studio instrument, disrupting and jamming the songs as much as it helps them." While reviewing Spears' demo of "Telephone", Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone compared it to "Piece of Me", "proving yet again how much impact Britney has had on the sonics of current pop. People love to make fun of Britney, and why not, but if 'Telephone' proves anything, it's that Blackout may be the most influential pop album of the past five years." In June 2012, Blackout was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's musical library and archive. Calling it a "mutant pop classic", Dazed cited Blackout as one of the most influential albums of the last decade for the way it suffused hip hop, pop, R&B and EDM, and further said "Spears once lamented that she wasn't a girl but not yet a woman... Blackout was the signal that this transition had reached its climax. Yet rather than emerging as a Stepford pop princess, the Britney that appeared was disruptive and peddling demented pop music."

## Track listing

Notes

- signifies a vocal producer
- signifies a co-producer
- signifies a remixer
- signifies an additional producer

Sample credits

- "Ooh Ooh Baby" blends the beat from Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll", and the melody of The Turtles' "Happy Together".
- "Everybody" contains a sample from "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", as written by Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.

## Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Blackout.

- Klas Åhlund – bass (track 2), songwriting (track 2)
- Marcella "Ms. Lago" Araica – engineering (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11), mixing (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11), programming (tracks 1, 4 and 6), songwriting (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Jim Beanz – backing vocals (tracks 1, 4, 9 and 11), songwriting (tracks 1, 4 and 11), vocal production (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Bloodshy & Avant – bass (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8), engineering (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8), guitar (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8), keyboards (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8), production (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8), programming (track 2, 3, 7 and 8), songwriting (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8)
- Kobie "The Quarterback" Brown – clearance
- Miguel Bustamante – mixing assistance (track 9)
- Jim Carauna – engineering (tracks 3 and 7)
- Robyn Carlsson – backing vocals (track 2)
- The Clutch – engineering (tracks 3 and 7), production (tracks 3 and 7)
- Erick Coomes – bass (track 10), guitar (track 10), songwriting (track 10)
- Tom Coyne – mastering (all tracks)
- Danja – production (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11), songwriting (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Kara DioGuardi – backing vocals (track 10), production (tracks 5 and 10), songwriting (track 10), vocal production (track 5)
- Corté "The Author" Ellis – backing vocals (track 6), songwriting (track 6)
- Damon Ellis – clearance
- David M. Erlich – production coordination (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Devine Evans – digital effects (track 6), Pro Tools editing (track 6)
- Mike Evans – production coordination (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Niklas Flyckt – mixing (tracks 2, 3, 7 and 8)
- Freescha – engineering (track 5), instrumentation (track 5), production (track 5), songwriting (track 5)
- Sean "The Pen" Garrett – backing vocals (track 8), production (track 8), songwriting (track 8)
- Brian Garten – engineering (track 12)
- Hart Gunther – engineering assistance (track 12)
- Mark Gray – engineering assistance (track 4)
- Jeri Heiden – art direction, design
- Keri Hilson – backing vocals (tracks 1, 4 and 11), songwriting (tracks 1, 4 and 11), vocal production (track 1)
- Mike Houge – engineering (track 10), mixing assistance (track 10)
- Chad Hugo – mixing (track 12), production (track 12)
- Richard "Segal" Huredia – engineering (track 10)
- Cara Hutchinson – Zomba production coordination
- Lisa Jachno – manicure
- Henrik Jonback – bass (track 7), guitar (tracks 2, 3 and 7), songwriting (tracks 2, 3 and 7)
- Ryan Kennedy – engineering assistance (track 12)
- Ezekiel Lewis – backing vocals (track 7), songwriting (tracks 3 and 7)
- Tony Maserati – mixing (tracks 5 and 10)
- Miike Snow – engineering assistance (tracks 9 and 11), mixing assistance (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Jeff Monachino – clearance
- Nicole Morier – backing vocals (track 5), songwriting (track 5)
- Balewa Muhammad – songwriting (track 3)
- Vernon Mungo – engineering (track 8)
- Jackie Murphy – art direction, design
- Glen Nakasako – art direction, design
- Farid "Fredwreck" Nassar – guitar (track 10), keyboards (track 10), production (track 10), songwriting (track 10)
- Candice Nelson – backing vocals (tracks 3 and 7), songwriting (track 3)
- Brian Paturalski – engineering (track 10), vocal engineering (track 5)
- Jenny Prince – A&R coordination
- J. Que – songwriting (tracks 3 and 7)
- Nancy Roof – A&R administration
- David Schmidt – clearance
- Rob Skipworth – engineering assistance (track 8)
- Britney Spears – executive production, songwriting (tracks 7 and 10), vocals (all tracks)
- Supa Engineer Duro – mixing (track 12)
- T-Pain – arrangement (track 9), backing vocals (track 9), songwriting (track 9)
- Ron Taylor – editing (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11)
- Francesca Tolot – make-up
- Valente – engineering assistance (track 1)
- Kristen Vallow – prop styling
- Ellen von Unwerth – photography
- Windy Wagner – backing vocals (track 9)
- Magnus "Mango" Wallbert – additional programming (track 8), songwriting (track 8)
- Teresa LaBarbera Whites – A&R
- Pharrell Williams – backing vocals (track 12), production (track 12), songwriting (track 12)
- Patti Wilson – styling
- Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – additional engineering (track 12), mixing assistance (track 12)

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Year-end charts

## Certifications and sales

## Release history

## See also

- Britney Spears discography
- List of number-one albums of 2007 (Canada)
- List of number-one albums of 2007 (Ireland)
- Rolling Stone'''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

2007 studio album by Britney Spears

Albums produced by Danja (record producer)


Romanian Air Corps

The Romanian Air Corps or Aviation Corps (RAC) (Romanian: Corpul de Aviație) was the air arm of the Romanian army until the formation of the Romanian Air Force. It was established on 1 April 1913 as the Military Aeronautics Service (Serviciul de Aeronautică Militară) and subordinated to the Engineer Inspectorate, being organized in two branches – the aviation and the balloon branch. On 23 August 1915, the RAC was formed as an independent military arm and operated until 1 January 1924 when it became an equal to the Army and Navy, being redesignated as the Royal Romanian Air Force (Aeronautica Regală Română).

