Pioneer and Hero of Turkish Aviation History on the 54th Anniversary of His Death: Vecihi Hürkuş

Vecihi Hürkuş was born on 6 January 1896 in Istanbul and grew up in difficult conditions after losing his father at a young age.  He became an important name in the history of Turkish aviation as a military pilot and aircraft manufacturer. He participated in the Balkan War as a volunteer alongside his brother-in-law, Kur.Alb.Kemal, and at the end of the Balkan War, he became the commander of the prison camp in Beykoz Serviburun with the assignment of the Istanbul Army Command. He wanted to become a pilot, but due to his young age, he graduated from the "Aircraft Mechanic School" in Yeşilköy and served as an aircraft mechanic at the rank of non-commissioned officer on the Baghdad-Iraq and Caucasus Fronts during World War I. However, he was seriously injured in a plane crash on 2 February 1916 and came to Istanbul for treatment. During this period, he started his pilotage training at the Aeroplane School in Yeşilköy. 

On 21 May 1916, he made his first flight and on 15 November 1916, he completed his training and became a pilot. In 1917, he was assigned to the 7th Aeroplane Company on the Caucasus Front and shot down a Russian plane on the front, becoming the first Turkish aviator to shoot down a plane. On 8 October 1917, on the Caucasus Front, he bombed the Russian headquarters in Erzincan during a reconnaissance and surveillance flight with his navigator Lieutenant Bahattin, was hit in an air battle with a Russian plane and made a forced landing on the Erzincan Plain due to a head wound. He burnt his plane, but was captured by the Russians and taken to Nargin Prison Camp in the Caspian Sea. He became famous among the Russians as a daring and brave pilot known as "Black Danger". In 1918, he escaped from the island by swimming with the help of Azeri Turks, and reached Mosul via Sulaymaniyah in 2.5 months on foot, hungry and exhausted, with his fellow engineer Lieutenant Salih. 

After 4 months of captivity, he returned home and started to work in the Air Defence Division in Istanbul. During this period, he designed a hunting aircraft, but his project was left unfinished with the Armistice of Mondros. He started the War of Independence by secretly escaping to Anatolia from Maltepe Aircraft Station, and he served successfully as a civilian pilot in great difficulties, especially in the İnönü Wars, the Battle of Sakarya and the Great Offensive. During the War of Independence, he made successful reconnaissance flights and shot down a Greek aircraft. Having a special importance in the history of Turkish aviation, he made a name for himself with his achievements and showed great usefulness. 

After the National Struggle, he started to give training at the Tayyare School in İzmir/Seydiköy. In 1923, he was assigned to the Izmit region Tayyare Squadron, but after three months, he was called back to Izmir after Major Fazıl crashed and died during a training flight. He became the first and only awarded non-commissioned Turkish pilot by the International Aviation Federation. In his 53 years of aviation life; he took part as a fighter pilot during the war years and as the first domestic aircraft manufacturer in Turkish history during the peace period. As an idealist entrepreneur who was devoted to aviation, he did not break away from aviation after the war, and although he encountered great administrative and bureaucratic obstacles, he continued his struggle to produce, design and fly with his own aircraft until the end of his life.

Between 20 December 1923 and April 1924, Vecihi Hürkuş took part in a delegation on a European study trip to develop aviation, establish a new organisation and investigate the latest developments. After the trip, he received permission for the construction project of the 4-sided "Vecihi K-VI" aircraft, which he had drawn and designed himself in 1918. On 24 June 1923, he started to work with his friends at Halkapınar aircraft workshop in order to bring his project "Vecihi K-VI" aircraft to life by bringing together the engine of the aircraft captured as a booty from the Greeks and the old aircraft parts available. He moved to Gaziemir square in December 1924 for the assembly of the Vecihi K-VI aircraft, and continued his work with great intensity, effort and effort for at least 16 hours a day. The Vecihi K-VI aircraft was built by Vecihi and his civil servant assistants in a military area, with military equipment, and went down in history as the first Turkish military hunting aircraft, earning the title and honour of aircraft construction. The fuselage, wings and all other parts of the aircraft were assembled in 14 months using domestic materials, engine and taxi tests were carried out in the small workshop and the aircraft was made flyable.

