Assessing the Cultural Heritage Significance of the Türkkuşu İnönü Aviation Training Center

The aim of this study is to evaluate the cultural heritage significance of the Türkkuşu İnönü Aviation Training Center by examining its development from a glider camp in 1936 into a permanent campus by 1938 and the relationships between its buildings, flying ground and educational activities. The study is needed because the literature on aviation heritage mostly deals with disused airfields, while İnönü still operates, and the seven buildings registered in 2017 are only part of the campus. Based on qualitative document analysis of Ulus newspaper reports, THK’s website, the 2017 registration decision and the conservation literature, the study shows that students lived, studied and flew within the same boundaries, although sources say little about later alterations. The buildings and the 92.5-hectare flying ground therefore need to be evaluated together. Continued training shows continuity of purpose but not the survival of original fabric. Conservation should cover the buildings and the flying ground, and training should not obscure the spatial layout.