Military Aviation Museum

Military Aviation Museum

İstanbul Hava Kuvvetleri Müzesi

Overview:

• The museum is considered one of the most important tourist places in Turkey, as it is the first of its kind in the country.

• It has an area of 15,000 square meters, 3,000 square meters closed area, and 12,000 square meters open area.

• It is characterized by its proximity to the airport, so you can visit it before your travel from Istanbul in a period not exceeding two hours, as it is located in Yeşilköy in the Bakirkoy area.

Historic overview:

• A military base converted into a military museum run by the Turkish Air Force.

• The history of the museum’s establishment dates back to the First World War, after its end, it was discovered that there were a number of German aircraft that the enemy had left behind, dating back to 1912 AD.

• Because of that, the Turkish Air Force Special Command decided to establish an aviation museum to display the war spoils consisting of German aircraft and others.

• Indeed, the construction of a small museum began to display these aircraft, but the matter soon stopped due to the outbreak of the War of Independence. Therefore, these aircraft were transferred to the "Kartal Maltepe" to protect them from any damage that might befall them. However, a number of them were damaged during the transport process. 

• These damages delayed the idea of establishing an aviation museum, but in 1960, the Chief of Staff of the Turkish Air Force, Mr. Irfan Tansel decided to establish an aviation museum.

• It was decided to build the museum, and indeed it was completed in three years, in 1966 AD, and it was opened to visitors in 1971 AD under the name “Hava”.

• Its location was at the civil airport in Izmir, but visitors were not attracted to visit it due to its far distance from the central city and the difficulty of transportation.

• In 1978, it was decided to change the location of the museum and move it completely to the military airport area in Istanbul, near the Air Force Academy.

• The transportation and construction work ended in 1983 AD, and military and civilian experts were used to follow up the museum and its needs.

• It was opened to visitors on October 16, 1985 AD. Indeed, changing the location of the museum had a great factor in attracting tourists and visitors to it from all parts of the country, and it became crowded with many who want to know the history of Turkish aviation and the style of aviation in general.

How to get there:

By using the M1 metro line heading to Istanbul Airport, getting off at Yesilkoy station, and then taking a taxi.

Resources:

Urtrips website

Adwhit website

Batuta website

Istanbul.directory website

Battuta website

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