Since there was no technical staff to inspect the aircraft built during this period, no official signed the report prepared for the flight of the aircraft. Nevertheless, Vecihi Hürkuş remained in the air for 15 minutes on 28 January 1925 at noon during a test flight at Seydiköy-İzmir Tayyare School square, managed to fly the aircraft at a speed of 200 km, and although he landed safely, he could not obtain permission from the authorities for a test flight for a long time. Although he performed a successful flight with his aircraft, he was sentenced to half salary deduction and 15 days of house arrest for the offence of endangering human life with an instrument that had not been technically tested, instead of a commendation on the grounds that he flew without a flight permit. Since he could not obtain a certificate of airworthiness, the aircraft he had built was taken away from him in Çiğli and he was not allowed to fly it, and after this punishment, he never flew his Vecihi K-VI aircraft again. Although there was no aeroplane of this speed in Turkey at that time, such an exceptional opportunity could not be utilised. Vecihi Hürkuş's intelligence was creative, constructive and vital, and the concrete example of this was the creation of the first Turkish aircraft, the Vecihi K-VI, and with the self-confidence he gained in aircraft construction, he achieved great success in the following years. 

In 1925, Vecihi Hürkuş told the magazine "Resimli Ay": "Working day and night, I created a new project that was completely different from the existing aeroplanes, simpler than them, but superior to them in terms of speed and durability. In order to realise this project, the Air Force Inspectorate had to approve it. I submitted the project to the inspectorate and informed them that I could build a new system Turkish aeroplane within the scope of this project, if they gave me permission. The inspectorate had my project examined by a science officer, who was a former pilot. The science officer accepted that the project was feasible and the construction of the aircraft was authorised. I don't remember being as happy as I was that day in my life. I was going to build a completely new system aircraft, I was going to make a new gift to my country. Since I knew better than anyone the important role that the aircraft would play in the future, I was convinced that this gift would be appreciated in the future. I immediately set to work, and the work was progressing successfully. We built the fuselage and attached the legs. I was about to finish the tail. I could not sleep at night with joy and worked tirelessly during the day for the construction of the aeroplane with the hope of being successful. The aeroplane would be finished in five or ten days and my work would be complete. Meanwhile, the science officer was resigning. Consequently, the construction of the aircraft was postponed. This decision hit me in my heart. If they had put a bullet in my brain that day, I would not have been so upset. I prepared the wings, installed the engine, and the day my aircraft was completed, I was as happy and fortunate as the world's greatest invention. I applied to the Inspectorate and declared that my aircraft was ready for experimentation. This experiment of mine was more important in terms of showing the manufacturing capability of our own aircraft. The Inspectorate did not allow me to test the aeroplane and required it to be examined once by the Committee of Fenniye. I had built the aeroplane, I was going to fly on it, I was going to put my life in danger. The more impatient I was, the cooler they were. The Committee of Fenniye examined the aeroplane and found no flaws that would prevent it from flying. But it did not authorise experimentation. The investigation lasted more than a month. A decision could not be made and I was not allowed to carry out experiments. I was sure of my aeroplane, I had not the slightest doubt that I would fly successfully. One day I secretly took my aeroplane out into the open, filled its engine with gas, jumped on it, and took off, propelling the machines. As I ascended, my soul was opening up, my lungs swelling with my success. I am sure that even the inventors who flew the first aeroplane did not feel such a deep pleasure. Here was the machine below me, advancing with joyful, exhilarating noises, announcing my success to the whole world from the sky. In all the trials I had made, my aeroplane worked with greater success than all the aeroplanes we had, and flew better than all of them. Now my heart was at ease. I went back again and landed my aircraft in the same place where I had lifted it. I built the first Turkish type "Vecihi K-VI" aircraft in 1923-1924. This work of mine, although it was a great success, was sacrificed to the envy of friends. The appreciation I expected from this success was manifested in the form of a 15-day imprisonment sentence and led me to the path of committing suicide in freedom." He described his experiences with these words, and was very upset, finding the punishment he received unjust and unwarranted. Because a commission was appointed for the licence, but since the commission did not have any technical personnel qualified to control the aircraft, the commission said to him: "Vecihi, we will not be able to give you this licence. If you fly one day without permission and achieve success, then we will sign the reports and you will receive your certificate." Unfortunately, he started to be prevented from the moment he started to produce, but he became the pioneer of private initiative in the Turkish air warfare industry, which was full of struggle and new successes and disappointments. 

