1. Bell X-2 Starbuster
With only two aircraft ever created and retiring in 1956, the “Starbuster” was built by the United States Air Force and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as a research aircraft to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2-3 range.
The Bell X-2 reached speeds of 3.196 mach in 1956. Shortly after this speed was reached, a fatal crash occurred and resulted in the death of the pilot Milburn G. Apt, ending the Starbuster program.
2.Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
Introduced in 1966 and retiring in 1999, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a long-range, aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and used for military observations.
Nicknamed “Blackbird” the SR-71 has held the world record for the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft since 1976 and flies at a speedy Mach 3.5 (4,321.8 kilometres per hour)
3.North America X-15
You won’t see this hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft soaring through the skies these days, as it was only active from 1959 to 1968. The North American X-15 was operated by the United States Air Force and NASA, as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft.
Setting speed and altitude records in the 1906s and reaching the edge of outer space, the X-15 still holds the official world record, to this day, for the highest speed ever recorded by a manned, powered aircraft. The record was set in October 1976 when William J. “Pete” Knight flew Mach 6.72 at 31,120 m. To grasp just how fast this is, Mach 6.72, is 7,274 kilometres per hour!
If you’ve always wanted to be a Fighter Pilot, why not check out the diploma of evolution and start breaking the sound barrier in no time.
No comments:
Post a Comment