TURKISH AIR FORCE MUSEUM COMMAND 

History 

The Turkish Air Force was founded on June 1, 1911 by the order of  Mahmut Şevket Pasha, Minister of Defense of the Ottoman Empire,  under the name of “Aviation Commission” headed by Lieutenant Colonel Süreyya İLMEN.    

Cavalier Captain Fesa EVRENSEV and Lieutenant Yusuf KENAN were sent to Bleriot Flight School on July 1911. After completing their training in February 1912, they returned to Turkey and became the first pilots of the Turkish Army.   

One-seat and two-seat Deperdussins bought from France in 1912 were the first Turkish aircraft. The first steps of Turkish Aviation were taken by constructing hangars, runways and other infrastructure facilities under the name of Yeşilköy Flight School in Yeşilköy, İstanbul.  

In 1918, Yeşilköy Airplane Station turned into an aviation training center for the Ottoman Air Force. After 1912, special stores were built to keep aircraft which were not in use any more and which were captured. This initiative sparked the idea of establishing an aviation museum. After a short period of time, the Air Force Inspectorship took a decision of founding an air museum and also made wreckage of enemy aircraft collected. These aircraft which had been preserved in hangars and stores were damaged while being transported to Kartal-Maltepe and casuilties occurred during the Independence War impeded the establishment of the Air Museum.    

In the 1960s, the idea of founding an aviation museum reappeared. In 1963, all units of the Turkish Air Force were ordered to keep one of every type aircrafts available and in 1966 the Air Museum Organization was founded.   

After remarkable efforts in a short period of time, Turkish Air Museum was opened in Cumaovası Civilian Airfield, İzmir, on May 15, 1971. In spite of an intensive interest to the Museum, some difficulties which occurred in reaching the Museum brought searching a new venue for the Museum to the agenda. The Air Museum remained open in İzmir until 1978.  

Following search for a new venue, Yeşilköy/İstanbul was chosen as the new place for the Air Museum due to being the birth place of Turkish Aviation and a city of museums. Its construction initiated in 1974 and was completed in 1983. The new Air Museum established with a modern understanding was officially opened on October 16, 1985 by General Halil SÖZER, Commander of the Turkish Air Force. 

                 

Front View of the Turkish Air Force Museum

 

Duty and Aim 

The duty of the Turkish Air Force Museum Command is to keep and exhibit every object enabling to explain the historical development of Turkish and World aviation and to make aviation and Turkish Air Force known. 

Besides its military character, the Air Force Museum is also a technology museum which determines its other mission. Due to being a technology museum it is open to development and provides a kind of laboratory for education institutions. So it makes a great contribution to draw the attention of the Turkish Youth to the aviation and to make aviation loved.  

If the first initiative to found an air museum had been realized in 1918, there would have been some 200 aircraft in the collection of the Turkish Air Force Museum. In spite of the delay, this goal has been attained by opening the Air Museum in Cumaovası, İzmir in 1971. At that time, there were only 24 aircraft in its collection. Therefore the Turkish Air Force Museum has been attaching great importance to enrich its collection by adding civil and military aircraft available and other objects relating to aviation. 

The Turkish Air Force Museum fulfills one of its main objectives, which is to make aviation loved and known by providing students with free entrance.  

That the current conditions of the Yeşilköy Air Force Museum which is the biggest Air Museum in Turkey, can not meet its changing requirements; makes it inevitable to construct a new museum building. Within this framework it has been decided to construct a new museum building taking into consideration the current and future requirements. The construction bid of the new Museum is envisaged to be resulted in 2007 whose project bid was completed in 2005.  

The new museum will become one of the biggest and most functional museums of Europe. There would be exhibition areas for 60 aircraft and various objects, meeting rooms and conference halls of which the largest one would have 1300 seats, gift shops, restaurants and cafe, simulators, restrooms and rooms for repair, maintenance and training in the new museum.

Collection and Exhibition Areas 

The Museum was built on 65.000 sq m. of which 2.500 sq m. is covered area.  12.000 sq m. of the open area that is composed of two parts is arranged as aircraft exhibition area. The surrounding of the museum has been planned as green space which is very convenient to construct a new building if it is needed.  

