Flight airspeed record explained

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.

Timeline

Gray text indicates unofficial records, including unconfirmed or unpublicized war secrets.
DatePilotAirspeedLocationNotes
mphkm/hAircraft
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 Huffman Prairie, Ohio, US
12 November 1906 25.65 41.292 Bagatelle Castle, Paris, France First officially recognized airspeed record.[2] [3]
26 October 1907 32.73 52.700 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
25 May 1909 34.04 54.810 Wright Model A Pau, France
23 August 1909 44.367 69.821 Reims, France 1909 Gordon Bennett Cup.[4]
24 August 1909 46.160 74.318
28 August 1909 47.823 76.995
23 April 1910 48.186 77.579 Nice, France
10 July 1910 66.154 106.508 Blériot Reims, France
29 October 1910 68.171 109.756 Blériot XI New York, New York, US
12 April 1911 69.420 111.801 Blériot Pau, France
11 May 1911 73.385 119.760 Châlons, France
12 June 1911 Alfred Leblanc 77.640 125.000 Blériot
16 June 1911 Édouard Nieuport 80.781 130.057Nieuport IIN Châlons, France
21 June 1911 82.693 133.136
13 January 1912 87.68 145.161 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 106.07 170.777Reims, France
9 September 1912 108.14 174.100 Chicago, Illinois, US
17 June 1913 111.69 179.820 Reims, France
27 September 1913 119.19 191.897
29 September 1913 126.61 203.850
1914 134.5 216.5 Unofficial
August 1918 163 262.3 Not officially recognised.
1919 191.1 307.5 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29V Not officially recognised.
7 February 1920 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 171.0 275.264 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29VVillacoublay, France. [5] First official record post World War 1.
28 February 1920 176.1 283.464 [6]
9 October 1920 181.8 292.682 Buc, France [7]
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 191.9 309.012Buc, France [8]
12 December 1920 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 194.4 313.043 Nieuport-Delage NiD 29VVillacoublay, France
26 September 1921 205.2 330.275 Ville Sauvage, France [9]
13 October 1922 222.88 358.836 Curtiss R Detroit, Michigan, US [10]
18 October 1922 224.28 360.93 Selfridge Field, Detroit, Michigan, US [11]
15 February 1923 Joseph Sadi-Lecointe 232.91 375.00 Nieuport-Delage NiD 42SIstres, France
29 March 1923 236.587 380.74 Curtiss R-6 Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, US [12]
2 November 1923 Lt. Harold J. Brow 259.16 417.07 Mineola, New York, US
4 November 1923 Lt. Alford J. Williams266.59 429.02 [13]
11 November 1924 278.37 448.171
4 November 1927 297.70 479.290 Macchi M.52 seaplaneVenice, Italy Database ID 11828
30 March 1928 318.620 512.776 Macchi M.52bis seaplaneDatabase ID 11827[14]
August 1929 362.0 582.6 Macchi M.67 seaplane Unofficial
10 September 1929 336.3 541.4 Gloster VI seaplaneCalshot, UK Database ID 11829[15]
12 September 1929 357.7 575.5 Supermarine S.6 seaplane Database ID 11830[16]
13 September 1931 George H. Stainforth 407.5 655.8 Database ID 11831[17]
10 April 1933 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 1935354.4 567.12 Hughes H-1 RacerSanta Ana, California, USFAI Database ID 8748[18]
11 November 1937 Dr. Hermann Wurster379.63 610.95 Messerschmitt Bf 109 V.13 Augsburg, Germany FAI Database ID 8747[19]
30 March 1939 Hans Dieterle466.6 746.60 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" Rocket powered – World War II secret, not an Official FAI record but over the FAI distance[22] [23] [24]
1944 Heinz Herlitzius624 1,004Messerschmitt Me 262 S2World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Steep dive.
6 July 1944 Heini Dittmar 702 1,130 Messerschmitt Me 163B "V18" Rocket powered – World War II secret, not an Official FAI record. Dive, details unknown.
7 November 1945 606.4 975.9 Gloster Meteor F Mk.4Herne Bay, UK EE454 Britannia, first official record post World War II.[25]
7 September 1946 615.78 990.79 Gloster Meteor F Mk.4Littlehampton, UK EE530, a long-span Mk 4.
19 June 1947 623.74 1,003.60 Muroc (Edwards AFB), California, US[26]
20 August 1947 Cmdr. Turner Caldwell 640.663 1,031.049 First record flight to exceed secret October 1941 Me 163A V4 figure[27]
25 August 1947 Major Marion Eugene Carl USMC 650.796 1,047.356
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 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 Cleveland, Ohio, US [28]
18 November 1952 J. Slade Nash698.505 1,124.13 Salton Sea, California, US [29]
16 July 1953 William Barnes 715.745 1,151.88 North American F-86D SabreSalton Sea, California, US [30]
7 September 1953 727.6 1,171 Littlehampton, UK [31]
26 September 1953 735.7 1,184 [32]
3 October 1953 James B. Verdin, US Navy 752.9 1,211.5 Douglas F4D SkyraySalton Sea, California, US [33]
29 October 1953 Frank K. Everest USAF 755.1 1,215.3 North American F-100 Super SabreSalton Sea, California, US
20 August 1955 Horace A. Hanes822.1 1,323 North American F-100C Super SabrePalmdale, California, US
10 March 1956 1,132 1,822 Chichester, UK [34]
12 December 1957 1,207.6 1,943.5 Muroc, California, US [35]
16 May 1958 Capt. Walt Wayne Irwin, USF 1,404.012 2,259.538 [36]
5 October 1959 1,441.6 2,320 France [37]
31 October 1959 1,484 2,388 USSR [38]
15 December 1959 Maj. Joseph Rogers, USAF 1,525.9 2,455.7 Muroc, California, US The record should have gone to civilian (former military) pilot Charles Myers, who flew a Delta Dart at 1544mph in 1959, but Cold War pressures dictated that the award go to an active-military pilot.[39] [40] [41]
22 November 1961 Robert B. Robinson, US Navy 1,606.3 2,585.1 Muroc, California, US [42]
7 July 1962 Col. Georgi Mosolov 1,665.9 2,681 Mikoyan Gurevich Ye-166USSR [43] [44] 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 Muroc, California, US [45]
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 #61-7958Beale AFB, US [46]

