An F-4 Phantom up close
The photo under the Phantom's wing is the main reason to come, with other Cold War fighters parked on the grass beside it.
You can stand under the wing of an F-4 Phantom that once patrolled Turkish skies, and take the photo without a ticket or a queue. On the Ankara–Istanbul road opposite Anadolu University's Yunus Emre campus, 39,000 square metres of lawn hold retired Turkish Air Force fighters and transports plus a police helicopter, all restored by the 1st Air Supply and Maintenance Command based in the city before being wheeled out into the open air. The most evocative exhibit is a C-47 transport that visitors say flew in the 1974 Cyprus operation, later turned into a cafeteria and then an office. Next to it a small indoor hall shows pilots' flight suits and badges, model aircraft and sectioned engines with their innards exposed. The site opened in the late 1990s as the Eskişehir Air Museum, passed to Anadolu University in 2011, then to Tepebaşı Municipality, which renamed it in 2020 by public vote after the aviation pioneer Vecihi Hürkuş. The unvarnished truth: the aircraft have sat outdoors for a quarter of a century, the paint is faded in places, the labels are brief and mostly in Turkish, and the cockpits are generally off limits. But entry is free, the ground is flat and easy for pushchairs and older relatives, and children between about six and twelve get a genuinely happy hour among the wings. Forty-five minutes is enough; a full hour if you love aeroplanes. Getting here is simple: the tram from the centre to the Anadolu Üniversitesi stop and a few minutes on foot, or a car with parking near the gate. Avoid an August midday, since there is almost no shade between the aircraft; go early or after four in the afternoon. Current listings show it open daily until 17:30, though older museum-era sources cite a Monday closure, so check before making a dedicated trip. The Porsuk riverbank and the old Odunpazarı quarter are minutes away, so treat this as a light stop in a fuller day rather than the reason for the day.
The photo under the Phantom's wing is the main reason to come, with other Cold War fighters parked on the grass beside it.
Visitors say it flew in the 1974 Cyprus operation; later a cafeteria and then an office, it is the one exhibit with a story.
Flight suits, badges, models and sectioned engines with their workings exposed; a quarter of an hour covers it.
Yenibağlar, Uludağ Sk. No:10, Tepebaşı
With children aged roughly six to twelve, yes, especially since it is free and close to the tram; they run between the aircraft and pose for photos for a good hour. The cockpits are generally closed, though, so do not promise them a seat inside. Without children or a passion for aircraft, the weathered planes and brief labels do not justify a dedicated trip; fold it into a day that also covers Odunpazarı or the Porsuk riverbank.
