Turkey plan to fly unmanned aircraft by next year

Posted by Ricky Carbis on July 26, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Turkey’s first aviation and space sciences university, Turkish Aviation Board (THK) University has released plans to fly the country’s first unmanned aircraft by next year in collaboration with the Middle East Trade and Industry Center (OSTİM). The unmanned aircraft are to be used for various purposes such as: surveillance, border control, and air cargo.

THK University Professor Ünsal Ban stated: “After developing an interest in aviation, I learned that Turkey had made airplanes. When Turkey was making its own airplanes, it started with its own designs, materials and engines. Turkey will carry on from where it left off in the past; this is what our slogan ‘From where we left off’ refers to.” Turkey is famous for its high quality airplanes and Turkish Airlines is growing rapidly fast in the current climate.

Ban also talked about the Universities desire to build a spaceship, saying: “We plan to design and provide assistance in manufacturing spaceships in the future. What are we going to do if the demand for pilots decreases in the future? Thus, not only will we train pilots who can fly passenger aircraft but also pilots who can fly spaceships. We can call them ‘Turkonauts’.”

The university plan to start operations in the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year. There will have 60 students in its first year. The university will be accepting students for the course according to results from math and science-related subjects in the Higher Education Examination (YGS).