Article Posted on : - Aug 30, 2013

The Hurkus trainer jet during maiden flight test. A TAI photo

ANKARA (BNS): Turkey's first indigenously-built primary and basic trainer aircraft 'Hurkus' has made its maiden flight on Aug. 29.

The single engine turboprop jet, designed by the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), took to the skies from the company's Kazan facility.

The jet remained airborne for over 30 minutes, climbing a height of 9500 ft before making a successful landing, TAI announced.

TAI had received the contract in 2006 to design, develop and manufacture 'Hurkus' with day and night mission capability; instrument flight, navigation and formation training phases.

It unveiled the trainer jet in June 2012.

Within the framework of the programme, two aircraft configurations are being developed - Hurkus-A as the basic trainer variant and Hurkus-B as the advanced version with integrated avionics.

According to TAI, Hurkus can fly at a maximum speed of 574 km/h and has a maximum stall speed of 143 km an hour in landing configuration. The aircraft is capable of flying at a height of 15,000 feet for a stretch of four hours and 15 minutes.