Vecihi Hürkuş resigned from his position in the Air Force on 22 March 1925, came to Ankara and joined the Turkish Aeronautical Society, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with the motto "The Future is in the Skies", and was assigned to organise the Science Branch. On 17 June 1925, he was given the title of Chief Aeronaut of Turkey for the first time in Turkey. In order to develop Turkish aviation, he started promotional flights and made promotional flights with the first donation aircraft "Ceyhan" on 25 June 1925 together with the Italian Lovadina. However, he resigned from the board of directors of the Turkish Aeronautical Society on 19 October 1925 when he was asked to shelve the society's designs and projects, to give its aircraft, vehicles and personnel to the air force and to take part in the air force again. Thus, the Society's designs and projects were not realised. Meanwhile, after the Ministry of National Defence made an agreement to establish a factory of Tayyare ve Motor Türk Anonim Şirketi (TOMTAŞ) in Kayseri, he accepted the offer of chief pilot and went to Germany to take part in the correction of deficiencies in the "Junkers A.20" aircraft. On 17 December 1925, he attended the adaptation training at the German Junkers Factory and was very impressed by the practices here. Because while no one in his own country gave importance to his opinion and did not listen to him, in Germany he was respected and his ideas were given importance. 

On 18 July 1926, he returned to Turkey with a request from the General Directorate of TOMTAŞ. On 16 September 1926, for the first time in Turkey, a parachute jump demonstration with the Junkers F-13 aircraft piloted by Vecihi Hürkuş was held in Ankara. In 1927, Vecihi Hürkuş made transport flights between Ankara and Kayseri, the first airline flights in the country, with TOMTAŞ's three-engined "Junkers G.24" passenger aircraft for 14 people and the other one with a single engine "Junkers F.13" for six people. In his memoirs, he wrote: "The officials of the Science Department of the Undersecretariat of Air were preventing TOMTAŞ from operating due to the pressure on them. TOMTAŞ had established its construction facilities, made the necessary preparations, was waiting for work from the Undersecretariat of Air, but no work was given. In other words, state personnel were sabotaging the state enterprise." He expressed the bitter realities experienced at the factory. He worked at the Junkers Aircraft Factory until 1929 and provided technical services. In his book written in 1942, Vecihi Hürkuş wrote: "If TOMTAŞ had not been sabotaged and had been given the opportunity to continue its normal work, our Air Forces would have equipped their troops with aircraft without the need for any foreign industry." He described what the representatives of foreign companies trying to sell aircraft to the Air Force did in the corridors of the Ministry of Defence and how the air war industry was blocked for the interests of a few companies. He expressed his sorrow at the destruction of the air warfare industry. In 1929, Vecihi Hürkuş started to work in the Technical Branch of the Turkish Aeronautical Society for the second time after a three-year break, and when Vice President Şükrü Koçak saw him working on an aircraft design, he said: "I see that you are still not wise, Vecihi. You have been working on something called an aeroplane project again, and of course you have been spending a lot of money for it, and you have built and flown your aeroplane. What was the result? Let's assume that you will be successful at the end of these endeavours. As you know, the Association is no longer involved in flying activities. In this case, what will happen to your attempt, your efforts and the aircraft? Did anyone tell you to come to the office, not to come, or to sign the book?" The disbelief of managers who could not manage and foresee the future, and who were not idealistic, that Turks could achieve great things through technical developments was once again demonstrated in this project. 

