“I wanna go fast.”
Ricky Bobby said it, and most pilots have said it, too.
And while NASCAR drivers do get to go fast (212 mph is the record, which is 184 knots or about Mach 0.28), Ricky Bobby would’ve done better to take up flying.
To date, the fastest humans have been astronauts returning from the Apollo moon missions, traveling some 117 times faster than Ricky Bobby could’ve even dreamed of going.
For all the speed demons out there, here is a list of the 16 fastest airplanes and spacecraft in history.
How Fast is Fast?
The world of aircraft speed records is more complicated than you might imagine.
Official records are kept by the World Air Sports Federation, which has specific criteria for record keeping. Often, aircraft test programs break these record speeds but don’t get noted because of technicalities in the process.
The rankings below were compiled based on available data on the Internet. Since there is no one official list, it’s a best-effort sort of thing and not an official ranking.
For comparison’s sake, the ranking has been organized based on speeds corrected to knots and Mach number, which most pilots will find to be a helpful reference.
However, there are no Mach numbers in space, and it’s usual to use them on slower aircraft as you see here, so keep in mind these numbers are simply for comparing one to another.
Parker Solar Probe
🥇 Fastest man-made vehicle (316,800 knots, ~Mach 475)
Airplanes are fast, but spaceships are even faster.
Without the friction of the earth’s atmosphere, a space vehicle isn’t limited by the typical drag curves that affect airplanes. The result is that things can move very, very fast in space.
And, for the most part, they are piloted just like planes — so they’re still cool.
While it wasn’t piloted, unmanned probes have gone even faster. The Guinness Record holder for the fastest spacecraft goes to the Parker Solar Probe, which reached a velocity of 163 km/s (586,800 km/h; 364,660 mph) in 2021.
It reached this speed using the sun’s gravity to slingshot itself through the solar system.
Apollo 10 Command Module “Charlie Brown”
🥇 Fastest crewed spacecraft (21,542 knots, ~Mach 32.3)
The fastest crewed mission in space occurred in 1969 during Apollo 10.
The tenth Apollo mission was a dress rehearsal for the following lunar landing missions. On its return to Earth, the command capsule (nicknamed “Charlie Brown”) clocked 24,791 mph.
Even the following Apollo missions, which landed on the moon and then returned, did not break this speed record.
Space Shuttle Columbia
🥇 Fastest manually-controlled reentry of a spacecraft (15,207 knots, ~Mach 22.8)
The US Space Shuttles flew very fast, especially once they broke orbit and let the Earth’s gravity bring them home.
Plus, they were flown much like regular airplanes upon reentry. The fastest reentry approach was flown by Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981 when it clocked 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h).
Wikipedia notes that Buran, the Soviet-era spaceplane, was actually slightly heavier and slightly faster than the US space shuttle, with a top speed of about 18,019 mph or 29,000 km/h.
However, Buran only completed one unmanned orbital mission.
DARPA Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2
🥇 Fastest glider (Mach 20)
Several very fast crewless vehicles have been tested in the past two decades.
Most of these tests are run to test new hypersonic missile technologies, but high-hypersonic studies help engineers make faster airplanes overall.
The DARPA (US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Falcon project tested the Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 in 2010. The program’s goal was to produce a vehicle that could reach any target in the world within an hour and fly around Mach 20.
The HTV-2 was launched on a small rocket off the coast of California.
Of the two test flights conducted, both vehicles broke apart in flight over the Pacific. The HTV stands as the fastest hypersonic glider.
NASA X-43A
🥇 Fastest free-flying crewless aircraft (Mach 9.6)
NASA’s X-43A hypersonic plane was designed to test new air-breathing scramjet engine technologies.
In 2003, it reached a record-breaking speed of Mach 9.6 (11,760 km/h, or 7,310 mph). The X-43 is the holder of the fastest, free-flying unmanned aircraft.
NASA X-15
🥇 Fastest piloted rocket plane (Mach 6.70)
The record for the fastest piloted airplane is still held by the NASA X-15, an experimental airplane that used rocket engines for thrust.
The X-15 was deployed from under the wing of a B-52 ‘mothership’ and was used to test hypersonic flight principles. At its fastest, the rocket plane reached 4,520 mph or Mach 6.70.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
🥇 Fastest piloted airplane with jet engines (Mach 3.4)
No list of fast airplanes is complete without mentioning the incomparable SR-71 Blackbird.
The Air Force reconnaissance aircraft is officially the fastest manned airplane with an air-breathing engine (meaning it has a ‘normal’ jet engine, not a rocket engine like a spacecraft). Notably, it’s one of the only aircraft capable of this speed that takes off and lands unassisted.
The SR-71’s official record is 2,190 mph, set in 1976, but the plane is purported to have exceeded 2,500 mph or Mach 3.4 unofficially.
MiG-25 Foxbat
🥇 Fastest fighter jet in service today (Mach 3.2)
The MiG-25 is the only fighter still flying today capable of sustaining more than Mach 3.0.
While the plane has enough thrust to do so, designers worry that these high speeds will overheat the engines and cause damage, so the plane is operationally limited to flying at Mach 2.83.
The plane entered service in 1970 and holds the world record for altitude, reaching 125,000 feet.
The MiG-25 is second only to the SR-71 in speed made by a military plane in regular service. However, the Soviet Union had more than 1,100 MiG-25s built compared to only 32 SR-71s built by the US.
Overall, the plane set 29 records in its history, mostly for times to altitude and high altitudes.