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 . 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.[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, the unofficial record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane in level flight is held by a British Hawker Sea Fury at . 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 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 . 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 was secretly set by a Messerschmitt Me 163A "V4" rocket aircraft. Continued research during the war extended the secret, unofficial speed record to 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 . The first aircraft to exceed the unofficial October 1941 record of the Me 163A V4 was the Douglas D-558-1 Skystreak, which achieved 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 .

The official speed record for a seaplane moved by piston engine is, 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 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

DatePilotAirspeedAircraftComments
mphkm/h
2 October 1985 Holger Rochelt 27.54 44.32 Fastest human-powered aircraft[51]
22 December 2006 Klaus Ohlmann & Matias Garcia Mazzaro 190.6 306.8 Fastest (non-powered) glider over 500 km[52]
11 August 1986 Trevor Egginton 249 400.87 Fastest helicopter[53] [54] [55]
31 December 1988 L.P. Krantov 258.8 415 Highest landing speed for a civil aircraft[56]
11 June 2013 Hervé Jammayrac 293 472 Fastest propeller compound helicopter[57]
15 September 2010 Kevin Bredenbeck 299 481 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 Compound jet helicopter[61] [62]
19 November 2021 Steve Jones 345.4 555.9 Fastest electric-only aeroplane[63]
6 February 2003Joseph J. Ritchie, Steve Fossett576.3927.4Piaggio P.180 AvantiFastest propeller-driven aircraft of any type.[64]
2 September 2017 Steve Hinton Jr. 531.53 855.41 Fastest straight-line piston-engined aircraft in level flight[65] [66]
9 April 1960 Ivan Sukhomlin, Konstantin Sapielkine 545.07 877.21 Fastest propeller-driven airliner-size aircraft, per FAI.[67] Both Tu-116 and Tu-142 claim higher maximum speeds.
5 February 1952 690 1,110.447 Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX PS852Reached (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 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 Fastest passenger plane on a regular route[71]
3 October 1967 William 'Pete' Knight4,519 7,274 Rocket plane[72]
16 November 2004 Uncrewed 6,75510,870 NASA X-43A Air-launched hypersonic scramjet; fastest free-flying air-breathing vehicle[73]
22 April 2010 Uncrewed 13,201 21,245 Air-launched hypersonic glider; fastest uncrewed aerial vehicle[74]
14 November 198117,500 28,000 Fastest manually controlled flight in atmosphere during atmospheric reentry of STS-2 mission.
15 November 1988Uncrewed18,01929,000BuranThe 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]