In 1930, Vecihi Hürkuş established a workshop in Istanbul-Kadıköy-Fikirtepe by renting a shop in the timber manufacturers' site. On 19 June 1930, he made the project, plans, materials, producer and assistants, and technical calculations of his 2nd design "Vecihi K-XIV" two-seater aircraft, which was the first Turkish civil sports training aircraft, and made it ready for production in a period of 4 months with great effort and superhuman work. A significant part of the main material of the project was provided with domestic resources, assembly started on 2 August and the first test flight was made on 16 September 1930. On 27 September 1930, at 15.00, he took to the skies at Kadıköy-Fikirtepe in Kadıköy-Fikirtepe and made his first flight for 15 minutes in front of a large crowd of people and the press. Hürkuş described the production process of the aircraft as follows: "In 1930, while I produced the parts in the workshop, I made the assembly and the first flight in Fikirtepe. Only two days of work was sufficient for the assembly of my aircraft and the elimination of the remaining deficiencies, these two days were also sufficient for the people of Kadıköy and Istanbul to be aware of my attempts. Thousands of citizens, who take pleasure in considering every national achievement as their own property, not only rushed to see this genuine Turkish work, but also sincerely expressed their sincere desire to help. The last day of my leave, 16 September 1930, was a bright day. Journalists, photographers and a crowd of thousands of people, drums and zurna, which gave this gathering a sense of national existence, and a sincere atmosphere resembling the day of an enormous rally. I opened the throttle in my hand and fuelled my engine, my aeroplane started to run and left the ground with a short rule. For a moment, I was in the insatiable joy of my success of 5 years ago; it was more like the flight of a credible aircraft that had been flown and worked on a lot. I had a strong belief in the robustness of my aeroplane from the static experiments I had carried out many times and separately on the parts belonging to the forces to be used in the construction of my aeroplane. With this confidence, I shook, shook and tossed my aeroplane. I was making up for my long period of flight deprivation by performing acrobatic movements in peace as I wished. The patriotic feelings of the people who came to see this national achievement were so nourished by this work that from the moment the aircraft left the ground and throughout the entire flight, they shouted their appreciation and congratulations with tears of joy and shouted "Long Live Vecihi" with all their might. When the 15 minute flight was over and I landed on the ground, the congratulations of these dear people, who did not let go of me from their shoulders, were rising to the heights, my cheeks and hands were drowned in kisses, and it was a happy day for me. This successful day of private labour and enterprise was the day Turkish private aviation was born, 27 September 1930." 

Vecihi Hürkuş, the legendary name of Turkish Aviation, described his "Vecihi K-XIV" aircraft to the magazine "Aviation and Sports": "I started building my aircraft on 25 June. I was able to finish it thanks to three months of regular work day and night, from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the morning and until 2 and 3 a.m. at night. I named my aircraft "Vecihi-XIV" because it was my 14th project. I used completely domestic materials while building my aircraft, so I preferred wooden construction. Only the engine stand, safety wires, etc. are made of steel. After the first test, I safely lifted my aircraft over the square. After a short time, the first Turkish-made aircraft rising from the ground was flying with great skill. After successfully completing my first flight test, I made another flight in Kadıköy at the request of the public. In this flight, I determined the aerobatic flight capabilities of my aircraft. I was very pleased with my aircraft, which was extremely sensitive in turns, looping and somersaults. The issue that I emphasise is to facilitate the production of aircraft, especially by making use of our domestic products."

