Catalca Tunnels of Istanbul: The First Tunnels to Host an Airplane Flight
Located near Istanbul, in Turkey, the Çatalca Tunnels are a pair of highway tunnels that witnessed the first airplane flight through a tunnel.
Where are the Çatalca Tunnels?
The tunnels are located in Istanbul Province, in a central position in the Marmara Region, in the eastern part of the country.
How long are the Çatalca Tunnels?
The tunnels are fully paved. They’re 549 and 511 m (1,801 and 1,677 ft) long, part of the Otoyol 7 (O-7) motorway, also known as Northern Marmara Highway. The toll motorway is 243 km in length between the Kınalı junction and the Akyazı junction and is 8 lanes wide. It bypasses Istanbul to the north.
Why are the Çatalca Tunnels famous?
On 4th September 2021, the tunnels near Istanbul became the site of a World Record when Italian pilot Dario Costa completed a historic flight by taking off and flying through two tunnels. Nobody had ever flown an airplane through a tunnel until Costa achieved this incredible feat. He is an experienced professional race pilot and whilst he had been dreaming of attempting this for years, he knew it would be a complicated challenge. The Italian stunt pilot needed 43.44 seconds to complete the entire route, with average speeds reaching 245 kph and a remarkable 303.08 km/h (188.07 mph) in the second tunnel. The flight covered a total distance of around 2.26 km with high precision. The route started in a tunnel, passed through a short open stretch of highway, and then entered, passed through, and exited the second tunnel. This record-setting event required more than a year of preparation and the involvement of over 40 people.
What was the most critical moment to conquer the record?
One of the most critical moments came when the plane flashed through the 360m gap of open space between the tunnels, which exposed the lightweight aircraft to crosswinds as Costa prepared to thread it into the narrow opening of the second tunnel. But Costa mastered that challenge and celebrated the occasion by doing a loop after his success.
Pic: © Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool