Monument to the Heroes of the Air, Aviation memorial in Aviators' Square, Bucharest, Romania

The Monument to the Heroes of the Air stands in Aviators' Square, Bucharest. Its reinforced-concrete pedestal clad in Banpotoc stone rises 20 m: an obelisk on four trapezoidal prisms joined by circular arcs, on a round stone base. Atop the obelisk is a 5 m, 5-tonne bronze winged figure, a shawl falling from its waist; three bronze aviators surround the obelisk's base.

The project began in 1927 when a committee was established to oversee a public design competition. Twenty architectural proposals were submitted and displayed at the Romanian Athenaeum before the final design was selected.

Each 20 July, Aviators' Day, wreaths and bouquets are laid before the monument for the pilots it commemorates. The bronze plaques list Romanian airmen who died between 1912 and 1934, from Gheorghe Caranda to Sava Rotaru; 99 more names were added on the north side after the dedication.

The monument stands in the middle of Piața Aviatorilor, a roundabout on Bulevardul Aviatorilor, so it is best reached on foot from the nearby metro stations. It can be viewed at any hour from the surrounding sidewalks; on 20 July, Aviators' Day, the area hosts a commemorative ceremony.

The 5-metre, 5-tonne winged figure was modelled on boxer Joe Louis, who was in Bucharest at the time, while its head came from an album of famous pilots. Sculptor Iosif Fekete cast the four figures in clay and plaster in 1928-1929; the bronze was poured at the V.V. Rășcanu foundry only in June 1935.