See also

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: FAI portal. 24 April 2015.
  2. Cooper Flight 25 May 1951, p. 619.
  3. Book: Munson. Kenneth. Jane's Pocket Book of Record-breaking Aircraft. 1978. Macmillan. New York, New York, US. 0-02-080630-2. First Collier Books Edition 1981. Munson.
  4. Bowers 1979
  5. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%201272.html?tracked=1 The Royal Aero Club of the U.K.: Official Notices to Members
  6. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%200256.html?tracked=1 "Speed Records in France"
  7. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%201088.html?tracked=1 "Meeting at Buc"
  8. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1920/1920%20-%201164.html?tracked=1 "De Romanet Breaks Records"
  9. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200710.html "Some Records Homologated"
  10. Flight 7 February 1924, p. 75.
  11. "American World's Speed Record Homologated". Flight, 11 January 1923, p. 26.
  12. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200356.html "Records Homologated"
  13. http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200776.html Flight
  14. Robertson, F.A. de V. "The Attempt on the World's Speed Record". Flight, 8 November 1928, pp. 965–967.
  15. James 1971, p.188.
  16. Andrews and Morgan 1987, p.194.
  17. Andrews and Morgan 1987, p. 201.
  18. http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=8748
  19. http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=8747
  20. http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=8744
  21. http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=8743
  22. Käsmann, Ferdinand C.W., Die schnellsten Jets der Welt,, 1994
  23. http://www.sportflug-noervenich.de/html/heini_dittmar.php Heini Dittmar
  24. Wolfgang Späte, Der streng geheime Vogel Me 163 p.32,33, 1983
  25. Mason 1992, p. 340.
  26. Web site: Milestones in Aerospace History at Edwards AFB. 14 July 2008. Young. James O.. 2007. Air Force Flight Test Center History Office. 10 July 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080710125541/http://www.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080123-063.pdf. dead.
  27. Francillon 1979, p.438.
  28. Book: Jackson, Robert. F-86 Sabre: The Operational Record. Smithsonian Institution Press. 1994.
  29. Allward 1978, p. 24.
  30. Allward 1978, pp. 24–25.
  31. Mason 1992, p. 370.
  32. Mason 1992, p. 366.
  33. Francillon 1979, p.476.
  34. Taylor 1974, p. 432.
  35. Francillon 1979, p. 544.
  36. Web site: FAI Record No.9063. 10 October 2017 .
  37. Gaillard. Pierre. Les oubliés du Salon de l'Aeronautique (5): les experimentaux . Le Fana de l'Aviation . August 1985 . 189 . 35–37 . 0757-4169 . fr. The Forgotten Ones of the Paris Air Show, Part 5: The Experimental Ones.
  38. Belyakov and Marmain 1994, pp. 298, 300.
  39. Web site: Taylor. Michael. Obituary Colonel Joseph 'Joe' W. Rogers, USF (Ret) Record-breaking Famed Aviator Dies at Age 81. F-106 Delta Dart – The Ultimate Interceptor. 28 June 2016.
  40. Web site: Grazier. Dan. POGO Remembers Chuck Myers, "Fighter Mafia" Veteran. www.POGO.org . 28 June 2016.
  41. Book: Samuel. Wolfgang. In Defense of Freedom: Stories of Courage and Sacrifice of World War II Army Air Forces Flyers. 2015. University Press of Mississippi. 978-1-62846-217-3.
  42. Francillon 1979, p. 572.
  43. Taylor 1965, p. 346.
  44. Belyakov and Marmain 1994, pp. 274–275.
  45. Taylor 1976, p. 72.
  46. Taylor 1988, p. [51].
  47. Web site: Current air speed record. 18 October 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927002329/http://records.fai.org/general_aviation/current.asp?id1=21&id2=4. 27 September 2007. dmy-all.
  48. Book: Shul, Brian. The Untouchables. 1994. Mach One. 0929823125. 173.
  49. Web site: 2016-03-06 . seafire spitfire 1953 1321 Flight Archive . 2023-04-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306205558/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%201321.html . 6 March 2016 .
