Octav Oculeanu

He enrolled in the No. 1 Infantry Officers School in Bucharest și also became a student-officer at the Aviation School in Tecuci. He attended in France a training course in the art of flying an airplane under low visibility conditions. In 1928, helped Mircea Cantacuzino to establish the first air tourism school in Romania.

He became Mircea Cantacuzino’s and many other pilots’ flight instructor. To make aviation popular among the youth, he organized air shows in various cities: Caracal, Corabia, Calafat, Slatina, Piatra Olt, Alexandria, Turnu Măgurele, Zimnicea, Giurgiu, and Roşiorii de Vede.

He also participated in aviation competitions abroad. In 1929, he flew on the Bucharest – Iaşi – Warsaw – Prague – Belgrade – Bucharest route. The same year, he won first place in the Ocolul aerian al ţării (Around the Country by Airplane) contest, and was awarded the Mircea Zorileanu Cup.

In 1931 he carried out a non-stop flight, on the Bucharest – Warsaw – Bucharest and in August the same year, he carried out a training flight from Bucharest to London.

On 25 Novermber 1931 he dies on the Pipera airport during a test flight. His name – Aviator Lieutenant Octav Oculeanu – is carved in stone on the pedestal of the Air Heroes monument on Aviatorilor Boulevard, in Bucharest.