Page 22 - Young Wise

Nurettin Yunus KOÇ

The Hero of the Turkish Sky:
VECİHİ HÜRKUŞ

WHO IS VECİHİ HÜRKUŞ? his aeroplane in the Caucasus mountains. He fought against enemy
aeroplanes in the sky. He was a very brave and successful pilot. He
shot down a Russian aeroplane. He was the first Turkish pilot to do
this. The Russian soldiers were afraid of him. So, they gave him a
famous name: ‘The Black Danger’.
THE PRISONER AND THE GREAT ESCAPE
One day, his aeroplane was
hit and he crashed. The
Russians captured him. They
sent him to a prison on
Nargin Island in the Caspian
Sea. It was a terrible place
called ‘snake island’ because
there were many snakes.
Vecihi Hürkuş was a great Turkish pilot and engineer. He was born But Vecihi did not give up.
in İstanbul on 18 January 1896. From a very young age, he loved He escaped from the island
the sky and wanted to fly. When he was a little boy, he listened by swimming. He swam in
to the stories of Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi. He looked at the birds the dark water and walked
and wanted to have wings. He went to a flying school in Yeşilköy, for many days. He wore
İstanbul. He was a very hardworking student and got his pilot local village clothes to hide
diploma in 1916. Today, he is one of the most important names in from the enemies. Finally,
Turkish aviation history. he returned to İstanbul.
A BRAVE SOLDIER AND ‘THE BLACK DANGER’ THE WAR AND THE FIRST AEROPLANE
Vecihi Hürkuş also fought in the Turkish War
of Independence. He was very hardworking
and flew 24 times during the war. He
helped his country a lot. He also met a brave
woman named Hadiye in İzmir. They promised
to marry and build a future together. He made
the first flight and the last flight of the War of
Independence. Because of his great courage,
the Turkish government gave him the Medal
of Independence.

THE FIRST TURKISH AEROPLANE
Vecihi Hürkuş had a very big dream. He didn’t just want to fly; he
When he was only 16 years old, he joined the Balkan War as a
wanted to build his own aeroplane. Building an aeroplane was very
volunteer in 1912. Later, Vecihi fought in the First World War. He flew
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