We are flying to Fethiye, Hodja Fethi's hometown

Fethi's Town Fethiye

Fethi, this name was a new source of excitement for me. Fethi was my teacher, a master who instilled the love of aviation in my heart. The name of this town was the cherished memory of his martyrdom near Lake Tabariya on the Egyptian air travel route. At that moment I was blessing the memory of my beloved teacher with my special wings on that name. 

Yes, Hodja Fethi, together with his beloved friend Sadiq, passed into eternity in a fateful union. This cannot be called a fall, it must be called "fate was sealed". Our consolation is faith in God. This painful event has fallen on the hearts of our whole nation in the form of a spirit separated from my temporary self. Every Turkish child embraced this grief so deeply that all Turkish children born in the country at that time, boys and girls, were named Fethi and Fethiye, and the people of Meğri (the old name of this town) adopted this sublime name as a memory of eternal condolence and honored their homeland with the name of the saintly martyr. I wandered around the city greeting both that spirit and that name from the air, and a few minutes later I found myself in the square where I landed among the happy people of Fethiye.

Always with that interest, always in that sincere atmosphere, we made many flights, we flew many young people, the love for aviation spread and our ambitions were fully united. For this reason, I wrote in my memoirs that our visit to Fethiye was an auspicious day for the realization of the organization's purpose.

November 23, 1931. 

According to the program of that day, we would first visit Köyceğiz and then stay in Muğla. The Efes of the Aegean Region were in the position of being interested in the aviation cause. We landed in Köyceğiz, and the people of Köyceğiz were equally interested in my speeches on aviation, and within a short period of one and a half hours, they made donations to the cashier of the institution and sent us on our way with a sincere farewell.

Muğla

This provincial center is a place of important memories in my feelings. Especially during the War of Independence, on the eve of the most critical period such as the Battle of Sakarya, and at a time when the poverty of airplanes was overwhelming us, I was assigned to bring an airplane in Muğla to the front. I came to Muğla, saw the plane and repaired it in a short time with my mechanic, the late Eşref, and brought it to the first day of the Battle of Sakarya.

The plane I took delivery of in Muğla was a De Havilland type fighter plane and was the property of the Greek Air Force. This plane had lost its way on its way from Athens to Izmir under the command of a Greek pilot, landed in Kuşadası, was seized by our gendarmes and smuggled to Muğla. Especially during the Battle of Sakarya, this airplane became a nuisance for the Greeks.

Furthermore, my sister Nahit lived here and her husband, my friend the late Hulusi, was a member of the Provincial Council. I also saw them with their young children Bedri and Bülent among the very crowded people who welcomed us upon landing. The people of Muğla, with the esteemed Governor in the lead, gave this visit the importance it deserved and welcomed our plane.

The Governor and the Mayor made speeches in the square about the importance of aviation, and the patriotic feelings of the people were aroused. Following these speeches, I, as I do in every place of visit, gave scientific information to our esteemed people about supporting our national aviation and explained my beliefs about the love of flying. After this enthusiasm and ceremony, I started public flights.

During my wartime flights, when I could not fulfill the flight requests of our beloved young people due to the importance of those war days, I was saddened to see those young people crying, but now that there was no duty of defense of the country, I had the opportunity to calm my sadness by flying many young people, including my children, in peace.

The fiery speeches, exciting conferences and finally the enjoyable flights brought a new excitement to the people of Muğla and provided rich donations for the benefit of the organization.

During my two days here, I was the guest of both my brother and our brothers from Muğla.

November 25, 1931. 

We left Muğla with the same sincere farewells and wishes for success. We were flying to reach Denizli by crossing the Tavas Mountains rising in front of us. This flight was chilling in the cool air of the morning. We were already in the winter season, we didn't feel the winter much because we were in the south, but now we were flying north and we had to overcome high mountains and cold regions.

On our route, as the program of that day, the people of the towns of Göktepe, Kale, Tavas, Karacasu, Babadağ would be visited from the air, the thanks of the organization would be presented and we would stay in Denizli. With the same tempo and the same close demonstrations, the objectives of the organization were announced to the public with a two and a half hour flight and we landed in Denizli. Here, too, the excitement of the people was very high. Especially the fact that this visit was made with a special Turkish-made aircraft gave a different color to the public feelings. The Governor, other officials and all citizens from Denizli filled the landing area.

I got off the plane, met with the public and explained the purpose of our visit in clear language to our people. In the leaflets we spread from the air, the characteristics of the aviation cause were explained to the common sense of our esteemed people, and in a short time, large donations were made for the benefit of the institution.

We spent the night in joyful conversations about aviation issues among our brothers and sisters from Denizli. I was personally very happy, especially the dear young people understood my language very well and appreciated the sanctity of the cause.

November 26, 1931.

We took off from Denizli with the same sincere farewell, and we were going to land in Uşak by spreading confetti to the people in the towns of Çal, Çivril, Karahallı, Ulubey and the surrounding settlements. This city, where I first took office during the War of Independence, is a monument of honorable memories for me. At that time, Uşak was a hotbed of gangs belonging to the National Forces, I had many active and inactive acquaintances from the War of Independence, and I had made an honorable name for myself with the raids I made on the enemy from here. Among those who welcomed me at that time were also my acquaintances whom we had always run for the same cause. Good results were achieved from this consensus for the benefit of the organization. It was in this beautiful atmosphere that we lived that night among friends from Uşaklı in an atmosphere that evaluates my aviation memories.

November 27, 1931. 

The weather that morning was not at all pleasant, but I was determined to finish our tour before winter set in. We said goodbye with the good wishes of the dear people of Uşaklı and left the place. We started to feel the cold kisses of the overcast sky licking our faces. There were mountains ahead of us to overcome, but the clouds, the quilts of the earth, covered the mountains. Under these conditions, we had to look for passes to reach our destination rather than following our route. After a lot of wandering, we reached Kütahya and landed on a white ground covered by the first snow of the year. The weather conditions were so bad and the air was so cold that the people of Kütahya could not even come to see the Turkish-built airplane they had missed so much. The whole plain was covered with a layer of snow and covered in white quilts, as if they were afraid of the onslaught of the snowdrifts covering the mountains.

On the ground, we met the delegation that had come to meet us in four automobiles, and we could only talk about our mission and the weather that day in the automobile. Hamid, my mechanic, was working on the maintenance of the airplane, which was his main duty, and like an African who had just arrived from a hot climate, he was constantly rubbing his hands, sometimes looking at the air and sometimes at the frost bubbles that had accumulated on the plane.

I felt sorry for my self-sacrificing friend, but his duty was to perform technical maintenance, to prepare the airplane for flight and to ensure flight safety, regardless of the conditions, hot or cold. This was not only his duty, but also Hamid's heartfelt and enthusiastic work.

After the necessary safety precautions were taken by tying the plane to the ground, we jumped into the cars and escaped to the city.

In Kütahya, where we stayed for one more day due to unfavorable weather, I gave lectures to the students and the public gathered in various facilities, explaining the cause of aviation

(to be continued)