By Brian Karli
I know social media has its good and bad traits, but sometimes the good benefits those of us who passionately love Bückers. There was a post the other day which made me say, “I never knew that”.
I know social media has its good and bad traits, but sometimes the good benefits those of us who passionately love Bückers. There was a post the other day which made me say, “I never knew that”.
I have always been fascinated by famed Bücker pilot Prince Constantin Catancuzino. He is famously known for his spectacular Jungmeister aerobatic routine that left the audience spellbound. Low level snap rolls gave predictions of an early demise.
You can see his routine here: Jungeister in the Bull Ring
Anyway, back to social media. This popped up on Facebook.
So I clicked on the link:
Anyway, back to social media. This popped up on Facebook.
So I clicked on the link:
It was so sad seeing the Jungmeister smoldering in the field.
Since Cantacuzino’s name came up again, I started searching for information about him. Yes, he was Romania’s most successful WWII fighter pilot with 48 confirmed (and 11 unconfirmed) victories. But did you know he fought WITH the Germans and then AGAINST the Germans?
In 1944, when Romania quit the Axis, they switched to the Allied side and Cantucuzino went from protecting Heinkel 111’s to shooting them down. One time, when his ME-109 was damaged, Cantacuzino hopped in a P-51 and on his first flight proceeded to dazzled everyone with his aerobatics.
Wow.
Before the war, Cantacuzino married Anca Diamande and they had a daughter who became who became a famous Romanian writer. She wrote with a pen name of Oana Orlea, but her real name was Iona Cantacuzino.
More things under the category of “I didn’t know that”.
At age 16, Iona was jailed for distributing anti communist manifestos. She was given a four year prison sentence. After she was released from her labor camp, she was forbidden to continue her studies and forced to earn her living as a welder and supplemented her income by washing hair at a salon. Under constant surveillance, she was finally able to flee to France where she wrote several books about the Romanian Gulags.
After the war, the Communists took over Romania and imprisoned the old elite (Cantacuzino was a Prince, remember) and confiscated all personal property. So much for being a famous war ace. Cantacuzino’s lost all his family land and his wife left him.
Not all was lost. In 1946, he met and married a Romanian film star named Nadia Kujnar. They were able to escape to Italy and settled in Spain where he was helped by the Romanian community to buy an airplane (Spanish Jungmeister) and make his living in the airshow business.
This is a great eyewitness account of his Jungmeister flying in 1952. The author is unknown but the item is from a report on the King's Cup air race of that year.
The crowd were to enjoy another aerobatic display that was even more appreciated by the watching pilots who understood what was being done and how difficult it was. The aeroplane was a Bücker Jungmeister – the Pitts Special of its day – and the pilot was a Prince Constantin Cantacuzeno.
{He was a member of the Cantacuzeno dynasty which had ruled Romania for centuries. In the thirties he flew as Chief Pilot of LARES, the Romanian Air Transport Company. He was also a keen aerobatic pilot and became National Champion in 1939, flying his Jungmeister. On the outbreak of war, he joined the Air Force and flew in a squadron equipped with Mk I Hurricanes. Romania had been ‘absorbed’ by Hitler so their troops went to war against the Russians.
By 1943, Cantacuzeno was commander of a squadron equipped with Me 109s and building a tidy score of victories, enough to be awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. He became ill and spent some months in hospital returning in time to meet the USAAF raids against the oilfields around Ploesti in which he shot down a B-24 Liberator.
In August 1944 Romania decided to stop fighting with the Germans and they opted for an Axis-Exit. The affronted Germans still had some airfields in Romania and began bombing Bucharest. Cantacuzeno added three He 111s and an Fw 190 to his score (he ended with 43 confirmed victories, Romania’s highest).
With the Russians in control life was becoming difficult. There were many US airmen PoWs, technically freed but unable to get back to Allied controlled territory i.e. Italy. Without any authorisation Cantacuzeno secretly had an Me 109G prepared with an extra fuel tank and the radio removed from its compartment in the fuselage behind the wing root. Into this he squeezed Lt Col. James Gunn who had briefed him on the landing procedures at Foggia. When they arrived there Cantacuzeno put on his lights and lowered the undercarriage, rocking his wings. They landed without being fired on. Cantacuzeno borrowed a screwdriver, opened the little 18” square hatch and produced Gunn.
Subsequently, Cantacuzeno was briefed on flying a Mustang and he led a formation of P-51s back to his airfield in Romania. (He couldn’t resist a burst of Mustang aerobatics before landing). They were followed by groups of B-17s, stripped of interior fittings, each of which could cram in 20 ex-PoWs. 700 Americans were rescued that day and the ferrying went on until 1,161 had been evacuated.
Cantacuzeno himself stayed in Romania but he was steadily stripped of all his possessions and status. In 1947 he managed to get away, eventually to Spain where he took a job crop dusting. After a short spell of bankruptcy he was able to raise enough money to buy one of his beloved Jungmeisters and make a living from display flying, which is how he managed to be in Newcastle in 1952. It didn’t last long. Surgery for an ulcer went wrong and he died in 1958, aged just 53}.
