From HandWiki - Reading time: 12 min

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),[1] 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.

Gray text indicates unofficial records, including unconfirmed or unpublicized war secrets.
| Date | Pilot | Airspeed | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | Aircraft | ||||
| 17 December 1903 | 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 | 25.65 | 41.292 | Santos-Dumont 14-bis | Bagatelle Castle, Paris, France | First officially recognized airspeed record.[2][3]: 7 | |
| 26 October 1907 | 32.73 | 52.700 | Voisin-Farman I | Issy-les-Moulineaux, France | [2][3]: 9 | |
| 25 May 1909 | 34.04 | 54.810 | Wright Model A | Pau, France | [2][3]: 11 | |
| 23 August 1909 | 44.367 | 69.821 | Curtiss No. 2 | Reims, France | 1909 Gordon Bennett Cup.[2][4]: 37–38 | |
| 24 August 1909 | 46.160 | 74.318 | Blériot XI | [2][3]: 13 | ||
| 28 August 1909 | 47.823 | 76.995 | [2][3]: 13 | |||
| 23 April 1910 | 48.186 | 77.579 | Antoinette VII | Nice, France | [2][3]: 18 | |
| 10 July 1910 | 66.154 | 106.508 | Blériot | Reims, France | [2][3]: 13 | |
| 29 October 1910 | 68.171 | 109.756 | Blériot XI | New York, New York, US | [2][3]: 13 | |
| 12 April 1911 | 69.420 | 111.801 | Blériot | Pau, France | [2][3]: 14 | |
| 11 May 1911 | 73.385 | 119.760 | Nieuport IIN | Châlons, France | [2][3]: 25 | |
| 12 June 1911 | 77.640 | 125.000 | Blériot | [2] | ||
| 16 June 1911 | 80.781 | 130.057 | Nieuport IIN | Châlons, France | [2][3]: 25 | |
| 21 June 1911 | 82.693 | 133.136 | [2][3]: 25 | |||
| 13 January 1912 | 87.68 | 145.161 | Deperdussin Monocoque | Pau, France | [2][3]: 27 | |
| 22 February 1912 | 100.18 | 161.290 | [2][3]: 27 | |||
| 29 February 1912 | 100.90 | 162.454 | [2][3]: 27 | |||
| 1 March 1912 | 103.62 | 166.821 | [2][3]: 27 | |||
| 2 March 1912 | 104.29 | 167.910 | [2][3]: 27 | |||
| 13 July 1912 | 106.07 | 170.777 | Reims, France | [2][3]: 27 | ||
| 9 September 1912 | 108.14 | 174.100 | Chicago, Illinois, US | [2][3]: 27 | ||
| 17 June 1913 | 111.69 | 179.820 | Reims, France | [2][3]: 31 | ||
| 27 September 1913 | 119.19 | 191.897 | [2][3]: 31 | |||
| 29 September 1913 | 126.61 | 203.850 | [2][3]: 31 | |||
| 1914 | 134.5 | 216.5 | Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4 | Unofficial | ||
| August 1918 | 163 | 262.3 | Curtiss Wasp | Not officially recognised.[4]: 140 | ||
| 1919 | 191.1 | 307.5 | Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V | Not officially recognised. | ||
| 7 February 1920 | 171.0 | 275.264 | Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V | Villacoublay, France. | [5] First official record post World War 1.[2][3]: 33 | |
| 28 February 1920 | 176.1 | 283.464 | SPAD S.20bis | [2][3]: 37 [6] | ||
| 9 October 1920 | 181.8 | 292.682 | Buc, France | [2][3]: 37 [7] | ||
| 10 October 1920 | 184.3 | 296.694 | Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V | [2][3]: 33 | ||
| 20 October 1920 | 187.9 | 302.529 | Villacoublay, France | [2][3]: 33 | ||
| 4 November 1920 | 191.9 | 309.012 | SPAD S.XX | Buc, France | [2][8] | |
| 12 December 1920 | 194.4 | 313.043 | Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V | Villacoublay, France | [2][3]: 33 | |
| 26 September 1921 | 205.2 | 330.275 | Nieuport-Delage Sesquiplan | Ville Sauvage, France | [3]: 39 [9] | |
| 13 October 1922 | 222.88 | 358.836 | Curtiss R | Detroit, Michigan, US | [2][10] | |
| 18 October 1922 | 224.28 | 360.93 | Curtiss R-6 | Selfridge Field, Detroit, Michigan, US | [3]: 41 [4]: 232–3 [11] | |
| 15 February 1923 | 232.91 | 375.00 | Nieuport-Delage NiD 42S | Istres, France | [10] | |
| 29 March 1923 | 236.587 | 380.74 | Curtiss R-6 | Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, US | [3]: 41 [4]: 233 [12] | |
