Aviation and Bulgarian Air Force Day

October 16th is celebrated as Day of the Aviation and Bulgarian Air Force by a decree of the Council of Ministers from 1963. Bulgarian Air Force the pilot Christo Toprakchiev suggested the use of airplanes to drop bombs on Turkish positions during the Balkan War (1912–1913). Captain Simeon Petrov developed the idea and created several prototypes by adapting different types of grenades and increasing their payload. On October 16, 1912 at 9.30 AM lieutenant Radul Milkov and observer Prodan Tarakchiev took off with their Albatros F.II. They made a 50-minute flight in the region Edrine-Kadankioy-Papaztepe, and found the dislocation of the enemy army. Two bombs were dropped on the Turkish railway station of Karaagac. They were adapted for manual drop by the observer, and because of their small mass the effect was rather moral. This was the first use of an airplane as a bomber and the first bombing in Europe was done.