List of vehicle speed records

From WOI Encyclopedia Italia
Revision as of 08:19, 26 July 2009 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
ThrustSSC, which holds the land speed record Template:As of


The following is a list of speed records for various categories of vehicles.


Land vehicles

Category Speed Vehicle Operator Date
Land speed record 1,228 km/h (763 mph) ThrustSSC Andy Green October 15, 1997
Wheel-driven land speed record 737.794 km/h (458.444 mph) Vesco Turbinator Don Vesco October 18, 2001
Motorcycle land speed record 580.833 km/h (360.913 mph) Top Oil-Ack Attack streamliner Rocky Robinson September 26, 2008
Diesel-powered speed record 563.995 km/h (350.452 mph) JCB DieselMax Andy Green August 23, 2006
Electric-powered speed record 517.942 km/h (321.834 mph) Buckeye Bullet Andy Marquand October 3, 2004
Steam-powered speed record 205.44 km/h (127.66 mph) Stanley Rocket Racer Fred Marriott January 26,1906
Human-powered speed record 132.50 km/h (82.33 mph) Varna Diablo 3 Sam Whittingham September 18,2008

Railed vehicles

Category Speed Vehicle Operator Date
Unmanned railed vehicle (rocket sled) 10,400 km/h (6,462 mph) (unmanned) April 30, 2003
Manned railed vehicle (rocket sled) 1,017 km/h (635 mph) John Stapp
Magnetic levitation train 581 km/h (361 mph) JR-Maglev unknown December 2, 2003
Wheeled train 574.8 km/h (357.18 mph) TGV unknown April 3, 2007

Aircraft

Category Speed Vehicle Pilot Date
Unmanned air-breathing craft 12,144 km/h (7,546 mph) NASA X-43A (unmanned) November 16, 2004
Manned air-breathing craft 3,530 km/h (2,194 mph) Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird Eldon W. Joersz July 28, 1976
Rocket-powered aircraft 7,258 km/h (4,510 mph) North American X-15 William J. Knight October 3, 1967
Propeller-driven aircraft 870 km/h (541 mph). Tupolev Tu-114 Ivan Soukhomline 1960
Piston-engined propeller-driven aircraft 850.1 km/h (528.33 mph) Grumman F8F Bearcat "Rare Bear" N777L Lyle Shelton 21 August 1989
Helicopter 401.0 km/h (249.1 mph) Westland Lynx 800 G-LYNX John Egginton 11 August 1986
Human-powered aircraft 32 km/h (19.8 mph) average speed MIT Monarch B Frank Scarabino 1 May 1984

Watercraft

Category Speed Vehicle Operator Date
Water speed record 511.13 km/h (317.596 mph) Spirit of Australia Ken Warby 8 October 1978
Underwater speed record Manned military submarines speeds are generally not disclosed, but are believed to be between 35 and 45 knots (40 and 51 mph). Unmanned torpedos speed claims range from 70 to 200 knots (80 mph to 230 mph), with Barracuda claiming 800 km/h. 33 knots (61 km/h or 38 mph) USS Albacore 1966
Human-powered watercraft 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h or 21.3 mph) Decavitator Mark Drela 27 October 1991
Human-powered submarine 8.035 knots (14.9 km/h or 9.2 mph) Omer 5 2007
Wind-powered watercraft 49.09 knots (90.9 km/h or 56.5 mph) windsurfer Antoine Albeau March 5 2008

Spacecraft

Category Speed Vehicle Crew Date
Unmanned spacecraft 252,792 km/h (157,078 mph) Helios 2 probe (unmanned) mid 1970s
Manned spacecraft 39,896 km/h (24,790 mph) Apollo 10 Thomas Stafford, John W. Young and Eugene Cernan May 26, 1969
Reentering spacecraft 46,440 km/h (28,856 mph) Stardust probe (unmanned) January 15, 2006


See also



Extremes of Speed
Land speed record · Fastest Production Road Car · Fastest Cars by Acceleration · Motorcycle Land Speed Record · List of vehicle speed records · Wheel-driven land speed record