Constantin Cantacuzino ( aviator ) Constantin Cantacuzino ( nicknamed " Bâzu " ; November 11 , 1905 – May 26 , 1958 ) was a Romanian aviator , one of his country ' s leading World War II fighter ace s , and a member of the Cantacuzino family . World War II . In 1939 he won the national aerial aerobatics contest with his Bü 133 Jungmeister and in 1941 was named chief - pilot of the Romanian national air transport company LARES . Even though this was a comfortable and cozy job , he managed to get in the front line as a fighter pilot in the 53rd Fighter Squadron ( equipped with Hurricane Mk . I ) . After the capture of Odessa , the Romanian Army reduced the number of front line troops . Bâzu was one of the reservists who were sent home . He retook his position at LARES . However he pulled some strings and managed to return to active duty in 1943 . On 26 April 1943 he was remobilized and assigned to the 7th Fighter Group , which was equipped with the new Bf - 109 . On 5 May he arrived on the front line and was named commander of the 58th Fighter Squadron . On 29 June , he and his wingman engaged 4 Yak s , 2 La - 5s and 4 Spitfire s , while trying to protect 3 Romanian Ju - 88s . His wingman was badly hit and forced to return to base . He continued the fight on his own and shot down 2 Spitfires . He was also damaged , but managed to escape and make a belly landing . Unfortunately , two of the bombers were destroyed . In July he flew both day and night missions , even though his Gustav was not equipped for low - visibility flying . Bâzu tried to stop the Soviet night bombings of his airfield . The Germans protested , considered him a little mad , so he eventually gave up the night missions . On 27 July 1943 , he shot down the VVS flying ace Nikolay F . Khimushkin ( 11 kills ) . Between 2 and 5 August he shot down 9 airplanes ( 4 Yaks and 5 Il - 2s ) , raising his score to 27 . On 5 August he was alone on patrol and he encountered a Soviet formation about 40 - 50 planes strong ( Il - 2s and Yaks ) . He realized that he couldn ' t defeat all of them , but he could cause them some problems . He dove into the Il - 2 formation and shot down 2 of them before he was attacked by the Soviet fighters . He managed to shake them off and shoot down one . The day of 16 August was an excellent day for the pilots of the 7th Fighter Group . They scored 22 confirmed kills and 5 probables , with Cantacuzino shooting down 3 ( 2 La - 5s and 1 Il - 2 ) . On 28 August he received the Iron Cross , 1st class . In the autumn of 1943 Bâzu got sick and was interned in a hospital and was kept from the front so he could rest and recuperate . On 10 February 1944 he returned to active duty in the 7th Fighter Group , which was sent to the front with the Soviets in Moldova . On 15 April , there was a USAAF raid and cpt . av . ( r ) Cantacuzino and his wingmen attacked the bomber formations and shot down 6 Liberators ( the prince got one himself ) . He continued flying missions against the Soviet Air Force and had a few victories . In August 1944 , Cantacuzino became the commander of the 9th Fighter Group , succeeding Captain Alexandru Şerbănescu , who died on August 18 . After 23 August 1944 , when Romania quit the Axis , the Luftwaffe started bombing Bucharest , from airfields close to the capital , which were still in German hands . The remains of the 7th and 9th Fighter Groups were brought in to protect the capital . Bâzu shot down 3 He - 111s on this occasion . Cantacuzino was then given a special mission : to transport Lieutenant - Colonel James Gunn III , the highest ranking American POW in Romania , to the airbase at Foggia and then to lead back the USAAF airplanes that were coming to take the POWs home . He landed after two hours and 5 minutes of flight . He returned flying a Mustang because his Bf - 109 Gustav couldn ' t be refueled . He needed only one flight to get used to it and dazzled the Americans with his aerobatics , which he couldn ' t help himself not to execute . Cantacuzino was credited with 43 aerial victories ( one shared ) and 11 unconfirmed . According to the system in effect much of the war , his kill total was 69 , highest in the Romanian Air Force . After World War II . After the war ended , Cantacuzino was demobilized and returned to LARES . Times changed in Romania . The USSR imposed a communist regime that started confiscating private properties and imprisoning the old elite and all those who dared not to think like them . Bâzu lost all his land and soon his wife left him . In 1946 he married Nadia Gray . He managed to escape to Italy in 1947 and then he settled down in Spain . There he was helped by the Romanian community to buy himself an airplane , in order to earn his living at air shows . Personal life . He was born in Bucharest . His father was Mihai Cantacuzino and his mother Maria Rosetti ; they were both from old Romanian noble families . After his father died , Maria Rosetti married for a second time with George Enescu ( Romania ' s best composer and a world class violinist ) . Constantin went to high - school in Bucharest . He loved motor sports and he could afford to practice them all the time . He was an excellent biker , winning several races , and driver . He set a new record on the Paris - Bucharest race . He also played tennis and was the captain of the Romanian ice hockey team at the World Championship in 1933 . He was the father of novelist Oana Orlea . Units served . Combat missions : 608