PZL P.24 in Turkish Service

PZL P.24 Overview

The PZL P.24 was a Polish-designed monoplane fighter developed in the mid-1930s by Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze (PZL). It was a further development of the successful PZL P.11, fitted with the more powerful Gnome-Rhône radial engine. Unlike the P.11, which was primarily for Polish service, the P.24 was specifically intended for export, as licensing restrictions on the British Bristol Pegasus engine (used in the P.11) prevented its sale abroad.

The P.24 featured a gull-wing configuration, open cockpit, fixed undercarriage, and was heavily armed for its time, with versions carrying 2–4 machine guns or 2 machine guns plus 2 × 20 mm cannon. It proved attractive to countries seeking to modernise their fighter fleets in the late 1930s. Although never operated by Poland itself, it became one of the most widely exported Polish aircraft prior to the Second World War.

Use by Turkey

Turkey was the first and largest customer for the P.24, ordering 14 P.24A and 26 P.24Cs which were delivered by 1937. Turkish aviation company Kayseri Tayyare Fabrikası (KTF) built an additional 20 P.24A/C variants and 20 P.24G fighters.

The P.24s served as Turkey’s primary fighter force in the late 1930s and early 1940s. As Turkey remained neutral for most of the war, the aircraft did not see combat against foreign powers, though they were used intensively for air defence patrols, training, and exercises.

By the early 1940s, the P.24 was obsolete, and Turkey began to receive more modern aircraft through Allied and Axis channels. The last Turkish P.24s were retired around 1943 with the last one leaving service in 1945.