Türkiye is a country that has achieved world firsts, especially in terms of civil aviation. Although later wrong decisions and financial inadequacies paused this progress process, it continues with the breakthroughs made by aviation companies such as TAI and Baykar in the defense industry. So, “Who is Vecihi Hürkuş?”, which is well known to all aviation engineers? Here are the details for you…
The story of Vecihi Hürkuş and Turkey’s first civilian flight!
Vecihi Hürkuş, a pilot and engineer, was born in Istanbul on January 6, 1896. Of course, these were the years when our country’s lands were struggling with invasion threats. Vecihi Hürkuş also participated in World War I to put an end to this occupation. Hürkuş, who had to return when he was injured, entered the Airplane School in Yeşilköy and became a pilot. It was here that he met aviation and fell in love with Asuman.
After becoming a pilot, Hürkuş rejoined World War I as a pilot and made successful reconnaissance and attack flights. The incident that took his charisma to the next level was when Hürkuş shot down a Russian plane during an air battle with it and returned to the base without even a minor injury. Of course, the important point here is that Hürkuş was the first Turkish aircraft to shoot down a plane.
Towards MMU KAAN’s domestic engine: TEI-TF6000 is on the stage!
After this incident, the Russians kidnapped him and kept him as a prisoner. Hürkuş somehow escaped captivity and returned. After World War I, he flew in the İnönü and Sakarya Battles. The successful fighter pilot also regretted flying a Greek plane during these flights. Finally, he received great appreciation for his success in the War of Independence. He is also the person who made the first and last flight of the war.
Hürkuş returned home after the war ended and wanted to do civilian work. Hürkuş, who wanted Turkey to become stronger in terms of civil aviation with the proclamation of the Republic, built his own plane in a carpentry shop with his own work and engineering experience. One of the aircraft engines taken from the Greeks was installed on the plane, which had a Turkish-made fuselage.
Since the aviation industry was not developed in our country at that time, there was no authority to obtain “permission” for the first flight. For this reason, Hürkuş made his first flight illegally. Even though it was a success for a Turkish plane to fly here, it was punished instead of rewarded. In the meantime, Hürkuş, whose sentence was completed, received the necessary permissions. And on September 27, 1930, it took off in Kadıköy Fikirtepe in front of a large crowd and press and flew first to Yeşilköy (today’s Atatürk Airport) and then to Ankara.
Wanting to obtain the necessary licenses for the aircraft, which successfully passed the first tests, Hürkuş applied to the Ministry of Economy. However, the ministry replied, “The necessary certificate was not given because there was no one to determine the technical qualifications of the aircraft.” Later, he allowed the Hürkuş plane to be dismantled and loaded onto wagons so that it could be sent to Czechoslovakia and the necessary tests were carried out.
On April 23, 1931, he was honored with a banner reading “Long Live Turkish Aviation” at a ceremony held by Czechoslovakian officials in a nearby casino and received his flight permit. Thus, Turkey’s first civil aviation steps were taken and the first civil aircraft took its place in the skies.