| 2 November 1923 | 259.16 | 417.07 | Curtiss R2C-1 | Mineola, New York, US | [3]: 43 [4]: 235 | |
| 4 November 1923 | 266.59 | 429.02 | [3]: 43 [4]: 235 [13] | |||
| 11 November 1924 | 278.37 | 448.171 | Bernard-Ferbois V.2 | [2] | ||
| 4 November 1927 | 297.70 | 479.290 | Macchi M.52 seaplane | Venice, Italy | Database ID 11828[1][2] | |
| 30 March 1928 | 318.620 | 512.776 | Macchi M.52bis seaplane | Database ID 11827[1][14] | ||
| August 1929 | 362.0 | 582.6 | Macchi M.67 seaplane | Unofficial | ||
| 10 September 1929 | 336.3 | 541.4 | Gloster VI seaplane | Calshot, UK | Database ID 11829[1][15] | |
| 12 September 1929 | 357.7 | 575.5 | Supermarine S.6 seaplane | Database ID 11830[1][16] | ||
| 13 September 1931 | 407.5 | 655.8 | Lee-on-the-Solent, UK | Database ID 11831[1][17] | ||
| 10 April 1933 | 423.6 | 682.078 | Macchi M.C.72 seaplane | Desenzano del Garda, Italy | Database ID 11836[1][2] | |
| 23 October 1934 | 440.5 | 709.209 | Database ID 4497, current piston-engined seaplane speed record.[1][2] | |||
| 13 September 1935 | 354.4 | 567.12 | Hughes H-1 Racer | Santa Ana, California, US | FAI Database ID 8748[18] | |
| 11 November 1937 | 379.63 | 610.95 | Messerschmitt Bf 109 V.13 | Augsburg, Germany | FAI Database ID 8747[19] | |
| 30 March 1939 | 466.6 | 746.60 | Heinkel He 100 V8 | Oranienburg, Germany | FAI Database ID 8744[20] | |
| 26 April 1939 | 469.220 | 755.138 | Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 | Augsburg, Germany | Piston-engined record until 1969[21] | |
| 2 October 1941 | 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[22]: 122 [23][24] | |
| 1944 | 624 | 1,004 | Messerschmitt Me 262 S2 | Leipheim, Germany | World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Steep dive.[22]: 122 | |
| 6 July 1944 | 702 | 1,130 | Messerschmitt Me 163B "V18" | Lagerlechfeld, Germany | Rocket powered – World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Dive, details unknown.[22]: 122 | |
| 7 November 1945 | 606.4 | 975.9 | Gloster Meteor F Mk.4 | Herne Bay, UK | EE454 Britannia, first official record post World War II.[3]: 107 [25] | |
| 7 September 1946 | 615.78 | 990.79 | Gloster Meteor F Mk.4 | Littlehampton, UK | [25] EE530, a long-span Mk 4.[3]: 107 | |
| 19 June 1947 | 623.74 | 1,003.60 | Lockheed P-80R Shooting Star | Muroc (Edwards AFB), California, US | [26] | |
| 20 August 1947 | 640.663 | 1,031.049 | Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak | First record flight to exceed secret October 1941 Me 163A V4 figure[27] | ||
| 25 August 1947 | 650.796 | 1,047.356 | [27] | |||
| 14 October 1947 | 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 | 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 | 670.84 | 1,079.6 | North American F-86A-3 Sabre | Cleveland, Ohio, US | [2][28] | |
| 18 November 1952 | 698.505 | 1,124.13 | North American F-86D Sabre | Salton Sea, California, US | [29] | |
| 16 July 1953 | 715.745 | 1,151.88 | North American F-86D Sabre | Salton Sea, California, US | [30] | |
| 7 September 1953 | 727.6 | 1,171 | Hawker Hunter Mk.3 | Littlehampton, UK | [31] | |
| 26 September 1953 | 735.7 | 1,184 | Supermarine Swift F4 | Castel Idris, Tripoli, Libya | [32] | |
| 3 October 1953 | 752.9 | 1,211.5 | Douglas F4D Skyray | Salton Sea, California, US | [33] | |
| 29 October 1953 | 755.1 | 1,215.3 | North American F-100 Super Sabre | Salton Sea, California, US | ||
| 20 August 1955 | 822.1 | 1,323 | North American F-100C Super Sabre | Palmdale, California, US | ||
| 10 March 1956 | 1,132 | 1,822 | Fairey Delta 2 | Chichester, UK | [34] | |
| 12 December 1957 | 1,207.6 | 1,943.5 | McDonnell F-101A Voodoo | Muroc, California, US | [35] | |