In 1913, the newly established Military Aeronautics Service participated in the Second Balkan War. Being organized in two sections, the Aeronautics Service carried out reconnaissance, liaison and leaflet dropping missions over Bulgaria.

In 1915, the Air Corps gained independence from the Engineer Inspectorate. When Romania entered the First World War on the Allied side in 1916, the RAC was organized into 4 squadron groups, each assigned to an army, and 4 balloon sections. Limited by the few aircraft the Corps had available, the Romanian airmen carried out mainly aerial reconnaissance and photography missions, though bombing missions with Romanian-made bombs were also executed. At the end of 1916, the RAC was reorganized with the help of the French Military Mission. After the reorganization, it had 3 Aeronautical Groups, each assigned to a Romanian or Russian army, and 5 balloon companies.

## Beginnings

The first flight of Romanian military personnel happened on , when Marius Willemot, a French engineer from Bucharest, took Majors (Maj.) Iacob Lahovary, Constantin Poenaru and Dumitrescu in flight over the city with his hydrogen balloon named "Mihai Bravul" [ro] (Michel-le-Brave). The last flight of this balloon took place on , Willemot flying together with Colonel (Col.) Nicolae Haralambie, Ion Ghica and a third person.

The first balloon unit of the Romanian Army was established in 1893 as part of the 1st Telegraph Company in the 1st Engineer Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant (Lt.) Eugeniu Asachi. The balloon unit was equipped with a French spherical captive balloon, which was replaced with a German kite balloon in 1900. In the beginning, the captive balloon was used for aerial surveillance in support of the artillery that defended the fortifications of Bucharest. Then, the balloon was used in the field training exercises from 1907-1911. The positive results encouraged the officials to acquire 3 more kite balloons and the necessary mobile devices to produce and store hydrogen, which was used to inflate the balloons, and to transport the equipment into operational theaters.

On 20 November 1909, Cerchez & Co., the first aircraft company, the first aerodrome and the first flight school of Romania was founded at Chitila. The school, conducted by French flight instructors, had five hangars, bleachers for spectators and workshops where Farman airplanes were built under license.

Also in November 1909, the Romanian Minister of War commissioned Aurel Vlaicu to build the A Vlaicu I airplane at the Bucharest Army Arsenal. The aircraft first flew on 17 June 1910. In September, during the fall military exercise, Vlaicu flew his airplane from Slatina to Piatra Olt carrying a message, Romania thus becoming one of the first countries to use airplanes for military purposes. The English historian, Michael J.H. Taylor noting: "In 1910 the Romanian military aviation was established, being one of the nations that adopted aviation for military purposes. The Romanian aviation participated, with great success, in the campaigns of the First World War."

In April 1911, the Ministry of War ordered 4 Farmans, this was followed by an order for 2 more Farmans. These licensed-built airplanes started to be delivered from 30 August. In the same year, the first officers began training at the flight school, Sublocotenent (Second Lieutenant - Slt.) Ștefan Protopopescu receiving the first pilot license in Romania and becoming the first pilot of the Romanian Army. On 1 April 1912, the first military flight training school was established in Cotroceni. Prince George Valentin Bibescu took the initiative to establish the National Air League (Liga Națională Aeriană), on 5 May 1912, which was located in Băneasa. The League was formed with the aim of supporting the national aviation with money and aircraft. This way, the civil society could participate directly in the pilot training and aircraft purchases through public donations. A contract was also signed between the Air League and the Ministry of War, which allowed the training of military pilots at the flight school of Băneasa. The instructors of the flight school were all military pilots.

As a result of the rapid development of aviation, it was necessary to regulate its status within the military. A law on the organization of military aeronautics was issued on 1 April 1913 which organized the military aeronautics in two branches – the aviation and the balloon branch. The Military Aeronautics Service was put under the commanded of the General Inspectorate of Engineering and Aeronautics, led by General (Gen.) Mihail Boteanu. The law also established the Corps of Permanent Airmen (Corpul Aeronauților Permanți), consisting of pilots, air observers and mechanics. It laid down the conditions for admission to flight schools, the system of pilot licensing, the establishment of flight salary premiums, the continuous training of aircrew and the introduction of the higher pilot's license for aviators. This higher pilot's license was given to experienced aviators who performed missions in difficult conditions and its holders were permanently assigned to the Corps of Permanent Airmen. Pilots were required to fly at least 120 hours per year, otherwise, they were excluded from military aviation.

### Second Balkan War (1913)

On , Romania mobilized its army against Bulgaria. The Military Aeronautics Service was also mobilized and participated in the campaign which started on 10 July. The Military School and the Aviation Park mobilized 5 "Farmans", which constituted the Section I of Aviation (Secția I de Aviație), commanded by Lt. Ștefan Paraschivescu. Aurel Vlaicu was also assigned to this section with his A Vlaicu II airplane. Liga Națională Aeriană was transformed into the Section II of Aviation, contributing with 13 aircraft: 8 twin-seat Blériot monoplanes with 80 hp engines, 2 single-seat Blériots with 50 hp engines, 2 Farman MF.7 and 1 Blériot XXI with a 70 hp engine.

On 24 July, Captain (Cpt.) Constantin Fotescu and Cpt. observer Ioan H. Arion, executed the first combat mission, with a reconnaissance flight following the Vidin - Ferdinandovo road. The Blériot then turned north-west flying over the village of Rabisha where Bulgarian troops were stationed. Two cannon shots were fired on the airplane without effect. On 30 July, two Blériots from No. 1 Squadron, Section II took off. The aircraft were flown by: Lt. Nicolae Capșa with Cpt. observer Ioan H. Arion and Private (Pvt.) Poly Vacas with Cpt. observer Ioan Viieșeanu. The airmen carried out a reconnaissance mission in northern Bulgaria, then landed at Segarcea.

