The PZL P.24 was a Polish single-engine fighter operated by Turkish fighter units in the late 1930s. Its place in Turkish aviation history is reinforced by licensed production at the Kayseri aircraft factory.
Development
The PZL P.24 was developed from Zygmunt Puławski’s gull-wing PZL P.11 as an export fighter. Export restrictions associated with the P.11’s Bristol Mercury engine prompted the use of a French Gnome-Rhône radial engine for the P.24. The first prototype flew in May 1933. The aircraft was supplied to Turkey, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, but was not purchased by the Polish Air Force.
Turkish service and production at Kayseri
Under a contract signed on 24 April 1936, Turkey bought P.24 fighters together with a production licence, and further aircraft were built under licence at the Kayseri aircraft factory. The P.24A, P.24C and P.24G variants were used in Turkey. According to the Turkish Air Force Aircraft Album the type served with Turkish fighter units from 1936 to 1943; Baş (2022) gives 1937 for its entry into service. The aircraft were withdrawn in 1943 as Hawker Hurricanes arrived.
Note: the sources give different inventory figures. The Turkish Air Force Aircraft Album counts 66 aircraft: 20 P.24A, 44 P.24C and 2 P.24G. Baş (2022) reports that the 1936 contract covered 40 aircraft (14 P.24A and 26 P.24C), that the contract also mentions 20 P.24A for assembly at Kayseri, and that more than 50 were built at Kayseri by the end of 1939. The discrepancy has not been resolved.
Aircraft 2014 and the surviving example
A period photograph of Turkish P.24 number 2014 serves as an important reference for the 1/48 scale model presented in the related build dossier. Aircraft 2014 and the surviving museum example should not be conflated.
The only surviving PZL P.24 is preserved at the Istanbul Aviation Museum.
Sources and image note
This history was separated from the previously published ModofWar PZL P.24 dossier. Technical and inventory data are based on the two works listed in the sources. The rights to republish the period photographs have not yet been verified.
