THK-16

Türk Hava Kurumu (THK)

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1925
Fate	Acquired by Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK) in 1952
Successor	Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK)
Headquarters	Turkey

Overview

The THK-16 Mehmetçik—which translates from Turkish as "Little Mehmet," a term affectionately used to denote a typical Turkish soldier similar to the British "Tommy," American "G.I.," or French "Poilu"—was an aircraft concept developed in Turkey during the early 1950s. Its purpose was to serve as a domestically engineered and manufactured jet trainer for the Turkish Air Force. However, the initiative was discontinued before any physical prototypes were constructed.

The design envisioned the THK-16 as a traditional mid-wing monoplane featuring tandem seating for the student pilot and instructor beneath an elongated canopy. It was planned to be powered by two compact turbojet engines housed in nacelles located under the wings, with an all-metal airframe construction. By 1952, the design phase was nearly finalized when Türk Hava Kurumu (THK) was acquired by Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Kurumu (MKEK). Although MKEK identified the THK-16 as one of the promising projects to pursue further—assigning it the designation MKEK-3—the Turkish Air Force ultimately opted to procure the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star for its jet training requirements, leading to the cessation of development on this indigenous model.