The intensification of reconnaissance missions carried out by Section II prompted the section's commander, Cpt. George Valentin Bibescu, to reorganize its activity. To this end, four Blériots with the 80 hp engines and two Blériots with the 50 hp engines formed the No. 2 and No. 3 Reserve Squadrons.

Cpt. Nicolae Capșa and Ioan H. Arion took off on 8 August 1913, at 6.05 a.m., with orders to drop leaflets over Sofia. The pilot noting:

> ...The machine climbed slowly to 1,200 m (3,900 ft)... Turning east, we climbed following the road to Sofia and the village of Zeljava we observed troops camped in 140 small forts. At 7.30 a.m. we were above Sofia at 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and passing over the Royal Palace, where Arion released more manifestos. We turned over the Metropolitan Cathedral and, about 5 km (3.1 mi) from the city, we saw a fort with two cupolas near the road to Filipopol. On return, captain Arion took more stereoscopic views. At 8.10 we landed at Orhanie. Total 150 km (93 mi) in 2 hours and 5 minutes of flight time.

The Romanian airmen continued to fly reconnaissance missions during the war. On 14 August, the Aviation was recalled to Bucharest. From the first experience of war, the ground commanders began to see the advantages of aviation, resulting in the fact that aircraft could be used very effectively in long-distance missions of over 200 km (120 mi) over the enemy lines, and in liaison missions with infantry and cavalry. Some shortcomings have also been noted. For example, only one of the five Section I Farmans flew, piloted by Slt. Gheorghe Negrescu [ro], as the others were missing spare parts.

The year 1913 marked an important point for the Romanian aviation, with new aircraft purchases from France, Great Britain and Germany. At the end of the year the aviation had 20 licensed pilots and was equipped with 34 aircraft, as follows:

- Military aircraft: 3 Bristol-Coanda Monoplanes with 50 hp engines; 7 Bristol T.B.8 with 80 hp engines; 4 Farman HF.20; 1 Rumpler Taube with a 100 hp Mercedes engine; 1 twin-seat "Nieuport" with an 80 hp engine; 1 Albatros B.I with a 100 hp engine; 8 twin-seat Blériot XI with 80 hp engines owned by Liga Națională Aeriană, which could be mobilized during war.
- School and training aircraft: 2 Bristol-Coandă "coté a coté" with 50 hp engines; 2 Bristol-Coandă without an engine; 1 Bristol B.R.7 with a 70 hp engine; 1 Farman model 1912; 2 Blériot XI with Anzani 25 hp engines (owned by Liga Națională Aeriană); 1 Nieuport IV with a 50 hp engine, flown by Mircea Zorileanu [ro].

## World War I

### Neutrality years (1914–1916)

In 1914, 18 students enrolled for pilot training (eight officer cadets and eight non-commissioned officers). The Băneasa Flight School had another 10 students (five officers and five junior officers). With the international situation becoming more and more tense, through Order no. 421/1914, the Ministry of War tasked the command of the Aviation with survey missions in the country, especially around Craiova, Turnu Măgurele, Mărășești, Pașcani and Medgidia with the goal of setting up fuel depots in case of mobilization, as well as for the identification of fields where reserve aerodromes could be set up. Through continued propaganda in the support of equipping the aviation with flying machines, the residents of Turnu Severin gathered funds and bought a Bristol T.B.8, the same was done by the residents of Silistra and Iași.

Visiting Romania in the summer, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia enjoyed a special welcome. While the Imperial ship was 20 km (12 mi) from the Romanian coast, two flights, one of Bristol-Coandă airplanes and another of Blériots, flew out to the Black Sea over the Imperial ship. The Romanian pilots simulated an aerial battle at an altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft), executing dives and loops and impressing the Tsar.

After the outbreak of the war, the Crown Council invoked by Carol I chose neutrality for Romania. Soon after this decision, King Carol I died and was succeeded by Ferdinand I to the throne. During the neutrality period, Romania invested in reorganizing, equipping and training its armed forces, allocating 17-22% of the country’s budget for defense. However, the money spent for defense was insufficient to acquire all the necessary equipment to modernize the entire military. Although Romania had the facilities to manufacture Farman and Bristol-Coandă airplanes under French and British license, the Ministry of War preferred to import airplanes.

Military pilots continued their training for participation in an eventual military campaign. The Romanian airmen believed that politicians did not understand the role of military aviation in setting policies. Therefore, between 1914 and 1916, some enthusiastic pilots along with some experts from the Army Arsenal decided to experiment with dropping Romanian-designed bombs and practiced attacking ground targets from the air. On 12 January 1915 the first launching of a Romanian-made bomb from a height of 800 m (2,600 ft) took place. Two kinds of bombs were tested: one of 10 kg (22 lb) and the other of 5.5 kg (12 lb), with the latter being rated as the best one to be launched by hand. At the end of July 1915, the Aviation had 34 aircraft.

New Romanian aviator badges for pilots and observers also appeared in 1915. For officers, the badge was of silver metal and was worn on the chest on the left side and for non-commissioned officers it was made of silk of the same color and was worn on the left sleeve. An important stage in the evolution of the Romanian military aviation was the establishment of the Romanian Air Corps on 23 August, which was put under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt. Col.) Constantin Găvănescu. Following the reorganization of the aviation, the flight school of Cotroceni was disbanded and the training of pilots and observers was taken over by the Băneasa school of the Air League. To ensure the good running of the activity, 78 military specialists were dispatched to the aerodrome. At the end of 1915, the newly independent RAC was somewhat better equipped due to the ordered airplanes arriving from France, 37 pilots and 25 observers were also licensed this year.

