Fast Planes · Red Meat & Cigar Club editorial

The Fastest Aircraft Ever Flown

From the X-15 to the SR-71.

Speed has driven aviation from the start. Within a few decades of the Wright brothers' first flight in 1903, airplanes went from barely faster than a car to faster than sound, then to many times the speed of sound. These are the aircraft that defined the outer edge.

Bell X-1: breaking the sound barrier

On October 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager flew the rocket-powered Bell X-1 past the speed of sound over the Mojave Desert, reaching about Mach 1.06. The X-1, which Yeager named Glamorous Glennis after his wife, was carried aloft under a B-29 bomber and dropped before firing its rocket engine. Its shape was modeled on a .50-caliber bullet, known to be stable at supersonic speeds. Before the flight, some engineers worried about a "sound barrier" that aircraft couldn't pass. The X-1 proved it could be done. It now hangs in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

North American X-15: the edge of space

The X-15 was a rocket plane flown by NASA and the Air Force from 1959 to 1968. Dropped from a B-52 bomber, it explored hypersonic flight and the boundary of space. On October 3, 1967, Air Force pilot William "Pete" Knight flew it to Mach 6.7, about 4,520 mph. That remains the fastest speed ever achieved by a crewed, powered aircraft. Several X-15 flights also exceeded 50 miles of altitude, earning their pilots astronaut wings. Neil Armstrong was among its pilots before joining NASA's astronaut corps.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: fastest jet

The SR-71 was a strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works under Kelly Johnson, evolving from the A-12 program. It first flew in 1964 and served the U.S. Air Force until 1998, with NASA flying examples for research afterward. Built largely of titanium to withstand extreme heat from air friction, it cruised above Mach 3 at altitudes above 80,000 feet. Its strategy against threats was simple: outrun them.

On July 28, 1976, an SR-71 set the absolute speed record for an air-breathing crewed aircraft at 2,193.2 mph (Mach 3.3). The same week, another SR-71 set an altitude record in sustained horizontal flight of 85,069 feet. On its retirement flight to the Smithsonian in 1990, an SR-71 crossed from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in about 64 minutes.

MiG-25 Foxbat

The Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 was an interceptor designed to counter fast, high-flying threats. Made largely of nickel-steel alloy, it could exceed Mach 2.8, though sustained top speed was limited to protect its engines. Its appearance alarmed Western analysts until a Soviet pilot defected to Japan with one in 1976, allowing a detailed examination.

Concorde: supersonic airline service

Developed jointly by Britain and France, Concorde flew passengers at about Mach 2 — roughly 1,350 mph — at around 60,000 feet. British Airways and Air France began service in 1976. A typical London-to-New York crossing took about three and a half hours. High operating costs, limited routes (supersonic flight over land was largely restricted because of sonic booms), the 2000 Air France crash, and a downturn in air travel led to its retirement in 2003. Only Concorde and the Soviet Tu-144 ever carried passengers at supersonic speeds.

Uncrewed and modern records

NASA's uncrewed X-43A scramjet test vehicle reached roughly Mach 9.6 in 2004, the fastest for an air-breathing aircraft. Today, several companies are developing new supersonic airliners and demonstrators, and NASA's X-59 is designed to test a quieter sonic "thump" that could eventually allow supersonic flight over land.

Where to see them

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., displays the X-1 and an X-15, and its Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, displays an SR-71 and Concorde. In Colorado, the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum at the former Lowry Air Force Base has an extensive collection of military aircraft. Check museum sites for current exhibits.

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