As the first civilian aircraft in the Turkish air warfare industry, he built the K-XIV, a two-seater, single-engine aircraft for sports and training purposes, with an economical cruising speed of 140 km/h. On 30 September 1930, the aircraft made its 4th test flight, first to Eskişehir and then to Ankara, flying over Polatlı. The aircraft was examined by Prime Minister İsmet İnönü and commanders, and was appreciated and congratulated. It was attempted to put a caution on the flight permit for the aircraft, but it was cancelled as a result of the attempts made. Thereupon, a technical committee was formed to issue a certificate of airworthiness. In the letter sent from the General Directorate of Air Affairs to Vecihi on 14 October 1930, it was stated: "Although the Vecihi-XIV type aircraft was found to be capable of flying during the test flights and the subsequent flights from Istanbul to Ankara, it was not possible to examine it scientifically since we did not have any means to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft. As a result, the required navigation certificate was not issued, because the aircraft had not been tested by the Science Department of the Undersecretariat of Air Undersecretariat. The technical committee did not have the personnel and equipment to fly and control the aircraft." The flight of the "Vecihi K-XIV" aircraft, which reflected the state-of-the-art technology of the 1930s, was not approved by the Turkish aviation authorities and was banned from flight due to the fact that it did not inform the competent authorities while producing its aircraft and flew to Ankara without having it inspected and acted in violation of the "Air Flight Board Decisions".

When Vecihi Hürkuş was denied a certificate and the aircraft was confiscated due to the lack of technical equipment and personnel, he submitted the situation to the Chief of General Staff, Fevzi Çakmak, and requested that the aircraft be allowed to be examined by the technical service of any state, and through his intermediary, the aircraft was allowed to be examined. For this purpose, it was decided to send the aircraft to Czechoslovakia for rectification as a solution to the failure to issue a flight certificate. In order to obtain a certificate of airworthiness for his aircraft, he set off from Istanbul on 28 November 1930 with the train he rented from the Railways and reached Prague-Czechoslovakia on 6 December 1930. Vecihi Hürkuş; "After travelling to Prague, the Ministry of Public Works of Czechoslovakia formed a CINA (International Civil Aviation Commission) commission to inspect my aircraft. The commission started by examining the aerodynamic and aerodynamic calculations of my aeroplane, and then checked and examined its capability and material construction separately. Despite the bad weather conditions, 6 test flights were carried out, and I made my flights in Kybeli, 12 kilometres away from Prague. As I ascended to my first flight, I was filled with great joy. I was flying, descending, doing all kinds of aerobatics with the aircraft, and all of the experiments had been successful. After the Vecihi K-XIV aircraft's materials and all kinds of technical controls were checked, it was accepted and certified as one of the best international sports aircraft in the world, and I received my diploma with a ceremony on 21 April 1931. I took off in the morning hours of 25 April with the sincere support of Turkish citizens and Czech aviators gathered in the square. When I arrived in Edirne on the Vienna-Bulgaria flight route, I was welcomed with flags." 

It was decided that this aircraft was a training and sports aircraft valid in international aviation, and a flight certificate and tourism licence were issued. The flight tests conducted between 9 January-23 April 1931 and the control of the flight were completed in 5 months, and they did not charge any fee for this work and congratulated us for our success. With the flight permit, authorisation certificate and diploma obtained from Czechoslovakia, he boarded his plane on 25 April 1931 and arrived in Istanbul on 5 May 1931. Vecihi promoted the Turkish Aeronautical Association so that his aircraft would not remain idle, and made many young people love aviation by flying them. However, on 3 November 1931, his mechanic Hamdi was dismissed and he was informed that his flight compensation would be cut off in January 1932. For this reason, it was reported that the promotions would be carried out with an aircraft to be provided by the Ministry of National Defence, and upon these developments, he parted ways with the Turkish Aeronautical Association.  

