On 23 August 1915, the RAC was formed as an independent military arm and operated until 1 January 1924 when it became an equal to the Army and Navy, being redesignated as the Royal Romanian Air Force (Aeronautica Regală Română).

When Romania entered the First World War on the Allied side in 1916, the RAC was organized into 4 squadron groups, each assigned to an army, and 4 balloon sections.

20 June] 1874, when Marius Willemot, a French engineer from Bucharest, took Majors (Maj.) Iacob Lahovary, Constantin Poenaru and Dumitrescu in flight over the city with his hydrogen balloon named "Mihai Bravul" [ro] (Michel-le-Brave).

[5] The first balloon unit of the Romanian Army was established in 1893 as part of the 1st Telegraph Company in the 1st Engineer Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant (Lt.) Eugeniu Asachi.

The school, conducted by French flight instructors, had five hangars, bleachers for spectators and workshops where Farman airplanes were built under license.

[3] Prince George Valentin Bibescu took the initiative to establish the National Air League (Liga Națională Aeriană), on 5 May 1912, which was located in Băneasa.

A contract was also signed between the Air League and the Ministry of War, which allowed the training of military pilots at the flight school of Băneasa.

Therefore, between 1914 and 1916, some enthusiastic pilots along with some experts from the Army Arsenal decided to experiment with dropping Romanian-designed bombs and practiced attacking ground targets from the air.

At the end of 1915, the newly independent RAC was somewhat better equipped due to the ordered airplanes arriving from France, 37 pilots and 25 observers were also licensed this year.

[13] At the beginning of the campaign, the RAC was organized as such:[14] The Central Powers deployed 22 German and Austro-Hungarian squadrons on the Romanian Front, totaling over 250 aircraft.

[15] On 15 August, the Romanian Anti-aircraft Defence Corps was established, with the mission to protect the important civil and military objectives against enemy aerial attacks.

In the southern theater of operations, Romanian airplanes discovered German, Turkish and Bulgarian troop movements and informed the commanders of the 3rd Army, via thrown messages.

Aside from the airplanes, Romania also purchased various equipment for reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, as well as a few thousands of "Gros" and "Michelin" type bombs and Le Prieur rockets.

[18] On 25 October 1916, 6 aircraft (including Farman HF 27 and Nieuport 12s) of RNAS Wing 2 arrived in Romania from Imbros as part of the Romanian Flight mission.

[3][19] A few hours after Romania's declaration of war, Hauptmann Geissert (commander of zeppelin LZ 101, stationed at Yambol, Bulgaria) received the order to bomb Bucharest.

The Romanian and French crews destroyed the railroad, docks and facilities from the Port of Brăila and sank two German military ships.

From May onwards, the aviation started night bombings using Farman F.40 and Bréguet bombers against important enemy targets: the Port of Brăila; Brașov’s plants; the airfields at Focșani, Covasna, Miercurea-Ciuc and Târgu Secuiesc; the Buzău-Râmnicu Sărat-Focșani and Buzău-Făurei-Ianca-Brăila railroads and railway stations.

The pilots of the N.11 and N.3 squadrons ensured the protection of the front line by engaging enemy aircraft, dogfights happening almost daily, with the aviators of Escadrila N.11 obtaining important victories, for example, Egon Nasta shot down a captive balloon using Le Prieur rockets.

The numerous aerial battles and losses caused the Austro-Hungarian High Command to create new dedicated fighter units on the Romanian front.

[33] The unit's commander, Hauptmann Karl Nikitsch, requested more modern fighters as "many dogfights are carried out on the Romanian front, the losses in men and material are heavy".

[31] In the morning of 19 August, the enemy troops launched an attack aided by a 3-hour artillery barrage, including the use of gas shells over the 3 Romanian divisions.

At the same time, the observers directed the fire of the Romanian and Russian heavy artillery batteries, noting: "The shells hit the enemy trenches of the first line with great precision.

[38] On 6 February, the Government of Bessarabia requested Romania to provide military aid for attacks on the various bands of looting soldiers and for the protection of the railways and supply depots.

After crossing the mountains, flying at 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and in a temperature reaching −30 °C (−22 °F), the airplane landed on Câmpia Libertății to be greeted by the enthusiastic inhabitants of Blaj.

[39][40] In 1919, the Romanian Army was fighting on two fronts: in Bessarabia where Bolshevik troops were crossing the Dniester and attacking the settlements near the border, and in Hungary, where a communist regime was established on 21 March.

In the captured documents a letter was found addressed to Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, in which he was requested to intensify the fighting in Transylvania.

Stan Bucur and Lt. Mihail Hurmuzescu was attacked and shot down by 2 Hungarian Fokker D.VIIs flown by László Újvári and Géza Keisz on 12 June while on a reconnaissance mission, both Romanian airmen losing their lives.

On 31 July, a formation of Hungarian aircraft attacked the pontoon bridge across the river, but they were intercepted by the pilots of Escadrila N.7, with Iosif Răcășanu managing to shoot one down.

The Higher Directorate of Aeronautics, headed by Col. Gheorghe Rujinschi, and Maj. Haralambie Giossanu as the Chief of Staff, was the governing body within the Ministry of War.

The 4 signatories were: Ion Stroescu, Tache Brumărescu, Corneliu Marinescu and Nicolae Tănase, but the association failed as it lacked sufficient funds.