Continuing their training missions, the Romanian pilots were well prepared for the future conflict. Arriving at Bucharest on 4 August 1916, the French pilot Jules de Lareinthy de Tholozan noted:

> The pilots performed several flights in my presence, which convinced me that they had received very good training. There is a small number of mechanics, however, they are very well trained. There is a need for more of them; the Romanian pilots have serious technical knowledge, knowing the aircraft they fly on very well... The Romanians are missing modern airplanes and spare parts. Once they will receive the first 6 Nieuport 11 fighters and 12 Farman F.40s, the strength of the RAC will increase and I am very certain that the Romanian pilots, who are very well trained, will be formidable opponents for their enemies.

### Campaign of 1916

On 28 August 1916, Romania entered the war on the side of the Entente. When the mobilization was decreed, the RAC had 44 aircraft ready. Of the 44 aircraft ordered from France, 23 were available: 8 Farman MF.7/MF.11, 5 Blériot XI, 1 Farman HF.20, 4 Voisin III/V, 4 Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, 1 Caudron G.3; an Aviatik C.I was also delivered from Germany and another 20 aircraft were available from the flight schools: 10 Bristol T.B.8, 7 Bristol Coanda Monoplanes, 3 Farman HF.20. All aircraft were initially unarmed, the machine guns for the airplanes started to arrive only from September 1916.

At the beginning of the campaign, the RAC was organized as such:

- Grupul 1 Escadrile (1st Squadron Group) - The group had 2 squadrons.
- Grupul 2 Escadrile - assigned to the Romanian 2nd Army.
- Grupul 3 Escadrile - assigned to the Romanian 3rd Army. The group had 3 squadrons: Escadrila "București", Escadrila "Alexandria" and Escadrila "Budești".
- Grupul 4 Escadrile - assigned to the Northern Army.
- The RAC also had 4 balloon sections, each with 1 Drachen captive balloon.

The Central Powers deployed 22 German and Austro-Hungarian squadrons on the Romanian Front, totaling over 250 aircraft. They also deployed 20 balloon companies (10 Austro-Hungarian, 8 German and 2 Bulgarian), as well as 4 Zeppelins (LZ 81, LZ 86, LZ 97 and LZ 101). On 15 August, the Romanian Anti-aircraft Defence Corps was established, with the mission to protect the important civil and military objectives against enemy aerial attacks. The Corps had 113 anti-aircraft guns, including "Negrei" and "Burileanu" gun systems, some machine guns and searchlights. Bucharest was protected by the Anti-aircraft Defence Branch of the Capital City, which was equipped with twenty 75 mm guns adapted for anti-aircraft use, two "Negrei" system 57 mm guns, 16 anti-aircraft machine guns and 8 sections of 60 and 90 cm searchlights.

At the beginning of the campaign, the Romanian Air Corps carried out surveillance and photographic reconnaissance missions to support the land forces. In the southern theater of operations, Romanian airplanes discovered German, Turkish and Bulgarian troop movements and informed the commanders of the 3rd Army, via thrown messages. This helped to prevent the troops from Dobrudja and the forces deployed south of the Danube River from being surrounded. On the front in Transylvania, Grupul 1 Escadrile executed the first reconnaissance missions. On 16 September, a German aircraft that was flying over Călărași was intercepted by the Farman F.40 of Lt. Panait Cholet and observer Ioan Gruia. Using the onboard Hotchkiss 8 mm machine gun, Gruia damaged the enemy airplane which crash-landed near Silistra. This was the first Romanian air victory of the war.

In order to improve the support for the land forces, the airmen decided to extend their missions by dropping bombs on enemy targets by hand in the absence of proper bomb dropping equipment. They threw 10 kg (22 lb) and 12 kg (26 lb) Romanian-designed "Drosescu" bombs against enemy troop concentrations at Lepnic and Gogolia, against the Svishtov railroad station and the fuel depot in Rusciuk, on the Southern front. Troops and command centers at field army and army corps level, along the Northern front, were also targeted.

At the beginning of October, the French Military Mission, led by General Henri Mathias Berthelot, arrived in Romania. The Mission was composed of 500 commissioned officers and 1150 non-commissioned officers, corporals, soldiers and civilians with different specialties. The aviation component consisted of 42 commissioned officers, 45 non-commissioned officers, 36 corporals and 162 soldiers and civilians (pilots, aerial observers, specialists in balloons, communications and wireless telegraphy, etc.). The Mission’s main aim was to transfer France’s knowledge and experience to its Romanian allies. The French worked to improve command and organizational structure, equipment and the training level of both leaders and combat personnel. In order to meet the objective, the members of the Mission became directly involved and assumed command positions. In this regard, Major De Malherbe was appointed as Commander of the military aviation through Order no. 11/17 October 1916, and Major Gheorghe Rujinschi, the RAC’s Commander, became his deputy.

Between 1 August 1916 and 1 January 1917, the RAC received, following some procurement contracts, 152 aircraft: 11 Bréguet 5 and 12 Bréguet-Michelin equipped with 37 mm cannons, 10 Caudron G.4, 18 Nieuport 11, 10 Nieuport 21 and 91 Farman F.40. Aside from the airplanes, Romania also purchased various equipment for reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, as well as a few thousands of "Gros" and "Michelin" type bombs and Le Prieur rockets.

On 25 October 1916, 6 aircraft (including Farman HF 27 and Nieuport 12s) of RNAS Wing 2 arrived in Romania from Imbros as part of the Romanian Flight mission. Another 3 aircraft arrived on 21 November. The airplanes were part of the contract signed by the Romanian representatives with their British counterparts. The British trained the Romanian pilots until January 1917, when they left the country.

