Flight airspeed record

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird is the current record-holder for a crewed airbreathing jet aircraft.

An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records are divided into multiple classes with sub-divisions. There are three classes of aircraft: landplanes, seaplanes, and amphibians; then within these classes, there are records for aircraft in a number of weight categories. There are still further subdivisions for piston-engined, turbojet, turboprop, and rocket-engined aircraft. Within each of these groups, records are defined for speed over a straight course and for closed circuits of various sizes carrying various payloads.

Timeline

Flight speed records over time, taken from the table below.

Gray text indicates unofficial records, including unconfirmed or unpublicized war secrets.

Date Pilot Airspeed Location Notes
mph km/h Aircraft
17 December 1903 Wilbur Wright 6.82 10.98 Wright Flyer Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, US This figure is groundspeed, not airspeed. The Wrights' first flight covered just over 120 ft (37 m) and about 12 seconds into a gusty wind. The Wrights estimated airspeed at 31 mph (50 km/h).
5 October 1904 37.85 60.23 Wright Flyer III Huffman Prairie, Ohio, US
12 November 1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont 25.65 41.292 Santos-Dumont 14-bis Bagatelle Castle, Paris, France First officially recognized airspeed record.
26 October 1907 Henry Farman 32.73 52.700 Voisin-Farman I Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
25 May 1909 Paul Tissandier 34.04 54.810 Wright Model A Pau, France
23 August 1909 Glenn Curtiss 44.367 69.821 Curtiss No. 2 Reims, France 1909 Gordon Bennett Cup.
24 August 1909 Louis Blériot 46.160 74.318 Blériot XI
28 August 1909 47.823 76.995
23 April 1910 Hubert Latham 48.186 77.579 Antoinette VII Nice, France
10 July 1910 Léon Morane 66.154 106.508 Blériot Reims, France
29 October 1910 Alfred Leblanc 68.171 109.756 Blériot XI New York, New York, US
12 April 1911 69.420 111.801 Blériot Pau, France
11 May 1911 Édouard Nieuport 73.385 119.760 Nieuport IIN Châlons, France
12 June 1911 Alfred Leblanc 77.640 125.000 Blériot
16 June 1911 Édouard Nieuport 80.781 130.057 Nieuport IIN Châlons, France
21 June 1911 82.693 133.136
13 January 1912 Jules Védrines 87.68 145.161 Deperdussin Monocoque Pau, France
22 February 1912 100.18 161.290
29 February 1912 100.90 162.454
1 March 1912 103.62 166.821
2 March 1912 104.29 167.910
13 July 1912 106.07 170.777 Reims, France
9 September 1912 108.14 174.100 Chicago, Illinois, US
17 June 1913 Maurice Prévost 111.69 179.820 Reims, France
27 September 1913 119.19 191.897
29 September 1913 126.61 203.850
1914 Norman Spratt 134.5 216.5 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4 Unofficial
August 1918 Roland Rohlfs 163 262.3 Curtiss Wasp Not officially recognised.
1919 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 191.1 307.5 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V Not officially recognised.
