Fastest Atmospheric Entry
On December 7, 1995, a small probe released by the Galileo spacecraft began a descent into the atmosphere of the planet Jupiter. The probe reached a speed of 170,000 km/h (106,000 mph).
Fastest Earth Departure Speed
The fastest escape velocity from Earth was 58,348 kph (36,256 mph), achieved by the New Horizons launch velocity on January 19, 2006. It was en route to an orbit around the poles of the Sun via a fly-by of Jupiter.
Longest Space Shuttle Flight
Columbia was launched on its 21st mission, STS-80, with a crew of five (four men and one woman) on November 19, 1996. The flight lasted 17 days, 15 hours, and 53 minutes, until main gear shutdown. Landing was delayed for two days due to poor weather conditions at Cape Canaveral and Edward's Air Force Base.
Fastest Airliner
The Tupolev Tu-144, first flown on December 31, 1968, was reported to have reached Mach 2.4, or 2,587 km/h (1,600 mph), but normal cruising speed was Mach 2.2. The Tupolev TU-144, which Nato codenamed 'Charger', was built as a competitor to the British and French Concorde supersonic jetliner.
Fastest Biplane
The fastest biplane was the Italian Fiat CR42B. The plane had a 1,100-hp (753-kw) Daimler-Benz DB601A engine, which propelled the craft to speeds of 520 km/h (323 mph) in 1941. Although only a single CR42B prototype was built, 1,780 of the CR42B Falco were produced. It proved invaluable to the Italian Air Force in World War II.
Fastest Winged Aircraft
On October 3, 1967, an X-15A-2 piloted by USAF Major William J. "Pete" Knight, was released from its B-52 mother plane at 10,668 m. (35,000 ft.) above the Mojave Desert where it achieved an absolute speed record of Mach 6.7.
Largest Passenger Aircraft
The Airbus A380, which was launched in December 2000 and is expected to enter service by 2007, will have a wingspan of 79.8 m (261 ft 10 in) and a length of 73 m (239 ft 6 in). It will be able to carry 555 passengers in considerable comfort and will have a maximum takeoff weight of 560 tonnes.
Longest Paper Airplane Flight
The level flight duration record for a hand-launched paper airplane is 27.6 sec., by Ken Blackburn of the USA, at the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on October 8, 1998.
Source: Guinness Book of World Records, www.guinnessworldrecords.com/
Various Records Through the Decades
1900s
Speed – 47.84 MPH - Blériot of France (1909)
Altitude – 1,468 ft. - Latham of Britain (1909)
Distance – 145.53 mi. - Farman of France (1909)
1910s
Speed – 126.66 mph – Prevost of France (1913)
Altitude – 20,079 ft. – Legagneux of France (1913)
Distance – 634.5 mi. – Seguin of France (1913)
1920s
Speed – 318.57 mph – Bernadi of Italy (1928)
Altitude – 41,795 ft. – Neuenhofen of Germany (1929)
Distance – 4,192 mi. – Costes and Belltone of France (1929)
1930s
Speed – 469.22 mph – Wendel of Germany (1939)
Altitude – 56,046 ft. – Pezzi of Italy (1939)
Distance – 7,158.4 mi. – Kellet and Gething; Combe and Bornett of Britain (1939)
1940s
Speed – 670.84 mph – Johnson of United States (1948)
Altitude – 59,455 ft. – Cunningham of Great Britain (1948)
Distance – Nonstop around the world – Gallagher and U.S. crew in Boeing B-50 (1949)
1950s
Speed – 1483.51 mph – Moslov of USSR (1959)
Rocket powered speed – Mach 3.2 – Bell X-2 (1956)
1960s
Speed – 2070.1 mph – Stephens of United States (1965)
Altitude – 113,891 ft. – Mosolv of USSR (1961)
Distance – 12532.3 mi. – Evely of United States (1962)
1970s
Speed – 2,193.17 mph – Joersz and Morgan of United States (1976)
Altitude – 123, 524 ft. – Fedotov of USSR (1977)
Source: Aviation: A Smithsonian Guide, Donald S. Lopez, 1995, Ligature Inc.
