Hürkus To Teach Pilots To Fly Armored Close Air Support Airplanes

A basic military trainer developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries conducted its first flight Thursday. The airplane is designed to train military pilots to fly armed light close air support missions.

Dubbed the Hürkus, the plane flown by Murat Özpala, conducted a 33 minute flight with the landing gear extended, according to a report appearing in the Hürriyet Daily News. Özpala said the plane performed as expected during the flight.

Hürkus was rolled out on June 27, 2012 at a ceremony held at TAI's Kazan factory. The company said in a news release at the time that the airplane is able to perform day and night missions. It is configured with tandem seating, and equipped with 1600 hp turboprop engine, enabling easy transfer of trainee pilots to jet aircraft.

TAI designed the airplane to be flexible for future applications such as surveillance and weapon upgrades.

TAI expects the Hürkus to be certified for export by EASA when the flight test program is completed.

(TAI image from rollout ceremony)

FMI: www.tai.com.tr