1 Aeroplane Otdelenie
Role: Reconnaissance/Bomber

The Aeroplane Otdelenie was unofficially first established as a sub-unit of the Aeronautical Otdelenie when the first Bleriot XXI was assembled by the Bulgarian Army in August 1912. (It was officially created on 2 November 1912, but was already flying combat sorties by this time). The Bleriot subsequently took part in the military exercises of 7-12 September 1912 - flying just one sortie which ended in a landing accident.

Upon the outbreak of the First Balkan War in October 1912, the unit had one Bleriot and two pilots: Hristo Toprakchev & Nikifor Bogdanov. On 10 October it moved by rail to Mustafapasa on the Turkish front. By 14 October it had taken control of a newly prepared airfield one kilometre southeast of Mustafapasa and started to assemble three newly delivered Albatros aeroplanes. It now began preparations for operating in support of the Second Army besieging the Turkish fortress of Adrianople. On 16 October 1912 pilots Radul Milkov and Prodan Tarakchiev flew an Albatros on the first combat reconnaissance mission in European aviation history. A couple of bombs were also thrown overboard during the flight. An influx of Russian-supplied aircraft occurred circa 16 October 1912, to be followed by further new aircraft introduced 19-30 October 1912.

On 18 October the first attempt at photographing Turkish positions was undertaken, and the first sorties by hired foreign pilots took place on the same day. Following the 17 November 1912 armistice, additional aircraft were received into service. Between 7 and 19 December 1912 a training session in aerial bombing was flown by almost all the qualified pilots.

Hostilities with Turkey resumed on 21 January 1913 and on the following day 1 Aeroplane Otdelenie commenced reconnaissance, leaflet dropping and bombing missions. The Adrianople fortress fell on 13 March 1912. 1 Aeroplane Otdelenie was disbanded at the end of the First Balkan War (circa April 1912) and it's aircraft reassigned to 2 & 3 Aeroplane Otdelenie for use in the Second Balkan War.

The commanding officer was Poruchik Radul Milkar (October 1912 - March 1913).

Air Bases:

Base	Duration
?	August 1912
Razgrad	7-12 September 1912
Simeonovgrad	5 October 1912
Mustafapasa (Svilengrad)	10 October 1912 - April 1913

Aircraft Used:

Type	Qty	Service	Badge	Example Serials
Bleriot XXI (1-seater)	1	12 August 1912 - October 1912+
Albatros FIII	3	14 October 1912 - April 1913
Bleriot XIbis (1-seater)	1	October 1912 - November 1912?
Farman VII	1	November 1912 - January 1913+
Voisin	1	14 November 1912 - January 1913+
Bleriot XI-2 (2-seater)	1	14 November 1912 - January 1913+

(One Bleriot crashed 19 October 1912).

Unit Insignia:

Figure 1

References:

• Air Power of the Kingdom of Bulgaria Part I