| 16 May 1958 | 1,404.012 | 2,259.538 | Lockheed YF-104A Starfighter | [3]: 147 [36] | ||
| 5 October 1959 | 1,441.6 | 2,320 | Nord 1500 Griffon | France | [37] | |
| 31 October 1959 | 1,484 | 2,388 | Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-6/3 or Ye-66 | USSR | [38] | |
| 15 December 1959 | 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.[39][40][41] | |
| 22 November 1961 | 1,606.3 | 2,585.1 | McDonnell-Douglas F4H-1F Phantom II | Muroc, California, US | [3]: 165 [42] | |
| 7 July 1962 | 1,665.9 | 2,681 | Mikoyan Gurevich Ye-166 | USSR | [43][44] Name adopted for record attempt, a version of a Ye-152 a.k.a. E-166.[3]: 179 | |
| 1 May 1965 | and Daniel Andre |
2,070.1 | 3,331.5 | Lockheed YF-12A | Muroc, California, US | [45] |
| 28 July 1976 | Maj. George T. Morgan Jr. (RSO) |
2,193.2 | 3,529.6 | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird #61-7958 | Beale AFB, US | [46] |
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 , United States . It was able to take off and land unassisted on conventional runways.[47] 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.[48]
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.[49] 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.[50] 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.
| Date | Pilot | Airspeed | Aircraft | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||
| 2 October 1985 | Holger Rochelt | 27.54 | 44.32 | Musculair 2 | Fastest human-powered aircraft[51] |
| 22 December 2006 | Klaus Ohlmann & Matias Garcia Mazzaro | 190.6 | 306.8 | Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-4DM | Fastest (non-powered) glider over 500 km[52] |
| 11 August 1986 | Trevor Egginton | 249 | 400.87 | Westland Lynx | Fastest helicopter[53][54][55] |
| 31 December 1988 | L.P. Krantov | 258.8 | 415 | Tupolev Tu-134A | Highest landing speed for a civil aircraft[56] |
| 11 June 2013 | Hervé Jammayrac | 293 | 472 | Eurocopter X3 | Fastest propeller compound helicopter[57] |
| 15 September 2010 | Kevin Bredenbeck | 299 | 481 | Sikorsky X2 | Fastest compound helicopter, shallow dive (unofficial)[58] |
| 19 March 1989 | Unknown pilot | 316 | 509 | Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey[59][60] | Tiltrotor |
| 15 April 1969 | Unknown pilot | 316 | 509 | Bell 533 | Compound jet helicopter[61][62] |
| 19 November 2021 | Steve Jones | 345.4 | 555.9 | Rolls-Royce Accel ‘Spirit of Innovation’ | Fastest electric-only aeroplane[63] |
| 6 February 2003 | Joseph J. Ritchie, Steve Fossett | 576.3 | 927.4 | Piaggio P.180 Avanti | Fastest propeller-driven aircraft of any type.[64] |
| 2 September 2017 | Steve Hinton Jr. | 531.53 | 855.41 | P-51 "Voodoo" | Fastest straight-line piston-engined aircraft in level flight[65][66] |
| 9 April 1960 | Ivan Sukhomlin, Konstantin Sapielkine | 545.07 | 877.21 | Tupolev Tu-114 | Fastest propeller-driven airliner-size aircraft, per FAI.[67] |
| 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).[68] |
| 14 October 2012 | Felix Baumgartner | 844 | 1,358 | None (jumped from a helium balloon gondola) | Fastest unpowered descent of a human[69][70] |
| 7 February 1996 | Captain Leslie Scott | 1,249 | 2,010 | Concorde | Fastest passenger plane on a regular route[71] |
| 3 October 1967 | William 'Pete' Knight | 4,519 | 7,274 | North American X-15 | Rocket plane[72] |
| 16 November 2004 | Uncrewed | 6,755 | 10,870 | NASA X-43A | Air-launched hypersonic scramjet; fastest free-flying air-breathing vehicle[73] |
| 22 April 2010 | Uncrewed | 13,201 | 21,245 | HTV-2 Falcon | Air-launched hypersonic glider; fastest uncrewed aerial vehicle[74] |
| 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.[75][76][77]