Emanoil Ionescu, nicknamed "Pipițu" by friends and fellow aviators for the way he scolded them,[1] was born on 17 March 1893 in Tămpeni, now Movileni, Olt County.

[2] In the spring of 1919, when the Hungarian communist army attacked Romania, Lieutenant Ionescu was assigned with his squadron to the 5th Aviation Group in Sibiu, an air subunit made available to General Gheorghe Mărdărescu, commander of the Romanian forces in Transylvania during the Hungarian–Romanian War.

In April-June 1919 he carried out several combat missions aboard Sopwith 1½ Strutter aircraft, gathering information and bombing enemy targets.

From 1925 to 1937 he flew intensely and became known to the public after the "Raid of Greater Romania" (3,700 km in 11 hours, with a stopover), done with Traian Burduloiu [ro] in 1927.

[3] The Army Air Command supported the Romanian military actions in crossing the Prut and the Dniester, with the aviation intervening to stop the enemy counterattacks on 12 July.

For his actions, he received the Order of Aeronautical Virtue in Golden Cross with two bars and Knight Class ranks on 1 July 1942.

[5] As he did not approve of the post-war army policies, he requested a "special availability leave", receiving it on 7 November 1947 by Royal Decree of King Michael I.