| Lagâri Hasan Çelebi | |
|---|---|
Lagâri Hasan Çelebis rocket flight depicted on a 17th century engraving. |
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| Nationality | Ottoman |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Known for | First human flight with a rocket |
| Religion | Islam |
Lagari Hasan Çelebi was a legendary Ottoman aviator who, according to an account written by Evliya Çelebi, made a successful manned rocket flight.
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Evliya Çelebi proported that in 1633 Lagari Hasan Çelebi launched in a 7 winged rocket using 50 okka (140 lbs) of gunpowder from Sarayburnu, the point below Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. The flight was said to be undertaken at the time of the birth of Sultan Murad IV's daughter. As Evliya Celebi wrote, Lagari proclaimed before launch "O my sultan! Be blessed, I am going to talk to Jesus"; after ascending in the rocket, he landed in the sea, swimming ashore and reporting "O my sultan! Jesus sends his regards to you!"; he was rewarded by the Sultan with silver and the rank of sipahi in the Ottoman army.[1][2]
Evliya Çelebi also wrote of Lagari's brother, Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi, making a flight by glider a year earlier.
Istanbul Beneath My Wings is a film about the lives of Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi, his brother Lagari Hasan Çelebi, and Ottoman society in the early 17th century as witnessed and narrated by Evliya Çelebi.
This legend was tested and debunked on the TV show MythBusters, on November 11, 2009, in the episode "Crash and Burn". However, the rocket displayed on the TV show did not adhere to the specifications described by Evliya Çelebi.