The origins of aircraft construction in Turkey can be traced back to the first maintenance unit of the Turkish Air Force officially established on 1 June 1911, set up at the airport in Yesilköy / Istanbul. During the First World War maintenance facilities were established in Baghdad, Damascus, Izmir and Konya. They were under the umbrella of the 9th Department of Aviation Affairs (9 Hava Isleri Subesi), which was established on 15 Febuary 1915. The main task of this maintenance facilities was the maintenance of the aircraft of the German Air Force but due to the war situation could not always be guaranteed the supply of spare parts. The technicians at the front often no choice but to produce the items urgently needed themselves. In 1917 the Baghdad facility built a “new airplane”, the Baghdad first, which was built from parts of Albatros C III and from captured aircraft parts “redesigned”. During the Liberation War, which began immediately after the end of the First World War, the need for a separate aircraft production became increasingly clear.

The first steps for national aircraft production were initiated. Firstly reconstructions were performed on available aircraft types on the Gaziemir / Izmir Air Force Base. In 1922 two captured Airco DH 9 were retrofitted with dual controls. In 1924, the unreliable original engines were replaced on four B.1 Aviatik SAML training aircraft with older, but proven, Mercedes engines.

Turkish aircraft in the true sense began only after the founding of the Republic in 1923. A small delegation was dispatched to Europe to procure aircraft for the new Turkish Air Force. After evaluation it was decided to obtain 16 Bréguet XIV A-2, 39 Caudron C-27 and 32 Caudron C-59 aircraft. These aircraft were dismantled in 1924 and shipped to the Gaziemir / Izmir Air Force Base under French supervision. After the first requirements of the Turkish Air Force, the armed force withdrew from the assembly of planes however, this plan did not last long. When in the course of technical development, the maintenance became more complicated and more complex, the maintenance facilities of these forces were again entrusted with the manufacture of spare parts or installation or modernization of aircraft. So the 1st Air Supply and Maintenance Center emerged (1 Ikmal Hava ve Bakim Merkezi, 1.HIBM) in Eskisehir (1926), the 901 Home Depot and production plant for aircraft (the 901.Hava Araci Ana Depo ve Fabrika Komutanligi, nine hundred and first HAADFK) in Polatlı (1948, 1962 in Ankara) and the 2nd Air Supply and Maintenance Center (2nd Hava Ikmal ve Bakim Merkezi, 2.HIBM) in Kayseri (1950).