  50. Web site: Agello Airspeed record, Air Force portal. 31 August 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033802/http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/archiviovetrine_news/Pagine/Agelloprimatovelocita.aspx. 4 March 2016. dmy-all.
  51. Web site: Human-powered aeroplane speed record over a closed circuit. 10 October 2017 . FAI. 23 June 2020.
  52. Web site: December 2006. Open Class Gliders: Speed over an out-and-return course of 500 km.
  53. Web site: Lynx – The World's Fastest Helicopter 20 Years On . . 11 August 2006 . 30 April 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100819024635/http://www.sbac.co.uk/community/cms/content/preview/news_item_view.asp?i=12405&t=0 . 19 August 2010 .
  54. "Rotorcraft Absolute: Speed over a straight 15/25 km course". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Note search under E-1 Helicopters and "Speed over a straight 15/25 km course". Accessed: 26 April 2014.
  55. Web site: Westland Lynx AH.Mk1, G-LYNX/ZB500 . Friends of The Helicopter Museum . 30 April 2009.
  56. Л. Л. Селяков. "Человек, среда, машина". Самолет Ту-134А №65011.
  57. Jason Paur . X3 Helicopter Sets Speed Record at Nearly 300 MPH . Wired . 27 February 2014 .
  58. Web site: Sikorsky X2 hits 250kt goal . Croft, John . Flight International . 15 September 2010 . 16 September 2010 .
  59. Wall, Robert. "U.S. Marines See MV-22 Improvements." Aviation Week, 24 June 2010.
  60. Norton, Bill. Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, Tiltrotor Tactical Transport, page 111. Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. .
  61. Robb, Raymond L. (2006). Hybrid helicopters: Compounding the quest for speed , page 43. Vertiflite, Summer 2006. American Helicopter Society. Size: 25 pages in 2MB
  62. Spenser, Jay P. "Bell Helicopter". Whirlybirds, A History of the U.S. Helicopter Pioneers, p. 274. University of Washington Press, 1998. .
  63. News: 2022-01-21. Rolls-Royce all-electric aircraft breaks world records. en-GB. BBC News. 2022-01-27.
  64. Web site: 2017-10-10 . Joseph J. Ritchie (USA) (7627) World Air Sports Federation . 2024-01-13 . www.fai.org . en.
  65. News: Aviation Partners Sets World Record – Without Winglets . 10 October 2017 . John Morris . Aviation Week Network.
  66. Web site: Measures . Harry . Steve Hinton, Jr breaks Absolute Propeller-Driven Piston Powered 3-Km speed record . The Vintage Aviation Echo . 3 September 2017 . 9 August 2018.
  67. Web site: 2017-10-10 . Ivan Soukhomline (URS) (3664) World Air Sports Federation . 2024-01-13 . www.fai.org . en.
  68. http://planesandpilotsofww2.totalh.net/Gustin/spit1946.html?i=1 Spitfire Timeline
  69. "Baumgartner's Records Ratified by FAI !" Record FAI, 14 October 2012. Accessed: 18 November 2013.
  70. Web site: Governing Body 'FAI' Officially Confirms Red Bull Stratos World Records . 3 December 2013.
  71. Web site: 1996: Fastest Flight Across the Atlantic in a Commercial Aircraft . 18 August 2015 . 1 June 2021.
  72. Web site: Fastest Plane in the World. FlyFighterJet.com - Fly a Jet, Fighter Jet Rides in Supersonic MiG-29. 24 April 2015.
  73. Web site: Fastest aircraft, air-breathing engine: X-43 . 16 Nov 2004 . Guinness World Records.
  74. Web site: Falcon HTV-2. 24 April 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160504120242/http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/us/products/falcon-htv-2.html. 4 May 2016.
  75. Web site: Any Pilot Can Set a Speed Record. Flying Magazine . 30 September 2015 . 4 October 2015 .
  76. "FAI Record ID #17439 - Albuquerque - Amarillo, C-1b (Landplanes: take off weight 500 to 1000 kg)" FAI Record date 8 April 2015. Accessed: 4 October 2015.
  77. https://naa.aero/applications-downloads/records-downloads Records Downloads

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