7 February 1920 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 171.0 275.264 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V Villacoublay, France. First official record post World War 1.
28 February 1920 Jean Casale 176.1 283.464 SPAD S.20bis
9 October 1920 Bernard de Romanet 181.8 292.682 Buc, France
10 October 1920 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 184.3 296.694 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V
20 October 1920 187.9 302.529 Villacoublay, France
4 November 1920 Bernard de Romanet 191.9 309.012 SPAD S.XX Buc, France
12 December 1920 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 194.4 313.043 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V Villacoublay, France
26 September 1921 205.2 330.275 Nieuport-Delage Sesquiplan Ville Sauvage, France
13 October 1922 Billy Mitchell 222.88 358.836 Curtiss R Detroit, Michigan, US
18 October 1922 224.28 360.93 Curtiss R-6 Selfridge Field, Detroit, Michigan, US
15 February 1923 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 232.91 375.00 Nieuport-Delage NiD 42S Istres, France
29 March 1923 1st Lt. Russell L. Maughan 236.587 380.74 Curtiss R-6 Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, US
2 November 1923 Lt. Harold J. Brow 259.16 417.07 Curtiss R2C-1 Mineola, New York, US
4 November 1923 Lt. Alford J. Williams 266.59 429.02
11 November 1924 Florentin Bonnet 278.37 448.171 Bernard-Ferbois V.2
4 November 1927 Mario de Bernardi 297.70 479.290 Macchi M.52 seaplane Venice, Italy Database ID 11828
30 March 1928 318.620 512.776 Macchi M.52bis seaplane Database ID 11827
August 1929 Giuseppe Motta 362.0 582.6 Macchi M.67 seaplane Unofficial
10 September 1929 George H. Stainforth 336.3 541.4 Gloster VI seaplane Calshot, UK Database ID 11829
12 September 1929 Augustus Orlebar 357.7 575.5 Supermarine S.6 seaplane Database ID 11830
13 September 1931 George H. Stainforth 407.5 655.8 Lee-on-the-Solent, UK Database ID 11831
10 April 1933 Francesco Agello 423.6 682.078 Macchi M.C.72 seaplane Desenzano del Garda, Italy Database ID 11836
23 October 1934 440.5 709.209 Database ID 4497, current piston-engined seaplane speed record.
13 September 1935 Howard Hughes 354.4 567.12 Hughes H-1 Racer Santa Ana, California, US FAI Database ID 8748
11 November 1937 Dr. Hermann Wurster 379.63 610.95 Messerschmitt Bf 109 V.13 Augsburg, Germany FAI Database ID 8747
30 March 1939 Hans Dieterle 466.6 746.60 Heinkel He 100 V8 Oranienburg, Germany FAI Database ID 8744
26 April 1939 Fritz Wendel 469.220 755.138 Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 Augsburg, Germany Piston-engined record until 1969
2 October 1941 Heini Dittmar 623.65 1,003.67 Messerschmitt Me 163A "V4" Peenemünde-West, Germany Rocket powered – World War II secret, not an Official FAI record but over the 3 km (1.9 mi) FAI distance
1944 Heinz Herlitzius 624 1,004 Messerschmitt Me 262 S2 Leipheim, Germany World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Steep dive.
6 July 1944 Heini Dittmar 702 1,130 Messerschmitt Me 163B "V18" Lagerlechfeld, Germany Rocket powered – World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Dive, details unknown.
