Sabiha Gökçen's Rise to FAME as Turkey's First Female Fighter Pilot

She was the world's first female fighter pilot and an outstanding figure in the young Turkish Republic, Sabiha Gökçen.

She was poor and orphaned at a young age and came by coincidence to the attention of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the new Turkish Republic, when she told him about her wish to attend a highler school.

Atatürk took her under his wing and gave her the name Gökçen, which translates to “belonging to heaven” and was forshadowing her great future.

In 1935, she began pilot training at a flight school founded by Atatürk and went on to join the Turkish Air Force where she became the first femal fighter pilot in history.

She was able to fly over 22 different types of aircraft and was honoured as one of the most outstanding pilots of the 20th century.

She was the incarnation of Atatürks idea of a modern Turkish Nation. In honor of these pioneer of the skies, Istanbul's second airport was named after Sabiha Gökçen.