Bristol Beaufighter, part six. Turkish Beaufighters.

 

Note: The Turkish Air Force employed army terms such as regiment or company for their aerial units.
Turkey and its air force (Hava Müstesarligi first and Türk Hava Kuvvetleri -THK for short- later) were the largest export customer for the Bristol Beaufighter and, apparently, during the war, at least one Beaufighter Mk. I was sold by the Royal Air Force (RAF), together with other types. As the information about the Turkish Beaufighters is confusing, some documents don't acknowledge the existence of this aircraft.
However, it seems that in 1944, when the THK was founded, at least nine ex-RAF Mk. X were supplied to Turkish control, followed in 1946 ordered additional twenty-four machines from Bristol. However, in the official lists, there are only twenty-three Beaufighters listed, so there is some confusion about the number that was actually sold.

Anyway, between April and August 1947 the Beaufighters TF. X were delivered to replace the almost derelict Bristol Beauforts that were sold back during the war. Just like the Beauforts, the Beaufighters were assigned to the 105th Torpedo-Bomber Group based at Köseköy (this unit was created  to maintain an effective anti-shipping force in the Black Sea), with nine aircraft assigned to each company and six being kept in reserve. 
As the airfield in Köseköy was not big enough, many accidents took place. 
On 23rd August 1947 the 105th Torpedo-Bomber Group was merged into the 10th Reconnaissance Regiment (15th according to some sources), formed at Afyon, with the Beaufighters forming the 1st and 2nd companies. 
However, the airfield at Afyon was at an altitude of 2.000 feet (610 m) above the sea level, the take-off performance was not enough for the time and it was decided to put the Beaufighters into storage, so they Eskisehir. Later, in 1948 they were replaced by the American Martin B-26 bombers and, when the 10th Recon Regiment was disbanded in early 1951, the Beaufighters were sold for scrap.

Sources:
1st Turkish Air Force - Türk Hava Kuvvetleri
2nd Signal Squadron - Aircraft In action -153 - Bristol Beaufighter in Action
3rd Scale Aircraft Modellers Datafile 6 - Bristol Beaufighter
4th https://web.archive.org/web/20211028194120/http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/beaufighter.asp

Supermarine Spitfire. Asian Users, part six. The Spitfire in Turkey.

 

The Hava Müstesarligi (HM) which was the forerunner of the Turkish Air Force (TAF) operated the Supermarine Spitfire too. 
The HM wanted to reinforce their fighter force in the late 1930s as Europe approached to a new war, so they ordered 15 Spitfire Mk.Ia. 
However, Great Britain decided that they needed the Spitfires more than the Anatolian country would, so, eventually only two aircraft were shipped. In 1939, Poland set an order for some Spitfires and one machine was sent there via Bosphorus strait and Romania, however, when Germany invaded in September 1939, Romania forbade any arms traffic into Poland and the Spitfire was reshipped to Turkey. All three of them were assigned to the 42nd Fighter Squadron, based at Çorlu, in Tekirdag province, but by late 1940 they were grounded due to the lack of spare parts. However, in 1942 two machines were ferried to Egypt to serve with the Royal Air Force.
Two years later, in July 1944 thirty-nine Spitfire Mk.Vc Trop were supplied to the newly created Turkish Air Force. This shipment was followed by additional 71 Mk.Vc Trop, plus three PR.IX more in February 1945. The fighters served with the 5th Regiment while the PR.IV served with the High-Altitude Reconnaissance Squadron. 
After World War 2, the TAF sought to make the Spitfire the backbone of their fighter force, so an agreement was signed with Vickers to overhaul and maintain the Spitfires. Between January 1947 and February 1948 a total of 170 Spitfire Mk.IX were supplied to the TAF which served until 1954. 
Some more photo-reconnaissance Spitfires served with the TAF. One PR.XI is known to have been in service with the aforementioned High-Altitude Reconnaissance Squadron, however its exact date of arrival and deployment is unknown. In March 1947 this squadron was reinforced with four PR.XIX and served until the mid-1950s.

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Air_Force
2nd https://msomuseum.com/en/supermarine-spitfire/
3rd https://web.archive.org/web/20220128153130/http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/spitfire.asp
4th Hellion & Co. - Europe @ war series 29 - Chasing the Soft Underbelly Turkey and the Second World War

Airspeed AS.65 Consul, part five, more Asian users

The Airspeed AS.65 Consul was a British twin-engined light airliner which was conceived and manufactured in the immediate post-war period. All of them were conversions made to the Airspeed AS.10 Oxford trainer, which was based on.
A total of 162 machines were converted and it saw use all around the globe, among others, the following countries:

• British Malaya: The Consul was the first aircraft to be operated by the, back then, newly founded Malayan Airways. At least three of them were acquired in Singapore, which was part of Malaya, in 1947. They served until 1952. 
• Pakistan: Two Consuls saw service in Pakistan. One of them was acquired by the Government of that country in 1953 where it served until 1959. The other one was sold to a private owner, from Kenyan Hunting Aerosurveys airline, in 1959 but shortly later, on January 1st 1960 it caught fire at a hangar in Karachi and was destroyed.
• Turkey: Two Consuls were acquired in 1946 by the Turkish Air Force to be used as VIP transports. They remained in active duty until 1952 when they were sold to the private airline Gök-Tur Sirketi. One of them crashed on 22nd November 1952.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Consul

2. http://www.ole-nikolajsen.com/TURKISH%20FORCES%202004/airspeed%20fotos.pdf

3. http://www.tayyareci.com/digerucaklar/turkiye/1923ve50/airspeed-oxford.asp

4. https://aparm.net/ap-aaa_ap-azz/ap-aga_ap-agz/ap-agk.htm

5. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_oxford_&_consul.pdf

6. https://www.airhistory.net/generic-type/113/Airspeed-AS-10-40-41-42-43-46-65-Oxford-Consul

Airspeed AS.10 Oxford, part two, Asian users

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a British twin-engined monoplane developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd. It was initially conceived as a trainer variant of the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy until it quickly developed into a design of its own and saw wide use as a trainer before, during and after World War 2. It was exported to many Asian countries:

• Union of Burma: At least 15 Oxfords were supplied to the Union of Burma Air force just after its independence in 1948. Some of them were modified to carry pod-mounted forward-firing machine guns and rocket projectiles to be used in anti-insurgency operations.
• India: When India became independent in December 1947 nine Oxfords were transferred to the Royal Indian Air Force which later became Indian Air Force. 
• Israel: Three Oxfords (some sources claim they were four) were in inventory of the, back then, newly founded Central Flying School of the Israeli Defence Force Air Force. They were used, together with the Airspeed Consul, for twin-engined flight training in the early 1950s.
• Imperial State of Iran: Three Oxfords were delivered to the Imperial State of Iran Air Force back in 1938. 
• Ceylon: Three former RAF Oxfords were delivered to the Ceylon Air Force in 1953 (some sources claim it was in 1951). 
• Turkey: The Turkish Air Force was supplied in 1943 with 50 Oxford Mk.I. They were complemented with 20 more in 1946-1947. They served as the Turkish Air Force main twin-engined trainer until the early 1950s when they were replaced by the Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan. The remaining Oxfords were scrapped.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Oxford#Other_users

2. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-mideast/israel/af/types/train1.htm#consul