7 November 1945 H. J. Wilson 606.4 975.9 Gloster Meteor F Mk.4 Herne Bay, UK EE454 Britannia, first official record post World War II.
7 September 1946 Edward Mortlock Donaldson 615.78 990.79 Gloster Meteor F Mk.4 Littlehampton, UK EE530, a long-span Mk 4.
19 June 1947 Col. Albert Boyd 623.74 1,003.60 Lockheed P-80R Shooting Star Muroc (Edwards AFB), California, US
20 August 1947 Cmdr. Turner Caldwell 640.663 1,031.049 Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak First record flight to exceed secret October 1941 Me 163A V4 figure
25 August 1947 Major Marion Eugene Carl USMC 650.796 1,047.356
14 October 1947 Chuck Yeager 670.0 1,078 Bell X-1 (flight #50) Muroc, California, US Rocket powered – Cold War secret, not an official FAI C-1 record
6 November 1947 Chuck Yeager 891.0 1,434 Bell X-1 (flight #58) Muroc, California, US Rocket powered – Cold War secret, not an official FAI C-1 record, first to exceed secret July 1944 Me 163B V18 record
15 September 1948 Maj. Richard L. Johnson, USF 670.84 1,079.6 North American F-86A-3 Sabre Cleveland, Ohio, US
18 November 1952 J. Slade Nash 698.505 1,124.13 North American F-86D Sabre Salton Sea, California, US
16 July 1953 William Barnes 715.745 1,151.88 North American F-86D Sabre Salton Sea, California, US
7 September 1953 Neville Duke 727.6 1,171 Hawker Hunter Mk.3 Littlehampton, UK
26 September 1953 Mike Lithgow 735.7 1,184 Supermarine Swift F4 Castel Idris, Tripoli, Libya
3 October 1953 James B. Verdin, US Navy 752.9 1,211.5 Douglas F4D Skyray Salton Sea, California, US
29 October 1953 Frank K. Everest USAF 755.1 1,215.3 North American F-100 Super Sabre Salton Sea, California, US
20 August 1955 Horace A. Hanes 822.1 1,323 North American F-100C Super Sabre Palmdale, California, US
10 March 1956 Peter Twiss 1,132 1,822 Fairey Delta 2 Chichester, UK
12 December 1957 USAF 1,207.6 1,943.5 McDonnell F-101A Voodoo Muroc, California, US
16 May 1958 Capt. Walt Wayne Irwin, USF 1,404.012 2,259.538 Lockheed YF-104A Starfighter
5 October 1959 Maj. André Turcat 1,441.6 2,320 Nord 1500 Griffon France
31 October 1959 Col. Georgi Mosolov 1,484 2,388 Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-6/3 or Ye-66 USSR
15 December 1959 Maj. Joseph Rogers, USAF 1,525.9 2,455.7 Convair F-106 Delta Dart Muroc, California, US The record should have gone to civilian (former military) pilot Charles Myers, who flew a Delta Dart at 2,485 kilometres per hour (1,544 mph) in 1959, but Cold War pressures dictated that the award go to an active-military pilot.
22 November 1961 Robert B. Robinson, US Navy 1,606.3 2,585.1 McDonnell-Douglas F4H-1F Phantom II Muroc, California, US
7 July 1962 Col. Georgi Mosolov 1,665.9 2,681 Mikoyan Gurevich Ye-166 USSR Name adopted for record attempt, a version of a Ye-152 a.k.a. E-166.
1 May 1965 Robert L. Stephens
and Daniel Andre		 2,070.1 3,331.5 Lockheed YF-12A Muroc, California, US
28 July 1976 Capt. Eldon W. Joersz (P) and
Maj. George T. Morgan Jr. (RSO)		 2,193.2 3,529.6 Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird #61-7958 Beale AFB, US

