Charts
56 Military, Commercial, and Personal Aircraft Ranked by Top Speed
What can go nearly six times the speed of sound and cost $2.5 trillion dollars to build and operate (adjusted for inflation)? The answer is the North American X-15, hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft that achieved the fastest aircraft flying speed of all time on October 3rd, 1967 when it reached 4,520 miles per hour! That is an awe-inspiring 75 miles per minute and 1.25 miles per second. GlobalAir.com has launched a compelling (or propelling?) chart visualizing aircraft ranked by max flying speed. More than half of the aircraft shown are capable of flying faster than the sound of speed!
Click below to zoom
How fast is the sound of speed anyway? Mach 1, or the speed of sound, varies depending on the temperature of the air (or other medium) that it is passing through. So at sea level on planet Earth at around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the speed of sound is approximately 767 miles per hour. That means that the North American X-15, an aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, flew at a rate nearly six times as fast as the speed of sound. The record was achieved by William J. Knight, a Vietnam combat pilot and test pilot for the U.S. Air Force. During his 16 flights in the aircraft, Knight became one of the few non-NASA pilots to earn their Astronaut Wings by flying an airplane in space – this was achieved by reaching an altitude of 280,500 feet (53.125 miles). It truly is extraordinary how far aviation technology has come in a century!