#### Bombing raids

A few hours after Romania's declaration of war, Hauptmann Geissert (commander of zeppelin LZ 101, stationed at Yambol, Bulgaria) received the order to bomb Bucharest. The zeppelins carried out raids on Bucharest, as well as on the oil refineries of Ploiești. On 4/5 September, while on a bombing raid over Ploiești, LZ 86 was hit by Romanian artillery, which damaged one of its gondolas. The zeppelin tried to return to the base in Timișoara but while on the way, the damaged gondola detached, causing the ship to become unbalanced. The airship crashed near Utvin, killing nine of its crewmen, including the commander. Another zeppelin, LZ 81, would also be damaged by anti-aircraft fire while over Bucharest on 26/27 September. The airship crash-landed near Tarnovo while trying to return to base.

The German bombers stationed in northern Bulgaria also carried out raids in Romania. The port of Constanța was a regular target for the bombers. Another priority target was the railroad bridge at Cernavodă. The initial raids against Cernavodă were ineffective, owing to the light weight of the bombs used. Better results were obtained once the bombers began receiving 100 lb (45 kg) bombs. Aircraft were used to attack enemy assembly areas and bivouacs, as well as munitions dumps.

On 2 December, a Romanian aircraft flown by the French Lt. De Maille and by Lt. Eugeniu Iorgulescu executed a raid on Sofia. The raid was meant as a reply to the bombings of Bucharest. The Romanian crew dropped three 16 kg (35 lb) "Drosescu" bombs over the Royal Palace, which was hit and caught fire. The anti-aircraft artillery around the city managed to hit the airplane which was forced to land, the crew being taken prisoner.

At the end of the year, General Constantin Prezan, the new Chief of the M.C.G. [ro], advised by the Chief of the French Military Mission, decided to reorganize the Air Corps. A new Aeronautical Directorate was created, commanded by Lt. Col. François de Vergnette de Lamotte [fr] of the French Mission. The task of the director of Aeronautics was to ensure the cooperation between the operations and the information bureaus and to centralize the information obtained during various missions. The RAC was composed of aviation, balloon, photo, meteorology, and training branches. The Commander of the Aviation Branch was Maj. Constantin Fotescu, while the Balloon Branch was commanded by Maj. Ion Iarca. With the new organization, 3 Aeronautical Groups, commanded by Romanian officers were created. However, some of the squadrons of these groups were led by French officers. Each group was assigned to an army and generally had 3 squadrons (2 reconnaissance and 1 fighter).

Following the quick advance of the Central Powers, it was decided to move the flight school to Bârlad on 27 September. On 15 December, an order to move to Botoșani was received. In June 1917, the school was moved again, with the pilot school moving to Odessa and the observer school to Vaslui.

By the end of the campaign, the RAC lost 12 aircraft, and 12 pilots in combat, with another 2 pilots killed in training flights. The numbers of other aircrewmen lost is unknown. The Romanians shot down 5 aircraft in aerial combat, 3 aircraft were shot down by the French airmen and another 23 by the anti-aircraft artillery.

### Campaign of 1917

On 1 January 1917 the Romanian Air Corps had 58 pilots and 12 observers, another 20 pilots and 18 observers were in training. A number of 53 aircraft were available while others were being assembled or repaired at the workshops of Rezerva generală a aviației (RGA), which were the former workshops from Cotroceni and Băneasa that had moved to Iași in 1916. In the winter and spring of 1917, the aviation units were very active, despite the unfavorable weather conditions until the month of April.

The 3 Aeronautical Groups were organized as such:

- Grupul 1 Aeronautic Bacău, assigned to the 2nd Romanian Army:
  - Escadrila F.2
  - Escadrila F.6
  - Escadrila N.1
- Grupul 2 Aeronautic Tecuci, assigned to the 4th Russian Army (will be re-assigned to the 1st Romanian Army):
  - Escadrila F.4
  - Escadrila F.7
  - Escadrila N.3

  From the beginning of the summer of 1917, 2 new squadrons were created for the group:

  - Escadrila F.9
  - Escadrila N.11
  - Escadrila C.12 was also assigned to this group
- Grupul 3 Aeronautic Galați, assigned to the 1st Romanian Army (will be re-assigned to the 6th Russian Army):
  - Escadrila F.5
  - Escadrila N.10
  - Escadrila B.M.8
- The RAC also had 5 balloon companies, equipped with Drachen and Caquot balloons [fr].

From February, the Romanian and French specialists of the 2nd Aeronautical Group were able to intercept and decrypt the German radio messages, which contributed to completing the commanders’ big picture of the enemy’s strength, deployments and intentions obtained through surveillance and photography. In parallel with reconnaissance and combat missions, the aviation bombed enemy military and transport facilities. One of the most important bombing missions was done by the 3rd Aeronautical Group on 31 March, with 19 aircraft. The Romanian and French crews destroyed the railroad, docks and facilities from the Port of Brăila and sank two German military ships. From May onwards, the aviation started night bombings using Farman F.40 and Bréguet bombers against important enemy targets: the Port of Brăila; Brașov’s plants; the airfields at Focșani, Covasna, Miercurea-Ciuc and Târgu Secuiesc; the Buzău-Râmnicu Sărat-Focșani and Buzău-Făurei-Ianca-Brăila railroads and railway stations.

On 25 May, two Bréguet bombers, escorted by a third Bréguet, armed with a 37 mm (1.5 in) cannon took off with the mission to bomb the Traian railway station. After dropping their bombs, the bombers were attacked by enemy fighters. The escorting airplane opened fire with its cannon, hitting one of the opposing aircraft with shrapnel. The enemy pilot barely managed to regain control and avoided hitting the ground. Hearing the noise of the battle, Lt. Vasile Craiu and Plutonier (Sergeant First Class) Marin Popescu, who were patrolling in the area, joined in the fighting and drove the enemy fighters away, Craiu managing to damage one of them.

Reconnaissance and bombing missions continued through the month of June. The first artillery salvos of the Romanian 4th Army Corps [ro] in the morning of 22 July marked the beginning of the summer offensive. By this point, the RAC had 80–90 aircraft available, approximately 150 pilots (of which 42 were French) and 84 observers. During the first three days of battle, the Romanian and French airmen carried out some 130 missions, including those of directing friendly artillery fire, with the airmen of the F.5 Squadron directing the Russian heavy artillery fire. All 12 squadrons of the Aeronautical groups participated in the offensive at Mărăști.

