Ionel Ghica

"From the young and enthusiastic circle of amateurs, it was written in the magazine "Aripi", year II, no. 26 of March 15, 1932, gathered around the late Mircea Cantacuzino, there is no doubt that Mr. Ionel Ghica practices air tourism in the true sense of the word... ".

Although he did not learn to fly at Mircea Cantacuzino's school, he adheres to his ideas, becoming a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Air Tourism.
He breaks the national record for non-stop distance - 1,900 km - and the national speed record for the distance of 2,000 km in a straight line.

He is part of Oculeanu's crew, on the route Bucharest - Warsaw - Bucharest, covered in 11 hours and 57 minutes. On September 11, 1931, he flies alone on the route Bucharest - Chernivtsi - Bucharest and performs the first Romanian raid over Africa, on the route Bucharest - Istanbul - Konia - Aleppo - Damascus - Gaza - Cairo - Aswan - Oadihalfa - Adbara.

He becomes famous with the Bucharest - Saigon flight (25,000 km), one of the great records of the era, being the first Romanian aviator to cross Asia.

Unfortunately - fate sometimes has ironies hard to understand - Ionel Ghica dies in full glory following a serious intoxication. In his memory, the Ghica family institutes, starting from January 1933, an annual Cup that consists of a speed contest on a given course, in the country, totaling 1,500 km.