Rodrig Goliescu

Rodrig Goliescu (1877–1942) was a Romanian inventor, engineer, and lieutenant of Polish descent. He created the "Avioplan," the first airplane to feature a tubular fuselage.

His father, Sigmund Dobjanschi, was a Polish refugee who arrived in Romania in 1863 after the Polish uprising. There, he married Hortensia Gallo and changed his surname to Goliescu. Rodrig was born in Dorohoi on 12 May 1877. After finishing A. T. Laurian High School in Botoșani, he attended the artillery and engineer school in Bucharest.

He graduated in 1900, became a lieutenant, and received Romanian citizenship. He served as an active officer until 1906, when he turned to aeronautical research. By studying bird flight, he developed several aeromodelling projects.

Aviation career

In 1909, Goliescu devised original principles for heavier-than-air flight, which he built into the Goliescu Avioplan. Its most distinctive feature was the fuselage shape, designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and act as a tube fan, boosting propeller efficiency. The design resembled modern VTOL aircraft and helicopters. That same year, he constructed a 1.2-metre model with a rubber turnbuckle engine as long as the fuselage, achieving a 30-degree takeoff angle.

With help from Romanian Education Minister Spiru Haret, he traveled to France to acquire a new engine. While in Paris, he submitted a paper, "Laws of air dynamics," to the French Academy of Sciences; it was published in La France automobile et aérienne on 15 May 1909. He patented his invention in France (patent no. 402329) as a "flying machine-avioplan." Unlike his earlier model, this version had a small, upturned V-shaped wing above the tubular fuselage, with a pronounced curve at the leading edge, and a three-wheeled landing gear similar to modern tricycle gear.

After completion, a commission from the Aéro-Club de France examined it and declared it satisfactory, but it was never flight-tested.

Later in 1909, Goliescu learned to fly and built an updated Avioplan No. II, with a half-cylinder fuselage through which propeller air still flowed. In November 1909 at Port-Aviation in Viry-Châtillon near Paris, the Avioplan No. II was tested but did not achieve sustained flight—only short hops or ground runs. This marked the first attempt at flight of an aircraft with a tubed propeller.