Royal Albanian Air Corps

The Royal Albanian Air Corps (Albanian: Forcat Mbretërore të Aviacionit) was from 1928 till 1939 and was part of the Royal Albanian Army.

Royal Albanian Air Corps
Forcat Mbretërore të Aviacionit
Active1928–1939
Disbanded1939
CountryAlbanian Kingdom (1928-39)
AllegianceRoyal Albanian Army
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size5 Albatros C.XV two-seat trainer/reconnaissance aircraft
HeadquarterTiranë
EngagementsItalian Invasion of Albania

History

Albanian law provided for the creation of an air arm with 3 reconnaissance aircraft, 3 spare engines and 39 officers and men; this may be "left over" from 1913, when Albania had ordered three Löhner "B" biplanes.

Time magazine's April 17, 1939 article on the invasion reported that Albania possessed two aircraft, and at least one internet source says there were two trainers in service. In 1931, 1934 and 1937 King Zog had ordered the creation of an air force, but civil unrest had each time prevented this. During the Thirties several Albanian officers had received flight training in Italy, including a nephew of Zog who was a flying cadet at the Italian aeronautical academy at Caserta.

Photographs exist of an Albatros C.XV aircraft after delivery to Albania c. 1922, and according to a posting on an internet forum, 5 "Albatros-Fokker" aircraft were delivered at that time. A German aircraft site lists five Albatros L.47 (C.XV converted to a civil aircraft) but does not mention a customer. If these were in fact for Albania it is understandable that they would be delivered as civil aircraft, Germany at that time being forbidden to export military equipment. Two L.47s could very well still have been on strength as late as April 1939, putatively for an airmail service. [1] [2][3]

In the late 30s, Albanian pilots were sent to study in Italy, Austria, and France.[4]

The Royal Air Force, and the rest of Albanian armed forces, were abolished following the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939.[5]

References
  1. There was no such manufacturing concern as "Albatros-Fokker". These were C.XV two-seat reconnaissance aircraft built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke for the German Army Air Service at the end of WW1 and undelivered when the fighting ended. In 1919, Anthony Fokker acquired over 200 surplus German military aircraft, including the C.XVs, and smuggled them across the frontier to a workshop he had opened in his native Netherlands in defiance of the Allied Control Commission. Here the C.XVs were de-militarised and given the spurious designation "Fokker L.47" and passed-off as a Dutch product in order to circumvent the ban on the sale of German military aircraft. The Albanian government were complicit in the subterfuge by putting out the fictitious story that the aircraft were to be used for an airmail service. The C.XVs formed the only flying assets of the Forcat Mbretërore të Aviacionit until the force was disbanded following the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939.
  2. Weyl, A.R. Fokker: The Creative Years. London, Putnam publications, 1965
  3. Grey and Thetford: German Aircraft of the First World War, p.229
  4. "Air Force History". Albanian Armed Forces. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  5. "History of the General Staff of the Armed Forces". Albanian Armed Forces. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
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