VECİHİ HÜRKUŞ
Aviation contributions:
In 1917, Hürkuş became the first Turkish aviator to fly a twin-engine aircraft, a Russian Caudron G.4 captured at the
Caucasian Front. In 1918 he manufactured a propeller from scratch in Istanbul, for a Nieuport 17 also captured from
the Russians. During the Turkish War of Independence he produced adhesive from gelatin to glue fabric to aircraft
wings.
In 1923, in Edirne, Hürkuş flew an abandoned Italian Caproni Ca.5 aka Ca.57 or Breda M-1 with nine passengers, the
first Turkish pilot to fly a passenger aircraft. He constructed the country's first gliders (US–4 ve PS–2), and played a
role in the establishment of the Turkish Bird (Turkish Aviation Society) from 1935 to 1936 in Etimesgut, Ankara.
During his flying career, which spanned a period of 52 years (1916–1967), Vecihi Hürkuş flew a total of 102 different
models of aircraft and spent 30,000 hours (3.4 years) in the cockpit.