A Birds Eye View of the Turkish Air Force Museum 

The collection of the Air Force Museum is composed of aircrafts, equipment, weapons, engines, uniforms, documents, medals, badges and other objects. In total 56 aircrafts including propeller planes, jets, helicopters and gliders are exhibited in the museum.  

Its collection makes the Turkish Air Force Museum one of the most important air museums of the world. The covered display area is composed of interconnected halls and a hangar. There are also an Administration Office, a Library and a store for objects in the closed area. In the open area which has been designed as two interconnected parts, big objects such as aircrafts and anti-aircraft weapons are exhibited.

Aircrafts and Gliders Exhibited in the Hangar 

1

Grigrowich M-5

2

Pezetel PZL 24 G

3

Miles Magister

4

De Havilland Dragon DH-89A

5

Curtiss Falcon CW-22

6

Uğur Kuş

7

Altın Kanatlar (Golden Wings)

8

Piper L18-C

9

Scheibe Bergfalke IV

 

PZL 24G, Constructed in Kayseri Aircraft Factory in 1938

 

Engine Hall: In this hall, various engines belonging to propeller planes and jets are exhibited. 

Memorial Hall: In this hall, uniforms and personal items belonging to the members of Turkish Air Force, who retired or became martyr, are exhibited. 

Weapons Hall: In this hall, weapons, aircraft cameras, missiles, artilleries, swords, machine guns, medals, badges, pilot’s insignias and a model plane collection with a scale of 1:72 are exhibited. One corner of this hall is dedicated to Turkish aerobatic team, “Turkish Stars”. 

Uniform Hall: In this hall, current and historical uniforms used by Turkish Air Force personnel and by students of the Air Force Academy are exhibited. Various equipment such as parachute and communication devices can also be seen here. At the corner named “Those landed from skies to our hearts” the names of our air martyrs who have lost their lives since 1914 when Turkey gave its first air martyr are listed.  

Outdoor Exhibition Areas

Outdoor aircraft exhibition area, 12.000 sq m, is composed of three parts.

View of the Outdoor Exhibition Area

 

In the first part, jet planes are exhibited in two rows. In the second part, jet and propeller planes, helicopters and antiaircraft weapons are displayed. In the third part, civil airplanes are exhibited.  

Aircrafts and Helicopters exhibited in the Outdoor Area

1

Miles Magister (Free Wings)

22

Sud-Sogermo SE-210-10r Caravelle

2

Douglas C-47 A Dakota “Skytrain”

23

North American F-100 D “Super Sabre”

3

Douglas C-47 B “Dakota”

24

North American F-100 F “Super Sabre”

4

Beechcraft AT-11

25

Lockheed TF-104 G “Star Fighter”

5

Republic P-47 D “Thunderbolt”

26

Vickers 794 “Viscount”

6

Lockheed T-33 A “T-Bird”

27

Canadian Car T-34 A “Mentor”

7

Republic F-84 F “Thunder Steak”

28

KIBM Mavi Işık G

8

Republic F-84 G “Thunderjet”

29

RF-5 A Tactical Fighter

9

North American F-86 E “Sabre”

30

NF-5 A Tactical Fighter

10

North American T-6 G “Harward”

31

Bellance T-7 GCBC

11

Republic RF-84 F “Thunderflash”

32

Wilga 6a PZL 104-35

12

North American F-100 C “Super Sabre”

33

R22 Beta (Robinson)

13

Douglas C-54 D “Skymaster”

34

NF-5 A Tactical Fighter “Turkish Stars”

14

Convair F-102 A “Delta Dagger”

35

F-4 E Phantom

15

Lockheed F-104 G “Star Fıghter”

36

T-37 C Cessna

16

Dornier Do 27 H-2

37

S-2 E Tracker

17

Dornier Do 28 B-2

38

UH-1 H

18

Dornier Do 28 D-1

39

C 160 D Transall

19

Dornier Do 28 D-2 “Skyservant”

40

RT-33A Shooting Star

20

Siat 223 “Flamingo”

41

Aeritalia F-104 S “Star Fighter”

21

Northrop F-5 A

42

 F-16 C Fighting Falcon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busts with short biographies of ten persons who served substantially for Turkish aviation are exhibited

on the right side along the entrance way to the museum. The monument, between the main building and

cafe, built to air martyrs of the World War I meets visitors.

 

Fighting Falcon has in the Museum of Aviation since 4 May 2009 . 

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