From 6 August, the Central Powers began their offensive, the beginning of the Battle of Mărășești. The front of the 1st Romanian army was divided into three sectors, after the number of reconnaissance squadrons. From early morning until nightfall, three Farman F.40s, one for each sector, kept watch for any enemy troop movement. No aircraft left the front area until its replacement arrived after three hours. The front was protected by the fighters of the Nieuport squadrons so that the whole front line of the 1st Army was defended by the aviation.

The aviators of the F.7 and F.9 squadrons carried out flights over the enemy positions, observer Constantin Nicolau from Escadrila F.7 noting:

> Starting from the first lines of trenches down to the bottom where the 3rd line of enemy resistance should have been, disappearing under the plumes of smoke clouds, all that could constitute the area of a known objective was being picked apart by shell explosions of our artillery, light and heavy. And likewise, our positions, beginning with the first lines of trenches and battery emplacements identified by the enemy, were being pounded by enemy artillery with almost equal intensity to our own.

In the sectors where the damage done by the Romanian artillery was incomplete, the aviators of F.4 Squadron would carry out bombing missions. The pilots of the N.11 and N.3 squadrons ensured the protection of the front line by engaging enemy aircraft, dogfights happening almost daily, with the aviators of Escadrila N.11 obtaining important victories, for example, Egon Nasta shot down a captive balloon using Le Prieur rockets. The numerous aerial battles and losses caused the Austro-Hungarian High Command to create new dedicated fighter units on the Romanian front. For this, Fliegerdetachement Nikitsch (later re-named to Kampfstaffel or Jagdstaffel Harja) was created and assigned to Fliegerkompanie 31. The unit's commander, Hauptmann Karl Nikitsch, requested more modern fighters as "many dogfights are carried out on the Romanian front, the losses in men and material are heavy".

In the morning of 19 August, the enemy troops launched an attack aided by a 3-hour artillery barrage, including the use of gas shells over the 3 Romanian divisions. The German infantry managed to occupy the south-west part of Mărășești. The enemy troops were attacked by the aircraft of the F.7 and F.9 squadrons which carried out 14 bombing missions that day. At the same time, the observers directed the fire of the Romanian and Russian heavy artillery batteries, noting: "The shells hit the enemy trenches of the first line with great precision. The first enemy line at Găvanul was completely destroyed, and at Cota 114 a lot of green smoke could be seen." On that day, the crews of the 2nd Aeronautical Group flew on 35 missions, totaling 88 flight hours.

The use of the RAC squadrons at the Battles of Mărăști and Mărășești supported the 1st and 2nd Romanian Armies and allowed those commanders to make informed decisions during the battles. The contributions of the RAC during the summer campaign of 1917 were also noted by General Kurt von Morgen. During the month of August, the Romanian forces scored 32 victories, including those scored by the anti-aircraft artillery, with the French aviators obtaining a further 6 victories.

After the conclusion of the summer military operations, the aviation continued their missions with the same intensity. From 22 September, Grupul 3 Aeronautic with Escadrila F.7 and Escadrila N.10 were transferred to Botoșani. At the start of October, two aircraft from Escadrila F.5 were sent to Ismail, at the request of Gen. Dmitry Shcherbachev. The aircraft were tasked with defending southern Bessarabia and managed the shoot down one German aircraft in the Bolgrad region. On 7 November 1917, Romanian aviators scored 5 air victories through Egon Nasta, Paul Magâlea and Ion Muntenescu, all pilots of Escadrila N.11 and through the crew of Dumitru Crăsnaru and Alexandru Vasilescu from Escadrila F.9.

The Romanian and French aviators continued their missions until 9 December, when the Romanian Government had to sign an armistice with the Central Powers, following Russia's ceasefire agreements. Romania would eventually be forced to sign a peace treaty on 7 May 1918.

### Campaign of 1918

From January 1918, the Aeronautical Groups were organized as given:

- Grupul 1 Aeronautic Bacău:
  - Escadrila F.6 - renamed to Escadrila S.6 after receiving Sopwith 11⁄2 Strutters
  - Escadrila F.2
  - Escadrila N.1

  All squadrons of this group were based at Bacău.
- Grupul 2 Aeronautic Tecuci:
  - Escadrila F.5
  - Escadrila S.8 - ex-B.M.8
  - Escadrila N.11
  - Escadrila N.3
- Grupul 3 Aeronautic Roman:
  - Escadrila F.9
  - Escadrila S.12 - ex-C.12
  - Escadrila N.10

On 11 February, the RAC had 78 aircraft available, as follows: 18 Nieuports, 16 Nieuport 11, 14 Sopwiths, 26 Farmans, 1 Maurice Farman, 2 Caudron G.4 and 1 Morane-Saulnier.

The entry of Romanian troops into Bessarabia to drive out the Bolshevik troops, prompted the Romanian M.C.G. to send two squadrons, Escadrila F.4 and Escadrila N.3bis, to the theater of operations. These squadrons would form Grupul Aeronautic basarabean and would support the Romanian troops of the 6th Army Corps [ro] in the Bessarabian campaign. The first air missions were executed on 18 January, when three Russian SPAD VIIs flew over Galați, reaching Bârlad. Two Nieuports of N.11 Squadron went out to intercept, but could not catch the Russian airplanes.

On 6 February, the Government of Bessarabia requested Romania to provide military aid for attacks on the various bands of looting soldiers and for the protection of the railways and supply depots. The request was sent to Gen. Shcherbachev in Iași, who in turn sent it to the Romanian government. On 25 January, the first Romanian military units formed of Transylvanian volunteers entered Chișinău. On 7 February, the Romanian M.C.G. sent four divisions to Bessarabia, which were supported by the airmen of Grupul Aeronautic basarabean.

