| Vecihi Hürkuş | |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 January 1895 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Died | 16 July 1969 Ankara, Turkey |
| Occupation | aviator, engineer |
Vecihi Hürkuş (6 January 1895 - 16 July 1969) was the first civil aviator in Turkey. He also built the first airplane in Turkey.
He was born January 6, 1896 in I.stanbul. He joined WWI . He returned the I.stanbul Yesilkoy when he he was injured, then he joined Tayyare Mektebi (aviation school). Received his pilot certificate and fought against Russian fighters. He made bombing and reconnaissance flights, also shot down a Russian airplane during one of these flights. So, he is first Turkish pilot to shoot down an enemy airplane.
Then he was taken prisoner by the Russians. He succeeded in escaping from Nargin land to Iran by swimming! Then he returned to Istanbul in 1918 and joined to 9th combat aircraft squadron. He designed a fighter plane but couldn’t finish the project because of the Montroeu Ceasefire Agreement. He shot down an Greek airplane during WWI, and he was the Turkish pilot who flew both the first and last time in WWI.
After the war, he designed and also created a few aircraft despite many diffulties. He rented a lumber mill and produced his first airplane in there. He used Greek aircraft engines he had obtained during WWI for his designs.
He foundrd Hurkus Havayollari (freebird airlines) in 1954
Without doubt, he is the one of the greatest aviators of Turkey.
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Without a doubt, Vecihi Hürkuş was Turkey's most celebrated aviator. He was the first Turk to:
During his flying career, which spanned a period of 52 years (1916-1967), Vecihi Hürkuş flew a total of 102 different models of aircraft and spent 30,000 hours, that is, 3.4 years of his life in the cockpit of aircraft.
In 1994, he was honored posthumously with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) 50th Anniversary Award (1944-1994) for the considerable contributions he made in the field of civil aviation in Turkey.
During the War of Independence, Vecihi married to Hadiye, the daughter of the chief of police in Akşehir. Two daughters, Gönül (Hürkuş Şarman) and Sevim (Hürkus Maxson), were born from this marriage. In 1925, he divorced Hadiye and married his early time sweetheart İhsan. Another daughter, Perran (Ülgen-Hürkuş), was born in 1927.
The TAI Hürkuş turboprop trainer to be built by Turkish Aerospace Industries is named after Vecihi Hürkuş.[1][2]