If you are a lover of the Bf109 series of aircraft, are an enthusiast of the Eastern Front, or are just looking for an AvA arena squad, give us a look! We specialize in low-level fights, buff interceptions, and the occasional ground attack mission.
We are now in our 5th tour, and have a 10 man roster as of May 1st. Our members run the spectrum from longtime players to total newbies, from great sticks to glorified cannon fodder, and span from Britain to the Western United States.
Historically, Grupul 7 was the first Romanian fighter group to be equipped with the Bf109, and took them into combat alongside Jg52 and Jg77 in June of 1941. They fought in the Crimean and Caucasian campaigns, and at Stalingrad in the Emil, then reequipped with the G2/G4. 20 of their pilots flew with JG 3 "Udet" as the combined Deutsche-Koniglich Rumanischen Jagdverband to train on the G2, when they destroyed 28 VVS aircraft for the loss of 3 pilots within 6 weeks. They fought on the Russian front until October of 1943, when they returned home fore rest and refit. They then joined the fight to defend Bucharest and the Ploesti oilfields from the 15th USAAF. They briefly returned to the fight against the Russians (transferred on April 20, 1944), but were back to Bucharest in time to counter the mass P-38 raid of 10 June 1944, where they claimed 5 Lightnings for no losses. They stayed in Romania until the coup of August 23, 1944 led to a change of sides. After the heavy losses that had been taken against the Americans, Grupul 7 was combined with the equally experienced Grupul 9, to form a new unit called, creatively, Grupul 7/9 Vanatoare. They fought on in this mixed unit until the end, although the Russians never really allowed the ARR to get its units back up to full strength or to join heavily into the fighting, and they had no real success against the Luftwaffe after they drove the Germans out of Romania, being relegated to a minor role for the fighting in Hungary.
Overall (the whole of the ARR fighter force), the Romanians were credited with about 1200 aircraft destroyed, both in the air and on the ground (against The VVS, USAAF, and Luftwaffe), with about 100 of their own pilots being listed as killed or missing between June 21, 1941 and May 8, 1945. The top 3 pilots- Constantin Contacuzino (53 Kills), Alexandru Serbanescu (52 Kills, killed in action on August 18, 1944), and Ioan Milu (37 Kills) all flew 109s with Grupul 7.