Vecihi Hürkuş pioneered the establishment of Civil Aviation as a private entrepreneur, and on 21 April 1932, he founded the first Turkish Civil Flight School, "Vecihi Civil Flight School", in a 4-storey building in Kadıköy-Kızıltoprak. On 27 September 1932, the school started training with 12 male students, 2 of whom were girls, and 5 male students received free education. With theoretical and practical training, glider pilot training was given in 3 months for 150 TL and pilot training was given in 6 months for 850 TL. On 16 March 1932, the first glider flight was made by pilot Fikret Arıt. Bedriye Tahir Gökmen became the first Turkish woman pilot to receive the civilian pilot's licence by flying solo at this flight school. The school was forced to close down at the end of 1934 due to the lack of sufficient number of students, lack of state support, economic and financial inadequacies, and the lack of recognition for the diplomas of the school and its students, despite the various achievements of its students. He established an iron and carpentry workshop in Kurbağalıdere and worked on new designs to continue aircraft production. In the workshop, he designed and built all parts of the aircraft, except the engines, himself, and produced three new design aircraft and five aircraft of the "Vecihi K-VI, K-XV, K-XIV, K-XVI, SK-X" type within a year. He achieved great success and set an example by producing the aircraft without any financial support, despite all kinds of obstacles by certain circles. In 1933, the "Vecihi K-XV" aircraft was produced under the name "Nuri Bey" after Nuri Demirağ donated 5000 TL. The 4th aircraft, the light passenger aircraft "Vecihi K-XVI", which was produced in 92 days, was built with a closed cabin. In the same year, he also built the single-skinned "Vecihi XV" aircraft. On 30 August 1933, two Vecihi XIV and Vecihi XV aircraft and one Nuri Bey Vecihi K-XVI aircraft were used in a demonstration flight in Istanbul. His last project, the "Vecihi SK-X" aircraft, was designed and built as a water sled for the Maritime Rescue Service, and its model was placed in the Etimesgut Air Museum in Ankara. 

In 1935, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk closely watched and appreciated the flights made by Vecihi Hürkuş, the heroic pilot of the National Struggle, in Istanbul. He met with Fuat Bulca, the President of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), in İnönü-Eskişehir and gave the directive: "Open a new way of working under the name of Türkkuşu and make use of Vecihi".  Since Vecihi Hürkuş had adopted aviation as a way of life, he welcomed the offer to work. He closed his school in Istanbul and returned to the institution by bringing his studies and students to İnönü. He served as the head teacher here. He built the Etimesgut hangars and the students he trained were sent to Russia for training. During this period, while producing the "Vecihi- XIV" aircraft project, he was denied permission to build an aircraft on the grounds that he did not have an engineering diploma. With the support of THK upon Atatürk's instruction, he was sent to Germany in 1937 to study engineering at the Weimar Engineering School as a 21-year aviator. He completed his 4-year education in 2 years and returned home on 27 February 1939 with a diploma in "Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering". He applied to the Ministry of Public Works to obtain his Aircraft Engineering licence, but his engineering was not accepted by the aviation authorities on the grounds that one could not become an engineer in 2 years. With the decision of the Council of State, his engineering licence was accepted, and after this incident, he was transferred to Van by the THK management and resigned from the organisation.

On 18 October 1939, the application made to the Ministry of National Defence for the Vecihi K-XV aircraft, which was designed for training, did not yield any results, and the reasoning was as follows: "Aviation is developing at a dizzying pace, and even in Europe, since small states live with big states, they abandon the first example policy and benefit from the production and capabilities of big states. At a time when hunting planes reach a speed of 580 km and bombers 500 km, air schools have the most advanced planes and they are in the quality of the planes of western states. In the factories of the Ministry of National Defence, the most advanced aircraft are being produced and these are on the same level with the aircraft of the world. Today, it is difficult or even impossible to produce and manufacture Air Force aeroplanes entirely in-house, rather than importing them from abroad. It is clear that it would be impossible for Vecihi Hürkuş to do something that many experienced pilots working in the Air Force, and even more senior than Vecihi Hürkuş, could not provide. There is always room and space in the country for those who are capable of raising Turkish aviation. It would be appropriate to send the training aircraft reported to have been built by Vecihi and the hunting aircraft reported to be being built by Vecihi together with Vecihi's engineering diploma to be examined by the scientific committee. An examination will be made and an answer will be given." The aircraft built by Vecihi was linked to his diploma, and unfortunately, it was interesting that the state did not claim it despite all kinds of sacrifices. Vecihi Hürkuş; "Our breakthrough work was going very well. Until the date of the passing of the great Atatürk, the increasing activities and results of Turkkuşu were in a position to be the assurance of our aviation. However, the management approaches after that date disrupted this harmony, the efficiency became sterile and it became impossible to maintain the sincere breakthrough." He explained that he had very serious difficulties in realising his goals and objectives. He explained the importance of his work as follows: "When I built the first Turkish aeroplane in 1924, 80 per cent of today's world aviation industries had not yet been born. Factories such as Douglas, Boeing, Piper, Flashing, Fokerwolf, which are considered to be the largest aviation industries in the world today, started to be established after 1928." 

