09/08/2021 13:46
Clarín.com
International
Updated 09/08/2021 1:46 PM
You could say that
Darío Costa
is crazy, or think that this experienced airplane pilot prepared for a year and a half to perform a maneuver as dangerous as it is incredible.
The Italian racing and stunt expert manned his specially modified racing plane,
a Zivko Edge 540,
lowering it into two tunnels in Çatalca, on the North
Marmara
highway
, Turkey.
Darío Costa is 41 years old, with 20 years of experience and more than
5,000 hours in the air
performing all kinds of stunts.
Last Saturday, Costa took off in the dim light of the first tunnel at 6:43 a.m. surrounded by the concrete arch of the walls.
Clearance above it was limited, which meant that it had to keep the aircraft on a flight path just above the tarmac while also
managing a claustrophobic margin of just four meters
between each wingtip and the walls.
Darió Costa took off while inside a tunnel and traveled in low flight almost 2.3 kilometers encrypted between its walls.
The worst moment of the feat was when the plane crossed the open space of 360 meters between the two tunnels and
was moved by an unexpected crosswind
before Costa entered the second tunnel.
“Everything seemed to be happening very fast, but when I came out of the first tunnel the plane started to move to the right due to the crosswinds;
In my head, everything slowed down in that moment.
I reacted and concentrated on getting the plane back in the right direction to enter the other tunnel.
Then, in my mind, everything sped up again, "Costa said.
As Costa continued, his average speed increased to 245 km / h.
As the racing plane shot out the other side, the Italian
pirouetted in the air to celebrate his achievement.
Darío Costa and his Guinness record certificate.
In total, it traveled 2.26 km from take-off to the exit of the second tunnel.
His time was 44 seconds.
Thus, Costa set
a certified Guinness World Record
and four more records.
Costa received the official Guinness Record certificate with his flight called
Tunnel Pass
for achieving the record for
the longest tunnel traveled by an airplane
(1,610 m). The other four notable records were: first airplane flight through a tunnel, longest flight under a solid obstacle, first airplane flight through two tunnels, and
first airplane takeoff in a tunnel.
