Thoughts on Yesilkoy Aviation Museum

The first flight of an airplane with its own engine power on 17 December 1903 opened a new era in the history of aviation. While sportive flights were carried out at first, airplanes were used for military purposes for the first time by the Italians in 1911 during the Tripoli War, by making bomb attacks against Turkish troops.

The foundation of our Turkish Air Force was laid in the same year by the forward-thinking commanders of the time, who learned the important role of the aircraft in the Tripoli War by experiencing it personally. Two of our officers selected as pilot candidates were sent to France for flight training in 1912, and in the same year, two French R.E.P. model aircraft was also ordered and an aerodrome around Istanbul suitable for the deployment of these aircraft began to be sought. As the location of the square, firstly, the lands in Sarıgazi and Dudullu regions on the Anatolian side were examined, but it was determined that these lands were not suitable, and it was decided to build the first military airport in Yeşilköy. With the allocated funds, two aircraft hangars were built in the area where Yeşilköy Military Airport is now located and our two incoming aircraft were placed in these hangars. Yeşilköy Aviation Museum was established in 1986 on the site adjacent to these historical hangars, as if to keep the memory of this first chosen military airport alive.

Museums where historical artifacts, weapons and planes are exhibited should not be considered as places where only these objects are kept. Museums are public, non-profit organizations that play an important role in preserving and conveying cultural values ​​to the future, improving the cultural and artistic taste and worldview of the public. The Aviation Museum, which we will discuss in this article, should not only be considered as a place where airplanes and air weapons are exhibited and seen, but also as an educational institution that helps the development of aviation culture.

I thought it would be useful to share my observations on this subject by writing down the differences between our aviation museums and the aviation museums of foreign countries that I have visited in foreign countries and also examined on Google maps on the Internet.

The most obvious and important difference between aviation museums of foreign countries and ours is that the planes in our museums are exhibited outdoors, whereas in museums in foreign countries almost all of the planes are exhibited indoors. Starting with the Yeşilköy Aviation Museum, we can make a comparison with the aviation museums of major countries in the world as follows.

There are 9 propeller planes, together with historical photographs and objects, in the indoor area of ​​the Yeşilköy Aviation Museum, which can be seen in the photo below. In the open area of ​​the museum, 10 propeller planes, 25 jet planes, 3 helicopters and 6 anti-aircraft missile systems are exhibited in two separate areas.

In Washington DC, close to the White House is the Smithsonian Air/Space Museum. This museum is one of the similar aviation museums in the world, with airplanes, helicopters and spacecrafts, all of which are exhibited indoors, with historical value. The Smithsonian Museum is a museum that exhibits firsts in aviation. At the main entrance of the museum, the Wright Flyer aircraft, the first of aviation in the world, is suspended from the ceiling and welcomes you in flying position. In the immediate vicinity of the Wright Flyer plane, the spacecraft sent by the USA into space are exhibited. The originals of Mercury carrying a single astronaut to and from space, Gemini carrying a double astronaut, Apollo carrying three astronauts to and from the moon, and Space Shuttle Discovery to and from space flights with 7 astronauts and scientists are exhibited at the entrance of the museum. Among the many aircraft exhibited in the museum, one of the most interesting to me was the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft used by the German Air Force at the end of World War II. When reviewing this aircraft, I was amazed by its excellent aerodynamics. In various parts of the museum, there are also Bell X-1 aircraft, one of the firsts in aviation, to cross the sound barrier (1 MACH) for the first time, F-104 aircraft that exceeded 2 MACH speed for the first time, X-15A aircraft that reached 6.7 MACH speed for the first time, and U-2 spy aircraft. airplanes are on display.

The US Air Force National Museum is located adjacent to Wright Patterson Base in Dayton, Ohio. The museum is considered to be the largest aviation museum in the world, both in terms of indoor space and the number of aircraft exhibited in it. The closed area of ​​the museum is so wide that Air Force One four-engine Boeing model jets used by US Presidents can also be exhibited in this museum. Among the historical aircraft exhibited in the museum is the SR-71 Blackbird, flying at a speed of 3 MACH.

The British Royal Air Force Museum is located near London. The aircraft, which are fully exhibited indoors, include aircraft used by the British Royal Air Force during the 1st and 2nd World Wars.

The French Aerospace Museum is located at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris. I had the opportunity to visit this museum twice. In the museum, which is completely closed, the planes manufactured by the French since the mid-1900s and the planes, tools and equipment used by the French Air Force during the 1st and 2nd World Wars are exhibited.

The Italian Air Force museum is located near the city of Rome. All of the planes manufactured by the Italian Air Industry and foreign origin planes flown by the Italian Air Force are exhibited in the closed buildings of the museum.

The German Air Force has aviation museums in various cities. One of the largest aviation museums is also located in the city of Hannover.

The Greek Air Force Museum, photographed below, is located on the quay at the port of Piraeus. As can be seen in the photograph below, all aircraft and aircraft are exhibited indoors in the museum building, which has a beautiful architecture and aesthetics. Those who come to the port of Piraeus with their private boats and other sea vehicles moor their boats to the dock right next to the museum and visit the museum within walking distance from there.

