Turkish Stars during centennial ceremony of the Gallipoli Campaign victory

The Turkish Stars ( tr, Türk Yıldızları) are the aerobatic demonstration team of the

Turkish Air Force The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known to ...

and the national

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glide ...

team of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. The team was formed on November 7, 1992, and was named the Turkish Stars on January 11, 1993. Turkish Stars fly with eight Canadair NF-5 fighter planes obtained from the Royal Netherlands Air Force, making them one of few national aerobatics teams to fly supersonic aircraft. Twelve NF-5 fighter planes are available to the team. The team uses

CASA/IPTN CN-235 The CASA/IPTN CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engined transport aircraft that was jointly developed by CASA of Spain and Indonesian manufacturer IPTN. It is operated as both a regional airliner and military transport; its primary military roles ...

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

and

C-160 The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. " Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, an ...

support aircraft in Turkish Stars colours. The team is stationed at the Konya Air Base of 3rd Main Jet Base Group Command. As a part of modernization programs of the Turkish Air Force, the NF-5 aircraft are planned to be replaced with locally produced

TAI Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

Hurjet in mid 2020s. On August 24, 2001, the Turkish Stars demonstrated at an airshow to more than one million people in Baku,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, setting a world record.

Leadership

Current squadron leader Major Esra Özatay assumed the role on 8 September 2016. She is the first and only female pilot to hold this position in the

Incidents

On 13 March 2012, one of the team's NF-5 fighter planes crashed during a training session in

Konya Province Konya Province ( tr, ), in southwest Central Anatolia, is the largest province of Turkey. The provincial capital is the city of Konya. Its traffic code is 42. The Kızılören solar power plant in Konya will be able to produce 22.5 megaw ...

, from the airbase where the team is stationed. Pilot Flight lieutenant Ümit Özer, who had joined the Turkish Stars shortly before, died in the crash. On 7 April 2021, an NF-5 fighter plane crashed during a training session near Karatay. Pilot Flight lieutenant Burak Gençcelep died in the crash. On 6 December 2022, during a training flight, an NF-5 collided with a bird causing engine failure. The pilot ejected and was confirmed to be unharmed.

References

External links

Turkish Stars website

Virtual Turkish Stars website

Turkish Air Force Aerobatic teams Konya Province 1992 establishments in Turkey Military units and formations established in 1992 {{Turkey-org-stub

Leadership

Incidents

See also

References

External links