Establishment of The Flying School and War Units
On 2 December 1909, Louis Blériot and the Belgian pilot Baron Pierre de Caters performed the first flight demonstration in the Ottoman Empire.
After witnessing the growing importance of an air combat support branch, the Ottoman government decided to organize its own military aviation program. For this purpose officers were sent to Europe by the end of 1910 for pilot training. However, due to financial difficulties, the student program was aborted and the trainees returned to the Ottoman Empire in the spring of 1911.
Although left without any governmental guidelines for establishing an air force, the Ottoman Minister of War of the time, Mahmud Shevket Pasha, continued to encourage the idea of a military aviation program. On 28 June 1911, a written examination was held and on 4 July, Cavalry Captain Fesa (Evrensey) and Engineer Lieutenant Yusuf Kenan were selected. Fesa was sent to France and Yusuf Kenan was sent to Germany. But because the German school wanted an excessively high fee, both of them were enrolled in the Blériot School at Étampes near Paris in July 1911.
In late 1911 Staff Lieutenant Colonel Süreyya (İlmen) was entrusted with founding the Aircraft Committee (Tayyare Komisyonu) with members from the Inspectorate of Technical and Fortified Formations (Kıtaât-ı Fenniyye ve Mevâki-i Müstahkeme Müfettişligi). Two tent hangars for the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) were erected in January 1912 at Yeşilköy (which is the Ataturk International Airport today.)
On February 21, 1912, Fesa and Yusuf Kenan completed their flight training at the Blériot School and returned home with the 780th and 797th French Aero Club certificates. In the same year, eight more Ottoman officers were sent to France for flight training. Fesa Bey and Yusuf Kenan Bey flew over Istanbul on 27 April 1912.
The Ottoman Empire started preparing its first pilots and aircraft, and with the founding of the Aircraft School (Tayyare Mektebi) in Yeşilköy on July 3, 1912, the empire began to train its own flight officers. The founding of the Aircraft School quickened advancement in the military aviation program, increased the number of enlisted persons within it, and gave the new pilots an active role in the Ottoman forces.
The same year a single-seat and a two-seater Deperdussin were purchased from France and brought to Istanbul in March 1912. Two of the two-seater version of Bleriot XI-b were also acquired, the first of which was presented by Supreme Commander Rıza Paşa. Three of a different two-seat model named XI-2 and three of the single-seat ground trainer Pingouin were also used by the Ottoman Army.
The REP (Robert Esnault-Pelterie) was also one the first planes to be deployed by the Ottoman Empire. This aircraft was designed by Robert Esnault-Pelterie and its first flight took place in 1912; they entered service during the same year in France. In accordance with an agreement reached between the producer and the Ottoman Ministry of War, seven REP planes were purchased and the first one was planned to join the Ottoman Army on March 15, 1912. In late April 1912, the military aircraft was shown to the public for the first time when a large military parade was held for the honor of Sultan Mehmed V Reshad. Five of the seven purchased were single-seaters and the remaining two were two-seaters. One of the single-seaters were planned only for ground practicing. The last plane was confiscated by the Serbians while being brought to Istanbul by train. These aircraft were already out of service by 1914.
By the end of 1912, the Ottoman Army had a total of 15 airplanes, acquired mostly through private donations.
Read more about this topic: Ottoman Air Force
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