Darzhavna Aeroplanna Rabotilnitsa

Darzhavna aeroplanna rabotilnitsa (Държавна аеропланна работилница - State Aircraft Workshops), abbreviated DAR (ДАР), was the first Bulgarian aircraft manufacturer, established in 1924 at Bojourishte.

Initially involved in repairing German aircraft then in use in Bulgaria, DAR soon began producing copies of some of these ("DAR Uzunov-1", "DAR 2"), before moving on to licensed production of the Focke-Wulf Fw 44. The workshops produced a number of original designs, some of these were produced ("DAR 1", "DAR 1A" - 12 pieces, "DAR 3" - 24 pcs., "DAR 4", "DAR 6" - 6 pcs., "DAR 8" - 12 pcs., "DAR 9", "DAR 11" - 12 pcs.), while others never proceeded past prototype stage ("DAR 5", "DAR 7", "DAR 10").

Although aircraft manufacture was moved to the Darzhavna Samoletna Fabrika (Държавна самолетна фабрика - State Airplane Factory, abbr. ДСФ - DSF) in Lovech in 1940, designers remained in DAR. Tsvetan Lazarov was DAR's head designer towards the end of the organisation's lifespan. Amongst others, he was responsible for its final design, the DAR 11 fighter of 1941 that never left the drawing board. DAR was closed after 1945 and the personnel and facilities were moved to the DSF in Lovech.

In 1995, a newly established private company in Sofia - called Aeroplani DAR, continued the DAR series (without any juridical or personal connection between both companies). Thus, declares the new company in its website, it is partially reinstating the legendary Bulgarian state aircraft workshops from the first half of XX-th century.[1]