Industria Aeronautică Română
IAR-15
The IAR‑15 was a single‑seat, low‑wing trainer and aerobatic aircraft built by the Romanian company Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) in the early 1930s. Designed by engineer Henri Coandă’s successor, engineer Vasile Grigorescu, the aircraft first flew on 12 May 1932 from the Pipera airfield near Bucharest. Its wooden frame with plywood skin and a modest 140 hp IAR 14K radial engine gave it a maximum speed of 230 km/h and a service ceiling of 7,500 meters, making it suitable for both basic flight instruction and advanced maneuver training. The IAR‑15 featured retractable ailerons, a fully enclosed cockpit with dual controls, and a simple fixed landing gear that could be fitted with a lightweight pneumatic shock absorber. Only fifteen units were produced before the program was halted in 1935 in favor of more powerful monoplane designs. Despite its limited numbers, the IAR‑15 played a pivotal role in modernising the Romanian Air Force’s pilot curriculum, introducing systematic aerobatic techniques and helping to train the generation of pilots who later flew in World War II. Its legacy endures as a symbol of Romania’s early independent aircraft engineering efforts.
