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An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI),[1] which also ratifies any claims. Speed records are divided into multiple classes with sub-divisions. There are three classes of aircraft: landplanes, seaplanes, and amphibians; then within these classes, there are records for aircraft in a number of weight categories. There are still further sub-divisions for piston-engined, turbojet, turboprop, and rocket-engined aircraft. Within each of these groups, records are defined for speed over a straight course and for closed circuits of various sizes carrying various payloads.
The California, US.[60] SR-71 pilot Brian Shul reported in The Untouchables that he flew in excess of Mach 3.5 on April 15, 1986 over Libya in order to avoid a missile.[61]
Although the official record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane in level flight is held by a Grumman F8F Bearcat, the Rare Bear, with a speed of 528.31 mph (850.24 km/h), the unofficial record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane in level flight is a held by a British Hawker Sea Fury at 547 mph (880 km/h). Whereas these were both demilitarised, modified fighters, the fastest piston-engined aeroplane in stock (original, factory-built) condition was the German Dornier Do 335 Pfeil, with a maximum speed of 474 mph (765 km/h) in level flight. The unofficial record for fastest piston-engined aeroplane (not in level flight) is held by a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXX, which was calculated to have achieved a speed of 690 mph (1,110 km/h, Mach 0.96) in a dive on 5 February 1952.
For a period of time, during and immediately following World War II, the unpublicised and unofficial speed record of 1004.5 km/h (623.8 mph) set by the Messerschmitt Me 163 AV4 (the third prototype) rocket aircraft, on 2 October 1941 was actually the fastest velocity any aircraft had been measured as traveling to that time. That figure, set during wartime when no records were being ratified, was achieved by the Me 163A V4 at altitude rather than sea-level as it had been towed by a Bf 110 to set the record. Many record attempts were stated as being "set" after World War II by such aircraft as the Gloster Meteor, which exceeded the 755 km/h (469 mph) velocity record of the pre-war holder (the Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 piston-engined aircraft) but the first to actually exceed the Me 163 A V4 claim was the Douglas Skystreak on 20 August 1947.
The official speed record for a seaplane moved by piston engine - still valid today (September 2015) - is of 709.209 km/h, and is held from the seaplane (“idrocorsa”) Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72. It was attained on October 23, 1934 by Francesco Agello.[62] It was equipped with the Fiat AS.6 engine (version 1934) developing a power of 3100 hp at 3300 rpm, with coaxial counter-rotating propellers. The original Macchi-Castoldi MC72 MM.181 seaplane that holds the record is kept in the Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle in Italy.
The fastest manned atmospheric vehicle of all time was the Apollo Command Module as it returned from the moon, reaching speeds of around Mach 30. Although it used the air largely as a brake, it did also achieve a lift to drag ratio of around 0.368[63] which was used to control the flight trajectory. However this is probably very different from most people's idea of an 'aircraft'.
Flying between any two airports allow a large number of combinations, so setting a speed record ("speed over a recognised course") is fairly easy with an ordinary aircraft; it does require some paperwork.[81][82][83]
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