Vecihi Hürkuş

Who was Vecihi Hürkuş?

Vecihi Hürkuş was the first civil aviator in Turkey. He also built the first airplane in Turkey.

Born in Istanbul, he fought during World War I. When he returned to Yeşilköy he was injured. Subsequently he joined Tayyare Mektebi, the Ottoman aviation school. Soon after receiving his pilot certificate he commenced bombing and reconnaissance missions against the Russians. In one of these sorties he shot down a Russian airplane, becoming the first Turkish pilot to bring down an enemy aircraft.

He was subsequently taken prisoner by the Russians but managed to escape from Nargin island to Iran by swimming. Following his escape, he returned to Istanbul and joined the 9th combat aircraft squadron in 1918. He designed a fighter airplane but could not finish the project due to the terms contained within the Montreux Ceasefire Agreement. During the Turkish War of Independence he shot down a Greek airplane, and made the first and last flights of the war.

After the war and despite many obstacles, he designed and built his first airplane and a few other aircraft inside a converted saw mill which he had rented for that purpose. He used aircraft engines he had acquired during World War I to power the planes he manufactured.