The development of Turkey’s first indigenous trainer aircraft, Hürkuş, began in March 2006 as part of a contract signed between the Secretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The Hürkuş is a tandem two-seat, low wing, single-engine, turboprop aircraft being developed as a new basic trainer. The program supported by 27 Turkish companies covers the manufacture of four prototypes. The first prototype, the Hürkuş-A, was rolled out in June 2012 and completed engine tests in February of 2013. The second is being tested for static durability, the third is in assembly, and the fourth will be tested for metal fatigue. Two variants are currently being developed:
- Hürkuş-A is a basic version that will be certified with EASA according to CS-23 requirements. It is intended for the civilian market.
- Hürkuş-B is an advanced version with integrated avionics (including HUD, MFDs, and mission computer). The cockpit avionics layout is similar to F-16 and F-35 fighters.
Over 500 test flights are planned prior to the first delivery.
The Acra KAM-500 was chosen by TAI due to its reliability, user-friendliness and interoperability. With ever-changing requirements, the system's reconfigurability, modular design and the support of the Curtiss-Wright team have proven to save time and money. Because the system has been globally proven to produce accurate data, it provides a faster path to certification through the absence of lost data or flights.
TAI uses the Acra KAM-500 system on multiple projects thus saving time and costs incurred during the design and installation phases associated with learning a new system. Due to the inherent modularity of the Acra KAM-500 (any module works in any chassis), TAI is also able to save money on their flight test programs by re-using or shifting the modules between the programs.
Download the case study to learn more about the solution and results.