At the request of the 3rd Army Corps, the S.6 Squadron moved to Chilia to carry out missions in the area. Thus, aerial reconnaissance at the mouths of the Danube established that the Bolshevik ships were in the Ochakov channel east of Vâlcov. In Bessarabia, the air missions carried out by the F.4 Squadron, protected by Nieuport fighters of the N.3 Squadron, targeted the front sector of Tiraspol-Grigoriopol-Dniester river. On 29 February, the French Military Mission left the country. On 3 March, while on a mission in the Tiraspol-Glinajia sector, a Romanian reconnaissance aircraft was damaged and forced to land by Bolshevik soldiers while over Slobozia.

Even after the Treaty of Bucharest, relations with the French were kept for the rest of the war. To this end, on 22 October, French aviator Louis Noël flew a Bréguet 14 from Salonica to Iași transporting the Romanian minister Victor Antonescu, who informed the government about the evolution of the war and about the intent for an eventual re-mobilization of the Romanian Army. For this action, Noël became a Knight of the Order of the Star of Romania and was awarded the ribbon of Virtutea Militară. On 10 November, the second mobilization of the Romanian Army began. On 24 November, Lt. Vasile Niculescu and Cpt. Victor Precup flew from Bacău to Blaj in a Farman F.40 to deliver three important documents, one of which was the letter of Ion I.C. Brătianu to the Romanian National Council. After crossing the mountains, flying at 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and in a temperature reaching −30 °C (−22 °F), the airplane landed on Câmpia Libertății to be greeted by the enthusiastic inhabitants of Blaj.

## War of 1919

In 1919, the Romanian Army was fighting on two fronts: in Bessarabia where Bolshevik troops were crossing the Dniester and attacking the settlements near the border, and in Hungary, where a communist regime was established on 21 March. A report from 25 March showed that Romania had 51 aircraft in service, with another SPAD VII gifted from France at the beginning of the year.

In March, Grupul 5 Aviație nicknamed Grupul ardelean was formed. The group was made up of 3 squadrons:

- Escadrila S.2 - renamed to Escadrila B.2 after receiving Bréguet 14 aircraft
- Escadrila N.7
- Escadrila S.12

These squadrons took part in the Hungarian-Romanian War. A number of Transylvanian Saxon airmen who enrolled in the RAC were also assigned to the squadrons of the 5th Aviation Group.

On the front in Bessarabia, while on a reconnaissance mission in the Moghilev area on 9 April, a Nieuport 23 flown by Slt. Ion Dragomirescu was attacked by a Bolshevik airplane. Dragomirescu, who scored 2 other victories while flying for France, quickly shot down the enemy aircraft which crashed in flames near Moghilev.

In the morning of 28 April, a LVG C.VI was intercepted and forced to land behind the Romanian lines. The aircraft was being used for flights from Budapest to Kyiv to deliver messages to the communist leaders. In the captured documents a letter was found addressed to Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, in which he was requested to intensify the fighting in Transylvania.

On 19 April, Lt. Nicolae Drosso and observer Lt. Aurel Constantinescu were assigned to photograph the Bolshevik positions on the left bank of the Dniester. During the mission, an enemy Anatra attacked the Romanian airmen. Constantinescu set the Anatra on fire, causing it to crash with the loss of both crewmen. This was the second aerial victory on the Bessarabian front.

The Romanian Army advanced quickly, capturing Debrecen on 23 April and reaching the Tisza River on 1 May. On 19 May, Ioan Sava [ro] and observer Ioan Vlad shot down an enemy two-seater near the village of Zagyvarékas. The Romanian aircraft became more active from the end of May, including missions such as a formation of seven Romanian aircraft bombing the railway station from Miskolc on 1 June. A captured UFAG C.I flown by Slt. Stan Bucur and Lt. Mihail Hurmuzescu was attacked and shot down by 2 Hungarian Fokker D.VIIs flown by László Újvári and Géza Keisz on 12 June while on a reconnaissance mission, both Romanian airmen losing their lives.

On 25 July, the counteroffensive of the Romanian Army began. At this time, Grupul 5 Aviație had 17 aircraft (including captured ones). Three days later, the first Romanian units crossed the Tisza, being covered by the crews of the N.7 and B.2 squadrons. On 31 July, a formation of Hungarian aircraft attacked the pontoon bridge across the river, but they were intercepted by the pilots of Escadrila N.7, with Iosif Răcășanu managing to shoot one down.

With the end of the war, a number of 150 aircraft were captured from Hungary of which 107 were complete. These included: 22 Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, 20 UFAG C.I, 11 LVG C.VI, 34 Fokker D.VII, 16 Aviatik (Berg) D.I, about 12 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29, 6 Fokker D.VI, 4 Phönix C.I and 4 Hansa-Brandenburg FB. 260 engines were also captured.

On 19 September, a Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa, registered DLR R.70/18 which was used by the Ukrainian Government for transport, performed an emergency landing near Cristinești. On board the airplane were the Minister of Propaganda of the Ukrainian People's Republic and his deputy, journalist Petro Benzya [uk]. The aircraft, which was badly damaged, was seized by the Romanian authorities. As the German crew refused to give any help in repairing the R.XIVa, Lt. Petre Macavei together with a team of mechanics started the repair work on their own, managing to bring the aircraft to flight readiness on the 29th of October. With Major Haralambie Giossanu as the pilot and Captain Cezar Știubei as the navigator, the airplane took off towards Bucharest. After a short stop at Adjud for refueling, the bomber landed at Pipera after a 545 km (339 mi) flight done in 4 hours and 18 minutes. The R.70 was used by the Romanians for several years to train bomber pilots.