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The display itself was quite dazzling and the little machine twirled about. The loops were tight and the ‘slow’ rolls not slow. The only bit of straight and level flight was a long sideslip with the wings rolled 90° and the nose held up with that enlarged rudder.
Finally he approached to land just in front of the crowd, the engine now quietly muttering. At the last second when no more than 10 feet above the ground, the engine roared, the plane climbed to 50 feet and flick rolled. Cantacuzeno closed the throttle and gently landed.
Fortunately, I’d been warned about this and was able to capture it with my little camera.
Brian Karli. Jan 2025
They were married until his death in 1956.
Bucker history is very fascinating. I have only scratched the surface of Prince Cantacuzino’s history. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the famous Prince:
This is a great eyewitness account of his Jungmeister flying in 1952. The author is unknown but the item is from a report on the King's Cup air race of that year.
The crowd were to enjoy another aerobatic display that was even more appreciated by the watching pilots who understood what was being done and how difficult it was. The aeroplane was a Bücker Jungmeister – the Pitts Special of its day – and the pilot was a Prince Constantin Cantacuzeno.
{He was a member of the Cantacuzeno dynasty which had ruled Romania for centuries. In the thirties he flew as Chief Pilot of LARES, the Romanian Air Transport Company. He was also a keen aerobatic pilot and became National Champion in 1939, flying his Jungmeister. On the outbreak of war, he joined the Air Force and flew in a squadron equipped with Mk I Hurricanes. Romania had been ‘absorbed’ by Hitler so their troops went to war against the Russians.
By 1943, Cantacuzeno was commander of a squadron equipped with Me 109s and building a tidy score of victories, enough to be awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. He became ill and spent some months in hospital returning in time to meet the USAAF raids against the oilfields around Ploesti in which he shot down a B-24 Liberator.
In August 1944 Romania decided to stop fighting with the Germans and they opted for an Axis-Exit. The affronted Germans still had some airfields in Romania and began bombing Bucharest. Cantacuzeno added three He 111s and an Fw 190 to his score (he ended with 43 confirmed victories, Romania’s highest).
With the Russians in control life was becoming difficult. There were many US airmen PoWs, technically freed but unable to get back to Allied controlled territory i.e. Italy. Without any authorisation Cantacuzeno secretly had an Me 109G prepared with an extra fuel tank and the radio removed from its compartment in the fuselage behind the wing root. Into this he squeezed Lt Col. James Gunn who had briefed him on the landing procedures at Foggia. When they arrived there Cantacuzeno put on his lights and lowered the undercarriage, rocking his wings. They landed without being fired on. Cantacuzeno borrowed a screwdriver, opened the little 18” square hatch and produced Gunn.
Subsequently, Cantacuzeno was briefed on flying a Mustang and he led a formation of P-51s back to his airfield in Romania. (He couldn’t resist a burst of Mustang aerobatics before landing). They were followed by groups of B-17s, stripped of interior fittings, each of which could cram in 20 ex-PoWs. 700 Americans were rescued that day and the ferrying went on until 1,161 had been evacuated.
Cantacuzeno himself stayed in Romania but he was steadily stripped of all his possessions and status. In 1947 he managed to get away, eventually to Spain where he took a job crop dusting. After a short spell of bankruptcy he was able to raise enough money to buy one of his beloved Jungmeisters and make a living from display flying, which is how he managed to be in Newcastle in 1952. It didn’t last long. Surgery for an ulcer went wrong and he died in 1958, aged just 53}.
. The Jungmeister first flew in 1935 and was designed specifically for aerobatics. With a wingspan of 21 ft 8 ins and a 160 hp engine it displayed ‘astonishing agility’. The combination of such a powerful engine in a tiny airframe was unusual for its day and the pilot could make full use of gyroscopic effects to produce manoeuvres that seemed impossible.
(In 1952, colour film was expensive and more expense was added if you wanted an enlargement. So this is a cheat. You could buy little tubes of transparent oil paint and delicate stroking with a cotton bud and other little tricks produced this effect).
(In 1952, colour film was expensive and more expense was added if you wanted an enlargement. So this is a cheat. You could buy little tubes of transparent oil paint and delicate stroking with a cotton bud and other little tricks produced this effect).
Cantacuzeno added his own modifications to his Jungmeister. The rudder was extended to allow him to do his signature manoeuvre. Note also that much smaller wheels had been fitted. The usual larger and heavier wheels must have had some adverse effect in one of the manoeuvres.
The display itself was quite dazzling and the little machine twirled about. The loops were tight and the ‘slow’ rolls not slow. The only bit of straight and level flight was a long sideslip with the wings rolled 90° and the nose held up with that enlarged rudder.
Finally he approached to land just in front of the crowd, the engine now quietly muttering. At the last second when no more than 10 feet above the ground, the engine roared, the plane climbed to 50 feet and flick rolled. Cantacuzeno closed the throttle and gently landed.
Fortunately, I’d been warned about this and was able to capture it with my little camera.
Brian Karli. Jan 2025