19/04/2024
Aviation Pioneers

Dario Costa, Successful Aerobatics Performer

When we are talking about aviation, it is easy to start thinking about the practical applications of this field. From carrying cargo to passengers, aviation has many practical applications. However, aside from this flying is also something impressive that fascinates many people. Aerobatics, or acrobatic flying, showcases this in an amazing way. With this type of flying, skilled pilots make aircraft move in impressive and striking ways. Aerobatics has an important place in many shows and there are numerous competitions in this field. On this blog post, we are going to learn about the life of a very successful pilot in the acrobatic flight area, David Costa. Along with being a skilled stunt pilot, he is also a flight instructor. So, let’s start learning about the life and career of this aviator.

Dario Costa’s Early Life and Education

Dario Costa was born on the 9th of May 1980 in Manchester, the United Kingdom. Even as a child he was very interested in aviation and he took flight lessons during his high school years. As a result of these flight lessos, at the age of 16, Costa performed his first solo flight. While he majored in physics, he worked in many different areas. His interest in aviation affected his work, too, and he worked as a teacher in this field as well. But at first, this was limited to theoretical lessons and only later it evolved into real flight training. In the early 2000s, he got interested in acrobatic flying and he wanted to pursue a career in this area.

Dario Costa
Dario Costa Tunnel Flight – 2021

Costa’s Career

Even during his childhood, David Costa was interested in aviation and he got his first flight training very early on. But his interest in acrobatic flying was formed when he was in his 20s. To be specific, he was fascinated about aerobatics because of a video that he watched when he was 23. At that very moment he was taken over by an interest in acrobatic flying. In order to do impressive tricks in the air, he started training and learning techniques.

Between 2008 and 2013, Costa gave aerobatic lessons in many aviation schools in Italy. During this time period, David Costa was the contest director for the FAI World Aerobatic Championships in 2011. He then became a part of Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2013, working in various areas. Later on he Red Bull Air Race World Championship accepted him as a race pilot in the event in 2016. He is the first Italian who managed to do this.

In addition, he accomplished many feats including participating in Red Bull Air Race Challenger Cup, performing low-level racing moves over the Namib Desert as well as carrying out many other unique stunts. Throughout his flying career, David Costa operated over 60 aircraft and has completed over 5000 hours of flight. As a highly skilled acrobatic flight pilot, he is surely an inspiring figure in aviation. Moreover, On 4 September 2021, just after dawn, Red Bull athlete Dario Costa, one of the world’s most important aerobatics pilots, flew a racing plane through the narrow confines of two highway tunnels just outside of Istanbul, and wrote a new page in aviation history. He gained a Guinness World Record for that tunnel flight in 2021.

Resources

Anon. (n.d.), Dario Costa, Wikipedia, Retrieved 23 June 2022

< https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Costa >

Redbull Editor (n.d.), Dario Costa, Redbull Website, Retrieved 23 June 2022

< https://www.redbull.com/int-en/athlete/dario-costa >