Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi

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Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi (هزارفنّ أحمد چلبی / Hezārfenn Aḥmed Çelebi ; * 1609 in Istanbul; † 1640 in Algeria) was an Ottoman aviation pioneer who, according to a report by Evliya Çelebi , is said to have completed a successful glider flight in Istanbul in the 17th century. His nickname Hezarfen means something like “thousand-artist”.

Glider flight over the Bosphorus

Map of the route

Evliya Çelebi reported in the 17th century that Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi in Istanbul in 1638 glided the three-kilometer stretch from the Galata Tower on the European side, across the Bosphorus , to Doğancılar Square (now Doğancılar Park ) in the Üsküdar district . He used artificial wings he made himself. Sultan Murad IV, who was enthusiastic at first, rewarded Ahmed Çelebi with gold, but later banished him to North Africa (now Algeria) for fear of such an ambitious man, where he also died.

Geographical conditions

  • The Galata Tower is 35 m above sea level. The top of the conical roof is 97.59 m above sea level.
  • The Doğancılar Square is situated 12 meters above sea level.
  • The difference in height between the top of the tower and the square is 85.59 m.
  • The distance between the tower and the square is approximately 3.358 km.

Aviation classification

Assuming calm, turbulence-free air and take-off without loss of altitude, an aircraft with a glide ratio of 1: 39.23 is required for gliding flight . With hang gliders , gliding ratios of a maximum of 1:27 are achieved (as of 2008).

It is mentioned that he chose a day with a south-west wind (Libeccio). As a result, he may have managed to fly over the route mentioned.

Rocket flight

Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi's brother, Lagari Hasan Çelebi , is reported to have carried out the first rocket flight. Reports of their successful flights reached England. John Wilkins mentioned in “ A Discovery of a New World ” in 1638 , referring to Busbequius, the attempts to fly by “a Turk”:

“[...] 'Tis not perhaps impossible, that a man may be able to fly, by the application of wings to his own body; as Angels are pictur'd, as Mercury and Dædalus are feigned, and as hath been attempted by divers, particularly by a Turk in Constantinople , as Busbequius relates. "

- John Wilkins : A Discovery of a New World

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Evliya Çelebi. Seyâhatnâme . 2 vols. From the series: Cocuk Klasikleri Dizisi. Berlin 2005. ISBN 975-379-160-7 (modern selection of Turkish works for children)
  2. ↑ Galata Tower Website: History / Architecture
  3. ↑ as of 2008; s. Aériane SWIFT
  4. ↑ Arslan Terzioğlu: The First Attempts of Flight. Automatic Machines, Submarines and Rocket Technology in Turkish History. The Turks (ed. HC Guzel), 2007, pp. 804-810.
  5. ^ A b John Wilkins: A discovery of a new world . 1684, That the Moon may be a World, p. 157 ( available online ).
personal data
SURNAME Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ahmed Celebi; Hezarfen; هزارفنّ أحمد چلبی (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ottoman aviation pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH 1609
PLACE OF BIRTH Istanbul
DATE OF DEATH 1640
Place of death Algeria