By Prof Arslan Terzioglu
Leonardo da Vinci is mentioned as the first inventor of flying machines. However, it is known that he was under the influence of Islamic scholars, and was particularly inspired by the work of al-Hazen.
Muslim attempts at flight, and development of rocket technology took place many years before Europe. These advances could have had an influence on later European inventions in this field:
In Muslim Spain, Ibn Firnaas flew for a while with wings in 880 CE.
Ismail ibn Hammad al Javhari, the Turkish scholar, in 1003 tied two wooden wings with rope to himself and launched himself from a Musjid roof in Nijapur. After flying for a while, he crashed and died.
An early Turkish scholar Ispidjap researched the relationship between the wing surfaces of birds and their weights, to find the physical causes for flight. This work set new horizons in aerodynamics.
Hazarfan Celebi in 1630, flew with eagle wings from a tower and landed in a square while Ottoman Sultan Murad IV was watching. He was rewarded with gold coins.
Lagari Hasan flew in 1632 with a seven-winged rocket fuelled with gunpowder. He splashed into the sea when the gunpowder ran out. The Sultan gave him silver coins as a reward.
Lagari Hasan Celebi went to the Crimea after this and the first Russian rocket technology studies in Ukraine coinciding with his arrival support the opinion that studies in the field of Russian rocket technology could have been influenced by Turkish engineer Lagari and his students.