## Victories and losses

During the campaigns of 1916–1919, Romanian airmen achieved about 10,000 flight hours, had about 700 aerial fights and shot down some 51-91 enemy aircraft, with another 55 shot down by anti-aircraft artillery. Twenty-two Romanian pilots and six air observers were killed in air combat and nine more were shot down by enemy anti-aircraft artillery. Twenty pilots, air observers and technical personnel died in training flights. Eleven airmen were decorated with the Order of Michael the Brave: Lt. Ioan Peneș, Slt. Dumitru Darian, Lt. Petre Ioanin, Lt. Ermil Gheorghiu, Cpt. Vasile Craiu, Slt. Egon Nasta, Slt. Gheorghe Stâlpeanu, Cpt. Grigore Gafencu, Slt. Marcel Drăgușanu [fr], Slt. Paul Magâlea, Maj. Constantin Cristescu, Cpt. Mihai Bădescu, Slt. Mihail Hurmuzescu and Lt. Col. Gheorghe Rujinschi.

Additionally, the French pilots of the Military Mission shot down 28 aircraft and four officers were decorated with the Order of Michael the Brave: Cpt. Maurice Gond, Cpt. Charles Mallet, Cpt. Augustin de Mailly-Nesle and Lt. Roger Lucy. Two airmen of the Military Mission died while flying for Romania, Slt. S. Cordonier and Adjutant James Texier. Their names were inscribed on the Monument to the Heroes of the Air in Bucharest.

## Interwar period

In the early interwar years, the military aviation included seven groups (two reconnaissance groups, one bomber, one fighter and a balloon group, as well as a technical operations and a training group), a seaplane squadron, an arsenal, as well as a central material depot. The Higher Directorate of Aeronautics, headed by Col. Gheorghe Rujinschi, and Maj. Haralambie Giossanu as the Chief of Staff, was the governing body within the Ministry of War. The "10th Aeronautical Directorate" (Direcția 10 aeronautică), led by Lt. Col. Andrei Popovici, the 5 Aviation Groups, the Sea Aviation Squadron, the Balloon Group and the technical operation group were subordinated to the Higher Directorate of Aeronautics. Subordinated to the 10th Aeronautical Directorate were the Aeronautical Arsenal, led by Major Ștefan Protopopescu, the central materials depot and a technical service led by Maj. Gheorghe Negrescu.

Although Romania did not have the financial and industrial resources to form and maintain large aviation units, the development Romanian military aviation managed to kept pace with the other European powers. From 1921, the aviation was organized for peacetime, with units being deployed in almost every province of the country. In order to continue equipping the squadrons of the RAC, Cpt. Mihai Savu was sent to Paris to negotiate the purchase of new airplanes. A contract was signed for the purchase of 101 SPAD fighters, 5 Caudron G.3 and 15 Nieuport 23. These aircraft were delivered by 11 August 1920. Another 150 Bréguets were ordered between 1921 and 1922. The number of aircraft in service with the RAC was about 240, this number will reach 560 by 1924.

Following the discussions of a committee formed by Col. Rujinschi, it was decided that aeronautical units would form garrisons in the following places: Iași with the surrounding areas, Bucharest, Galați, Craiova, Brașov and Constanța (where the hydroaviation was based). It was also decided to introduce the parachute, the type of parachute was to be decided by a study. Maj. Negrescu was in charge of this issue and would start negotiations with American companies in order to acquire the necessary material.

In order to maintain the training of all aviation personnel, the aviation units cooperated with the large infantry units in the summer of 1921, in the areas of Sibiu, Vălenii de Munte, Făgăraș and Sfântu Gheorghe. Also in 1921, the first school for aviation craftsmen was founded at the Pipera airfield. The school was moved to Mediaș in 1924 and transformed into the Technical School of Aeronautics, with the classes lasting between six and eight years. Some of the graduates of this school continued their studies, becoming mechanical officers, and others, aeronautical engineers.

## Aircraft designs, assembly and production

Aside from Aurel Vlacu, several other inventors designed and built aircraft in Romania, such as Nicolae Saru-Ionescu, who flew an airplane of his own design and construction at Cotroceni in 1911. However, he crashed on 28 August while performing a test flight and did not have the funds to repair his machine. The same year, another inventor, Corneliu Marinescu, designed a three-seat bomber. The airplane, nicknamed Lăcusta, had two seats in the fuselage for the pilot and observer, while the third seat for the bombardier was located under the fuselage. Although the performances of this machine were reportedly similar to other aircraft used in the military at that time, the authorities did not approve its serial construction.

The first license-built aircraft in Romania was the Farman III, with the Ministry of War ordering six from the Cerchez & Co. workshops in 1911. The next initiative to start an aeronautical industry in Romania dates from 30 March 1915. On this date, an association was established with the aim of designing and building aircraft. The 4 signatories were: Ion Stroescu, Tache Brumărescu, Corneliu Marinescu and Nicolae Tănase, but the association failed as it lacked sufficient funds.

In 1916, the workshops from Cotroceni and Băneasa were moved to Iași where Rezerva generală a aviației or RGA was established in a former slaughterhouse. Of the 322 aircraft that were received by Romania during the war, between 242 and 292 aircraft, as well as 545 aircraft engines, were assembled at RGA. With many airplanes arriving severely damaged from the journey through Russia, the engineers from RGA had to either repair or manufacture replacement parts.

After the war, in 1919, the RGA was moved back to Bucharest where Arsenalul Aeronautic was established. With the increase in need of training aircraft for the Piloting School of Tecuci, the Ministry of War approved the construction of Hansa-Brandenburg C.I at the new Arsenal. This was the first mass produced aircraft in Romania, with 120 aircraft equipped with Austro-Daimler 160 hp engines being manufactured between 1922 and 1923.

The first Romanian-designed aircraft to be serially produced was the Proto 1, which was designed in 1922 by Ștefan Protopopescu. However, this serial production was stopped following an accident, which resulted in the death of the test pilot Ioan Sava, and the design of the aircraft was improved. After the design changes were finished, 25 new Proto 2 airplanes were produced in 1924 at the Astra Aircraft Factory in Arad.

## Roundels

## See also

- Romania in World War I
- List of Romanian Air Force units & WW1
- Romanian military equipment of World War I

Military units and formations established in 1913