| The public servant Nuri DEMIRAG began to work as a businessman after the end of World War I. At first he
produced cigarette paper, which helped him to build a substantial starting capital. Later he obtained his actual wealth with the development of the Turkish railway network. The President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal ATATÃœRK, lent him therefore the surname DEMIRAG (translated: IRON NETWORK). In 1936 he began to build his own aircraft factory at Istanbul. The factory, located in the district Besiktas, was officially opened on 10.02.1937. Under the supervision of aircraft
designer Selahattin Resit ALAN, four German designers (the names could not be determined) and a staff of approx. 500 employees they produced both Turkish designed and licensed aircraft. At first the former MMV-1 of Selahattin Resit ALAN developed further to become the ND-36
. One of the productions designed, was the twin-engine multi-purpose aircraft ND-38, which made its first flight on 11.02.1944. The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK) ordered 24 ND-36 training aircraft and 65 Sch-5
gliders in the years 1937-1938. When Selahattin Resit ALAN had a deadly landing accident with the ND-36 at Eskisehir, the THK cancelled on 08.10.1943 all its orders, which led to a real controversy for many years and finally to the economic ruin of Nuri DEMIRAG. In the meantime 12 ND-36 and an unknown number of Sch-5 gliders had been produced, and Nuri DEMIRAG tried to sell the ND-36 abroad (Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Spain). This attempt was prevented, however, by the Turkish
Government. The aircraft were inserted therefore into the Nuri DEMIRAG flying school (Gök Uçus Okulu), which opened on 17.08.1941 at the nowadays Istanbul Atatürk International Airport area. The Nuri DEMIRAG aircraft plants kept its head above water with maintenance orders from the Turkish Air Force till the beginning of the fifties. Finally they had to stop operations. All remaining aircraft were scrapped.
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