Official records versus unofficial

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird holds the official Air Speed Record for a crewed airbreathing jet engine aircraft with a speed of 3,530 km/h (2,190 mph). The record was set on 28 July 1976 by Eldon W. Joersz and George T. Morgan Jr. near Beale Air Force Base, California, USA. It was able to take off and land unassisted on conventional runways. SR-71 pilot Brian Shul claimed in The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3.5 on 15 April 1986, over Libya, in order to avoid a missile.

Although the official record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane in level flight was held by a Grumman F8F Bearcat, the Rare Bear, with a speed of 850.23 km/h (528.31 mph), the unofficial record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane in level flight is held by a British Hawker Sea Fury at 880 km/h (547 mph). Both were demilitarised and modified fighters, while the fastest stock (original, factory-built) piston-engined aeroplane was unofficially the Supermarine Spiteful F Mk 16, which "achieved a speed of 494m.p.h. at 28,500ft during official tests at Boscombe Down" in level flight. The unofficial record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane (not in level flight) is held by a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIX, which was calculated to have achieved a speed of 1,110 km/h (690 mph) in a dive on 5 February 1952.

The last new speed record ratified before the outbreak of World War II was set on 26 April 1939 with a Me 209 V1, at 755 km/h (469 mph). The chaos and secrecy of World War II meant that new speed breakthroughs were neither publicized nor ratified. In October 1941, an unofficial speed record of 1,004 km/h (624 mph) was secretly set by a Messerschmitt Me 163A "V4" rocket aircraft. Continued research during the war extended the secret, unofficial speed record to 1,130 km/h (700 mph) by July 1944, achieved by a Messerschmitt Me 163B "V18". The first new official record in the post-war period was achieved by a Gloster Meteor F Mk.4 in November 1945, at 975 km/h (606 mph). The first aircraft to exceed the unofficial October 1941 record of the Me 163A V4 was the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, which achieved 1,032 km/h (641 mph) in August 1947. The July 1944 unofficial record of the Me 163B V18 was officially surpassed in November 1947, when Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 to 1,434 km/h (891 mph).

The official speed record for a seaplane moved by piston engine is 709.209 km/h (440.682 mph), which attained on 24 October 1934, by Francesco Agello in the Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72 seaplane ("idrocorsa") and it remains the current record. It was equipped with the Fiat AS.6 engine (version 1934) developing a power of 2,300 kW (3,100 hp) at 3,300 rpm, with coaxial counter-rotating propellers. The original record holding Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72 MM.181 seaplane is at the Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle in Italy.

Other air speed records

Date Pilot Airspeed Aircraft Comments
mph km/h
2 October 1985 Holger Rochelt 27.54 44.32 Musculair 2 Fastest human-powered aircraft
22 December 2006 Klaus Ohlmann & Matias Garcia Mazzaro 190.6 306.8 Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4DM Fastest (non-powered) glider over 500 km
11 August 1986 Trevor Egginton 249 400.87 Westland Lynx Fastest helicopter
31 December 1988 L.P. Krantov 258.8 415 Tupolev Tu-134A Highest landing speed for a civil aircraft
11 June 2013 Hervé Jammayrac 293 472 Eurocopter X3 Fastest propeller compound helicopter
15 September 2010 Kevin Bredenbeck 299 481 Sikorsky X2 Fastest compound helicopter, shallow dive (unofficial)
19 March 1989 Unknown pilot 316 509 Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor
15 April 1969 Unknown pilot 316 509 Bell 533 Compound jet helicopter
19 November 2021 Steve Jones 345.4 555.9 Rolls-Royce Accel ‘Spirit of Innovation’ Fastest electric-only aeroplane
2 September 2017 Steve Hinton Jr. 531.53 855.41 P-51 "Voodoo" Fastest straight-line piston-engined aircraft in level flight
24 March 1960 Ivan Sukhomlin, B. Timochuk & 4 crew 541.45 871.38 Tupolev Tu-114 Four-engined Turboprop powered Soviet airliner, highest speed for a propeller-driven aircraft of any type.
5 February 1952 Flight Lieutenant Edward Powles 690 1,110.447 Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX PS852 Reached (Mach 0.96) during an emergency dive while carrying out spying flights over China, the highest speed ever recorded for a piston-engined aircraft (though not in level flight).
14 October 2012 Felix Baumgartner 844 1,358 None (jumped out of a helium balloon gondola) Fastest unpowered descent of a human
7 February 1996 Captain Leslie Scott 1,249 2,010 Concorde Fastest passenger plane on a regular route
3 October 1967 William 'Pete' Knight 4,519 7,274 North American X-15 Rocket plane
16 November 2004 Uncrewed 6,755 10,870 NASA X-43A Air-launched hypersonic scramjet; fastest free-flying air-breathing vehicle
22 April 2010 Uncrewed 13,201 21,245 HTV-2 Falcon Air-launched hypersonic glider; fastest uncrewed aerial vehicle
14 November 1981 Joe H. Engle 17,500 28,000 Space Shuttle Columbia Fastest manually controlled flight in atmosphere during atmospheric reentry of STS-2 mission.
15 November 1988 Uncrewed 18,019 29,000 Buran The fastest unmanned (but capable of carrying up to 8-10 people) spaceplane ever built, weighing 100 tons or more.

Flying between any two airports allow a large number of combinations, so setting a speed record ("speed over a recognised course") is fairly easy with an ordinary aircraft, although there are many administrative requirements for recognition.

See also