[2] As an air observer he performed reconnaissance as well as interception of enemy aircraft missions, flying with Gheorghe Negrescu and Ioan Peneș.

On 20 November 1916, while flying on a mission to intercept some German airplanes that were over Ploiești, Bădulescu together with Gheorghe Negrescu[2] engaged and shot down an enemy aircraft which crashed in flames 400-500 meters away from the railway station [ro] and the Romanian airfield.

During this period he flew almost daily over the front, bringing back photographs and valuable information about enemy troop movements.

In his report Bădulescu wrote: "The fighting was going on for about 10 minutes when the enemy plane, badly damaged, fell in the Soveja area.

[2][3] In preparation of the Battle of Mărăști he will bomb the enemy positions in the Momâia Peak - Cota 625 area and direct friendly artillery fire.

52.63 of FliK 31, flown by Zugsführer Adolf Rabel[4] and observer Oberleutnant Franz Xaver Schlarbaum,[5] which was returning from a mission over the Romanian lines.

[2][6] Bădulescu watched through his binoculars as the enemy aircraft was going down and saw the observer struggling to break free from the burning wreckage.

Moving Schlarbaum to a safer place, Bădulescu returned to the burning aircraft and retrieved the body of the pilot who had died from his wounds.

Following this, the two airmen loaded the Austrian observer in the Farman as he couldn't move because of his injured legs, Bădulescu remaining and returning to the Romanian lines.

[6][3] The next day, an Austrian Hansa-Brandenburg C.I flew over Onești, where the airfield of the F.6 squadron was located, and dropped a message written in French, reading as follows: "To the Romanian aviators.

After numerous searches, we found the destroyed aircraft and the lifeless body of the pilot, but no trace of the observer, officer Franz Xaver Schlarbaum.

[6] As the opportunity arose, Bădulescu and his comrades flew to Iași in order to see how their prisoner was doing, each time bringing him some of their modest rations: cigarettes, sweets, or fruit.

The pilot entered a short dive in order to lose the opponent for a moment while Bădulescu struggled to un-jam the machine gun.

When he succeeded, the Farman returned to battle and Bădulescu hit the German aircraft, which crashed in the Romanian lines near Solonț, where the crew was taken prisoner.

[3] He left the Air Corps in 1920 and transferred to Batalionul Carelor de Asalt (the Tank Battalion) established at Giurgiu.