Vecihi Hürkuş built the first Turkish civil aeroplane, established the first Civil Flight School and the Air and Naval Science Construction Factory. He could not find opportunities for his work in the country and encountered situations that would interrupt his work. He struggled with many material and moral difficulties during his efforts to produce national aircraft. He made extraordinary efforts and endeavours to repay his debt of loyalty to his nation and state. While he should have been rewarded and encouraged by the state for building an aircraft, he was penalised for building an unauthorised aircraft and flying his aircraft without having it tested.  The factory, which could have been the centre producing today's most modern aircraft, had to be closed down, and despite all the adversities he faced until the end of his life, he carried out successful work in the field of aviation. He was interested in many aspects of aviation, not just one aspect of aviation, and continued his work with devotion, designing and building aircraft. He proved himself to his peers in Europe in flying and fighter piloting. He trained students, bought aeroplanes at great sacrifice, and made history by making great efforts to establish civil aviation. At the age of 20, he started flying and made the first and last flight of the National Struggle. He was the first pilot to land at Izmir-Gaziemir Airport and tried to save it from occupation. He worked as a test pilot in the Turkish Air Force, Turkish Aeronautical Association and Kayseri Aircraft Factory, breaking new ground. He had the honour and pride of being the only person to be awarded the red-striped Independence Medal with a certificate of appreciation three times by the Turkish Grand National Assembly for his heroism in the National Struggle. He worked on the development and modification of the aeroplanes purchased from Germany, and displayed a unique example of patriotism in a period when the country was troubled in every respect. 

Vecihi Hürkuş founded the "Winged Association" in 1947 and the "Turkish Wing" company in 1951 to carry out aerial spraying, but the project was not realised due to problems. In 1952, in order to make a living, he sold cleaning materials such as Paro Formula and Cigar Soaps through aerial advertising. He made flights for the promotional advertisements of institutions such as TEKEL and İş Bank. With Sait Bayav and Muammer Öniz, he purchased three "Auster MK-V" type aircraft from England and founded Hürkuş Airlines in 1954. However, Hürkuş's company, which wanted to distribute newspapers for a while due to the fact that it was not allowed to operate flights to cities that were not served, was closed down afterwards. The last aircraft he had left, "TC-ERK", was commissioned by the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute to carry out thorium, uranium and phosphate exploration activities in Southeastern Anatolia. On 22 September 1958, he took part in the establishment of the "Turkish Aviators Club" in order to develop a spirit of unity and solidarity among the members of the Air Force and those who have served in aviation, to revive the old memories of the martyrs and deceased who have served in aviation, and to compile and preserve the accumulated knowledge. On 16 July 1969, when mankind was about to set foot on the Moon, he died of a cerebral haemorrhage while writing his memoirs in Ankara and was buried in Cebeci Asri Cemetery. Vecihi Hürkuş, who worked with great devotion for Turkish aviation with his eyes and heart always in the skies, said: "But we should not forget that we live in a country and a republic administration created by the great ancestor. The following words of our ancestor are our most reliable strength. O Turkish youth, the strength you need is in the noble blood in your veins. It is for this promise that I believe that the Turkish Republican culture, if not today, will prepare every opportunity tomorrow, establish the bond of love of nationality and create the culture of revolution." Despite the great importance attached to it by the great Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the accumulations in the country have been reset every time and the mindset that could not evaluate how important aeroplanes are for a nation has been a factor. Those who tried to put forward something in the field of air warfare industry failed every time and were left alone. With his successful works, he has taken an honourable and important place not only in the history of Turkish aviation, but also in the field of private enterprise in the Turkish air warfare industry.

Bibliography: 

TATAR Cengiz, Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK and Turkish Aviation, Galeati Publishing, 2021.