World's Fastest Flying Machines Ever Built

The fastest flying machines ever built are the results of man's creativeness and innovativeness. Flying machines

on this article are categorized into two; the first category is aircraft and the second is spacecraft. Here are the fastest

flying machines ever invented by men.

Aircrafts

1. Westland Lynx: Fastest Helicopter in the World

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Westland Lynx helicopter holds the world helicopter speed record of 249.1 mph (400.87 km/h) and been holding the

record for more than 20 years now as the world's fastest helicopter. The Westland Lynx is a British helicopter designed

and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. This flying machine primarily serves in the battlefield utility,

search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare roles.

Features:

Length: 15.241 m (50 ft)

Rotor diameter: 12.80 m (42 ft)

Height: 3.785 m [mk9] (12.41 ft [mk9])

Maximum speed: 324 km/h (201 mph)

2. Cessna Citation X: Fastest Passenger Aircraft in the World

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At 703 mph 0r 1131km/h, the Cessna Citation X, a long range medium business jet aircraft is the fastest operative

civilian jet in the world. This also made it the fastest business jet in history. This flying machine is powered by two

Rolls-Royce turbofan engines and is built by the Cessna Aircraft Company in Kansas, USA.

Features:

Capacity: 8-12 passengers

Payload: 14,300 lb (6,486 kg)

Length: 72.3 ft (22.0 m)

Wingspan: 63.6 ft (19.4 m)

Height: 19.0 ft (5.8 m)

Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (1002.8 km/h)

Cruise speed: Mach 0.90 (991.8 km/h)

Service ceiling: 51,000 ft (15,545 m)

Rate of Climb: 3,650 ft/min

3. SR-71 Blackbird: Fastest Airplane and Manned air-breathing craft in the World

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At 3,530 km/h (2,194 mph), this amazing flying machine named the Lockheed SR-71 is the fastest airplane in the

world. It was unofficially named the "Blackbird," and called the "Habu" by its crews, in reference to a snake. The SR-71

line was in service from 1964 to 1998, with 12 of the 32 aircraft being destroyed in accidents.

Features:

Length: 107 ft 5 in (32.74 m)

Wingspan: 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m)

Height: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)

Crew: 2

Maximum speed: Mach 3.2+ (2,200+ mph, 3,530+ km/h 1900 knots+) at 80,000 ft (24,000 m)

Service ceiling: 85,000 ft (25,900 m)

Rate of climb: 11,810 ft/min (60 m/s)

4. MiG-25 Foxbat B: Fastest Jetfighter in the World

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This awesome flying machine named Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, a Russian high-supersonic interceptor and

reconnaissance/bomber aircraft with a top speed of Mach 3.2, is the fastest jet fighter in the world. It has also

powerful radar and four air-to-air missiles.  The MiG-25 series had a production run of 1,190 aircraft.

Features

Length: 19.75 m (64 ft 10 in)

Wingspan: 14.01 m (45 ft 11.5 in)

Height: 6.10 m (20 ft 0.25 in)

Maximum speed: Mach 3.2 (3,490 km/h, 2,170 mph)

Mach 2.83 (3,090 km/h, 1,920 mph) continuous engine limit

Range: 1,730 km (1,075 mi) with internal fuel

Service ceiling: 20,700 m (with 4 missiles) (67,915 ft)

Crew: One

5. North American X-15: Fastest Manned and Rocket Powered Aircraft in the World

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With a top speed of 7,258 km/h (4,510 mph) the North American X-15 is the world's fastest rocket powered aircraft.

The X-15 set speed and altitude records in the early 1960s, reaching the edge of outer space and returning with

valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. This flying machine currently holds the world record for the

fastest speed ever reached by a manned aircraft.

Features

Crew: one

Length: 50 ft 9 in (15.45 m)

Wingspan: 22 ft 4 in (6.8 m)

Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.12 m)

Wing area: 200 ft² (18.6 m²)

Maximum speed: Mach 6.70 (4,520 mph / 7,274 km/h)

Service ceiling: 67 mi (354,330 ft / 108 km)

Rate of Climb: 60,000 ft/min (18,288 m/min)

6. X-43: Fastest Unmanned Aircraft in the World

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At a speed of 12,144 km/h (7,546 mph mph) that occurred in November 16, 2004, the X-43 is the title holder of the

world's fastest unmanned aircraft. It is an unmanned experimental hypersonic aircraft design with multiple planned

scale variations meant to test different aspects of hypersonic flight. A winged booster rocket with the X-43 itself at the

tip, called a "stack", is launched from a carrier plane. After the booster rocket brings the stack to the target speed and

altitude, it is discarded, and the X-43 flies free using its own engine, a scramjet.

7. Rocket Sled: Fastest Rocket Sled Machine in the World

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This unmanned rocket achieved a world speed record of Mach 8.5 (6,416 mph / 10,325 km/h).This speed was

achieved by a four-stage rocket sled at Holloman Air Force Base in 2003. A rocket sled is a test platform that slides

along a set of rails, propelled by rockets. They were used extensively by the United States early in the Cold War to

accelerate equipment considered too experimental (hazardous) for testing directly in piloted aircraft.

Spacecrafts

8. Apollo 10: Fastest Manned Spacecraft in the World

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Apollo 10 is the fastest manned spacecraft in the world by achieving a speed of 39,896 km/h (24,790 mph). This flying

machine was the 4th manned mission in the Apollo program. According to the 2001 Guinness World Records Apollo

10 set the record for the highest speed attained by a manned vehicle and the speed record was set during the return

from the Moon on May 26, 1969.

9. Stardust: Fastest Reentering Spacecraft in the World

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This machine has achieved a top speed of 46,440 km/h (28,856 mph) on its return to earth in 2006. This flying

machine called Stardust is an American interplanetary mission of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, whose

primary purpose was to investigate the makeup of the comet Wild 2 and its coma. It was launched in 1999 and

travelled nearly 3 billion miles (5·109 km), and returned to Earth on January 15, 2006 to release a sample material

capsule. It is the first sample return mission to collect cosmic dust and return the sample to Earth.

10. Helios: Fastest Unmanned Spacecraft in the World

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This spectacular flying machine is the fastest unmanned spacecraft in the world with a top speed of 252,792 km/h

(157,078 mph). The Helios deep space probes were launched in the mid 1970s by Germany. There were two in the

series, Helios I and Helios II. They were launched into heliocentric orbit to study solar processes. They set a speed

record for the fastest spacecraft ever at 252,792 km/h (70.2 km/s). They also set the record for the closest approach

to the Sun, at approximately 45 million kilometers, slightly inside the orbit of Mercury. The Helios space probes

completed their primary missions by the early 1980s, but they continued to send data up to 1985. Presently, these

probes are no longer functional, but they still remain in their elliptical orbit around the Sun.

Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!

For the largest machines see

World's Largest Machines Ever Built

For the fastest machines on land, water and ice see

World's Fastest Land, Water & Ice Vehicles Ever Built

See also

World’s Longest and Largest Aircrafts

World’s Largest and Longest Water Vessels