The Egyptian Air Force Museum, photographed below, is located near Cairo. This museum has a very aesthetic appearance like the Greek Air Force museum in the port of Piraeus.

The Swedish Air Force Museum is located in the city of Linköping, south-west of the Capital Stockholm. As it is known, Sweden is one of the rare countries in the world that manufactures combat jet aircraft. The entire museum was built as a closed building. Aircraft manufactured by Sweden and other aircraft and aircraft are exhibited in the museum.

All the aircraft in the inventory of the Belgian Air Force in the past, together with other army weapons, are exhibited in the Royal Military Museum in the city of Brussels. When I visited the museum, the plane that caught my attention and was close to me the most, along with other planes in the aviation department, was the F-104 I had served in the past.

The Dutch Aviation museum is located near the city of Utrecht. As with major museums in Europe and America, all aircraft in this aviation museum are displayed in a large enclosed building.

The Japan Aviation museum is located near the city of Tokorozawa. It is seen that the entire museum, which spreads over a very large area, consists of closed buildings.

You must have noticed that all of the aviation museums of different countries in the world, whose names and photographs are listed above, are closed spaces. Like these museums, airplanes and other objects are exhibited indoors in aviation museums of many countries around the world. It is very thought-provoking and at the same time sad that the aviation museum in Turkey, one of the few countries where the first aviation organization was established in the world, does not have an indoor space.

As we can easily guess, we can list the benefits of displaying our aircraft and helicopters in a closed area as follows:

Preventing aircraft and helicopters from being exposed to weather conditions and corrosion over time,
Much lower paint and maintenance costs for aircraft and helicopters stored indoors,
Visitors who come to see the museum can easily visit the museum in all weather conditions,
Being able to organize different simulations, films, animations and shows easily indoors,
Increasing the international value of the museum by organizing international aviation seminars and meetings in the museum.

According to the statistics of the year I wrote this article, Yeşilköy Aviation Museum was visited by 126 thousand people in 2017. If we exclude the Mondays of the week when the museum is closed during the year and the first days of New Year's Eve and religious holidays, our museum is open 310 days a year. If we divide the number of people visiting the museum per year by the number of days open, we can theoretically conclude that 406 people visit the museum per day in summer, winter. This number is not to be underestimated. It has been learned that 70% of the visitors to the museum are student groups. The number of primary school students among the student groups is also large. The presence of a large number of student groups among the visitors is very pleasing for the future of aviation. Because these students record the planes, helicopters and other aviation objects they see in the museum during their visits in their minds just like they are videotaping, and they are enthusiastic about aviation from an early age.

After giving the number of visitors and the ratio of student groups within this number, it becomes clear once again how important the museum is to be exhibited in a closed area. While the benefits of exhibiting our aircraft and helicopters indoors were listed above, it was stated that the visitors could easily visit the museum indoors in all weather conditions. Considering that 70% of the visitors to the museum are student groups, it becomes much more important to gather the museum under a closed roof.

There is a beautiful saying in our beautiful Turkish that "a picture is worth a thousand words". When we look at the photograph of Yeşilköy Aviation Museum on the front page of our article and the photographs of Greek and Egyptian aviation museums on the following pages, we see that our aviation museum is in the form of closed buildings like aviation museums in foreign countries, and that our aircraft, helicopters and aircraft, which have historical values ​​in the aviation world, are now It is clear as daylight in these photographs that it is imperative that they be exhibited in closed sections, not in the open.

While expressing a desire to build the museum as a closed space, it is known that the construction of a new museum is not only a construction job, but a field of expertise that has the characteristics of a future-oriented museum understanding. The future goals of an aviation museum to be considered are:

* Aviation and Space Themed Technopark

* Aviation and Space Science Center and Museum,

* Facilities such as the Modern Library, Conference Hall, Fair, Cinema and Exhibition Halls and Aviation Shop should be designed as a whole.

The realization of such a project is only possible if the experts, authorized persons, institutions and organizations in aviation and museology understand the importance of this work and give their hearts; It will be possible by combining their experience and efforts. As the authorized institutions and organizations, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which has experience in museology, and expert faculty members of universities come to mind. The valuable expert managers of the Rahmi Koç Museum, which has attracted great interest in museology since its establishment, can also contribute greatly to such a project with their knowledge and experience. Representatives of authorized institutions and organizations can come together with the officials of the Yeşilköy Aviation Museum, which is the owner of the project, and I have the idea that such a project, which will be built as a completely closed area, can be realized step by step.

We believe that such an aviation museum, which will be built completely covered by integrating with the two historical hangars on the Yeşilköy Military Airport side, which we mentioned at the beginning of our article, will be a source of pride for our people and will contribute to the transfer of aviation culture to future generations by creating a wealth of knowledge with the aircraft, helicopters and all kinds of air weapons to be exhibited. I believe.

İrfan Sarp

January 15, 2018

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