In 1965, the chief test pilot for the program claimed it averaged 1,252.22 knots over a 1,000 km course. For comparison sake, the F-15 is only capable of Mach 2.5.
North American XB-70 Valkyrie
🥇 Fastest bomber aircraft, prototype (Mach 3.02)
The XB-70 was an enormous, long-range strategic bomber designed to move at Mach 3 or more and at over 70,000 feet.
It was planned to replace the B-52, and the design specs were based on the belief that the plane would be safe from Russian interceptors and missiles. However, by the time the plane had flown, Russian technology had progressed to make it vulnerable.
As a result, the plane never entered production, and only two aircraft were ever built.
In 1966, the prototype achieved 2,020 mph, or Mach 3.08. The plane remains the largest supersonic airplane ever built, with a max takeoff weight of 542,000 pounds and six turbojet engines.
Concorde
🥇 Fastest airliner to fly regular routes (Mach 2.04)
🥇 Greatest range of any supersonic aircraft
Only one supersonic transport (SST) airliner has been in regular service: the incomparable Concorde.
The project was started in 1954 by a joint venture between French Sud Aviation (which became Aerospatiale) and British Aircraft Corporation.
Its first test flight was in 1969 and entered service in 1976.
While early predictions indicated they might sell as many as 350 planes, only 20 were ever built as the project went over budget and over time. Only two airlines, Air France and British Airways, operated the plane, which could cross the Atlantic in an average of 3.5 hours.
From passenger concerns about solar radiation to oxygen requirements when operating so high, the technological and logistical challenges that the Concorde overcame are remarkable.
The damaging sonic booms created by the aircraft limited it to transoceanic routes only.
The planes were retired in 2003 after 27 years of regular commercial service.
Russian company Tupolev created a very similar Tu-144, but the aircraft operated in commercial service for less than one year before a spectacular crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show. However, it flew before the Concorde did and was the world’s first Mach 2+ passenger aircraft.
Boom Supersonic Overture
🥈 Fastest airliner on order (Mach 1.7)
Boom Supersonic is a company that wants to bring the glory days of the Concorde back to modern air travel.
The company has tested its XB-1 prototype and has taken orders from several major airlines, including United and American, for its proposed super-fast airliner, the Overture.
The current specs promise a cruising speed of Mach 1.7, making it twice as fast at existing overwater routes as current planes.
While we’re putting it on the list, we’re giving it an honorable mention because the plane is still in development.
Gulfstream G700
🥇 Fastest Corporate Jet (Mach 0.935)
While airlines have typically favored fuel savings and efficiency over all-out speed, some corporate jet makers see a business opportunity to make the fastest jets around.
For years, the Cessna Citation X held the title of the world’s fastest, but it was unseated by the newest generation of Gulfstreams in 2020.
The G700 is on that with a cruise speed of Mach 0.935 and a red line of Mach 0.99.
P-51 “Voodoo”
🥇 Fastest piston single in straight-and-level flight (482 knots, ~Mach 0.72)
While the North American P-51 was a World War II fighter design, many replicas, and restored examples have been used in airshows and air races.
One such plane is Voodoo, a 1944 P-51D that served with the US Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force and was later purchased and restored by private individuals.
It participated in the Reno Air Races in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
In 2017, it was used to break the 3 km world speed record of 528.33 mph. While it clocked 554.69 mph (482 knots) on the fastest of its runs, its average speed was insufficient to ‘officially’ beat the standing record.
Rare Bear, a modified Grumman F8F Bearcat, holds the official record.
Piaggio P.180 Avanti
🥇 Fastest production, propeller-driven airplane (460 knots, ~Mach 0.69)
Affectionately called the “flying football,” the Italian-built Avanti is probably the most distinctive corporate airplane you’ll ever see.
It has a narrow, high-aspect-ratio wing, twin pusher turboprops, a T-tail, and a forward lifting surface that looks like a canard but isn’t a canard.
It may look a bit goofy, but it works.
Maximum speed at FL310 is listed as 400 knots, 460 mph, or 740 km/h.
Eurocopter X3
🥇 Fastest helicopter (255 knots, ~Mach 0.38)
The Eurocopter X3 was a research helicopter designed to test the speeds possible from a non-jet-assisted compound helicopter.
It first flew in 2010 and was based on the airframe of a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin, with added sort wings with tractor propellers.
The props are geared from the main engine and use different pitches to replace the conventional anti-torque tail rotor found on other aircraft. The demonstrator demonstrated a maximum speed of 255 knots or 293 mph.
The X3 unseated an unconventional experiment helicopter from Sikorski.
During test flights in 2010, the X2 flew at 250 knots (290 mph) during straight-and-level flight and 260 knots in shallow dives.
Mooney Acclaim Ultra
🥇 Fastest normally-aspirated production single (242 knots, ~Mach 0.36)
Mooney has a reputation for making sporty, fast airplanes.
The company’s most famous airframe, the M20, was modified and upgraded over the years. The final iteration, the Acclaim Ultra, was powered by a 280-horsepower Continental engine.
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Jarrod Roberts
Jarrod Roberts brings a wealth of experience to the Thrust Flight team, with a flying career spanning over 15 years. His journey in aviation began with a BS in Aeronautical Science from Texas A&M Central. After working as a flight instructor, he joined SkyWest as a First Officer and then later upgraded to Captain. He now flies for a legacy airline. Jarrod also serves as the Chief Pilot here at Thrust Flight where he guides our team of flight instructors in delivering top-tier training to our many Zero Time to Airline students.