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Collection of George Kandylakis, 7-1-04 |
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in front of his hangar in Athens, early 1912. Collection of George Kandylakis, 7-1-04 |
via email from George Kandylakis, 5-31-04 Other types that were flown during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) were 2 Maurice Farmans, 1 Henry Farman 20, 1 Astra hydroplane, 1 Maurice Farman hydroplane, 1 Nieuport IV G monoplane and a captured Turkish Bleriot XI. The last two have a close association with another name in your list, Emmanuel Argyropoulos, who was the first private pilot in Greece, and the first to fly in Greece, with his Nieuport, named "Halcyon" on 8th February 1912. I have a good picture of it and him, I' ll scan it ( as soon as I find a scanner) and mail it to you. During the wars the Nieuport was damaged, so he was flying the captured Turkish Bleriot (found intact during the liberation of Thessaloniki, my home town). On 4/4/1913 he crashed with it and died together with a passenger. The first Greek aviation casualty was however Alexandros Karamanlakis, a journalist who also went to France for training, and brought with him a Bleriot XXI monoplane. During a long distance flight he fell to the sea and drowned, on 27th August 1912. |
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If time permits, I suggest that you visit the homepage of the site by clicking on its name above. This is an extensive website which offers information on the development of the Air Force from its beginnings in 1912, through the b alkan wars, 1st world war, campaign in asia minor, inter-war period, grecoitalian war, middle east - italy, south korea, the first jets, first generation aircraft, second generation aircraft, third generation aircraft and towards the 21st century.. The following introductory paragraph is extracted from that page: "To accomplish this, 13 officers from France were transferred to Hellas to establish the foundation with which the Hellenic Air Force could operate and expand on. The first officers to join this new branch were Dimitrios Kampero (First Lieutenant Artillery), Mihail Moutousis (First Lieutenant Corp of Engineers), Mihail Adamidis (Second Lieutenant Cavalry), and a little later Loukas Papaloukas (First Lieutenant Infantry), Markos Drakos (First Lieutenant Artillery), and Panoutsos Notaras (Second Lieutenant Cavalry). These officers were trained in France, where they obtained their diplomas. " You can go directly to the homepage by clicking on the name above. |
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Email from Jean-Pierre Lauwers, 11-23-02 At Nicopolis, each one was assembled by French mechanics. They were piloted by Lt. (of artillery) Gambéros (no photo!)and Lt. (of cavalry) Notaras (no photo). It was mentioned that at Nicopolis, a warship arrived with 3 planes, but I have no idea if they were 3 extra planes or not! In another article there is a photo of a Greek military aviator named Lt. Montoussis. He is said to have flown above the Turkish forts of Pisani (from Nicopolis) and over the front of Janina, so it could be there were only 3 planes in total? It is reported that he flew a Maurice-Farman and that he came under fire over Janina and was lightly wounded in his hands and his machine was perforated by many shell fragments. But on these three "military aviators, I have found no information elswhere! I found a website with GOOGLE! Their names are mispelled in my French versions. They probably are; Dimitros KAMPAROS (not Cambčros!), Michail MOUTOUSIS (not Montoussis! and NOTARAS. When I used Google on NOTARAS+aviation I found the others! That's a problem when you don't have the correct spelling of their names! The planes they got were paid for by money donated by a "poet" Matsoukis" who had made a tour in America.He was present when the planes first took off from Nicopolis! Strange history |
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Greek Lieutenant and Cretan Chief Fall 2,000 Feet. The New York Herald April 18, 1913 The two fatalities, recorded above, raise the death toll in the history of aviation to 251. Since the beginning of the present year, thirty-three names have been added to the list. TRUE TALES OF THE ANCIENT AVIATORS |
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If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper |
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