Flight airspeed record

Flight airspeed record

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Fastest aircraft)

The SR-71 Blackbird is the current record holder for a manned airbreathing jet aircraft.

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), and they also ratify 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 several mass bands. 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. There are still further records for the speed between specified cities such as London to New York.

Official records versus unofficial

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird holds the official Air Speed Record for a manned airbreathing jet aircraft with a speed of 2,194 mph (3,529.56 km/h). It was capable of taking off and landing unassisted on conventional runways. The record was set on 28 July 1976 by Eldon W. Joersz near Beale Air Force Base, California, USA.^[8]

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 163AV4(the third prototype) rocket aircraft, on October 2, 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 August 20, 1947.

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^[9] which was used to control the flight trajectory. However this is probably very different from most people's idea of an 'aircraft', and a L/D ratio of 1 or above is arguably the borderline of what may be considered flying.

World Fastest Sedan

World Fastest Sedan

The title of Worlds Fastest Sedan has just exchanged hands... once again. It appears that every month or two, this prestigious title of who can make the fastest street legal sedan bounces back and forth between manufacturers and affiliated tuners. This time the winner goes to Brabus, the high-end Mercedes-Benz tuner, with their latest creation, the E V12 Biturbo, which grabbed the title during German magazine Auto Motor und Sports high-speed test in Nardo, Italy, and in so doing went where no other Mercedes-Benz, or at least no Mercedes-Benz sedan, has ever gone before, the far side of 217 mph.

Its designation a jumble of letters and numbers, the E V12 Biturbo is the newest generation (W 211) of the famous E V12 ultra performance sedan. Packing a twin-turbocharged V12 engine that produces 640-horsepower, it managed to smash the existing record by 18.8 mph.

The E V12 name is no stranger to holding a world record: the previous generation W/S 210 generation E V12 rocketed to an electronically limited 205 mph in 1996, obtaining the title of worlds fastest sedan then. The new car rolls in the tire-treads of the original, returning the title back to Brabus.

Making a heavy, full-size luxury sedan reach 217.4 mph is no easy task, requiring Brabus most powerful motor. The SV 12 biturbo was the engine of choice; however, modifications to the engine bay were required before the gigantic motor could be shoehorned in. The SV 12 Biturbo engine is a 6.3-liter twin-turbo V12, which started out life as the same twin-turbo motor that powers 600 series S, CL, and SL vehicles. From there, Brabus installed a longer-stroke sports crankshaft, new piston rods and larger bore pistons to increase power from 5.5 liters to a massive 6.3 liters. In addition to making a larger motor, re-machined cylinder heads, a high-performance stainless exhaust system and a reprogrammed engine management system help the E V12 Biturbo deliver a maximum punch of 640-horsepower produced at 5,100 rpm. Equally, if not more impressively is the torque figure, equaling 757 lb-ft of torque, which is produced from just 1,750 rpm. This enormous amount of power and torque is what helps the E-Class achieve its record-breaking top speed and acceleration times. The E V12 Biturbo can sprint to 60 mph in only 4.5 seconds, to 124 mph in 11.7 seconds, and as far as what is known, is one of only a handful of cars that can hit 186 mph within 30.6 seconds.

Countering this enormous straight-line potential is a completely reworked braking system. Brabus has fitted the E V12 Biturbo with lightweight, fade-resistant 14.8-inch carbon ceramic discs up front with twelve-piston calipers, and gigantic 14.0-inch cross-drilled steel discs with six-piston calipers in rear. In addition, the system uses the E-Classs electro-hydraulic SBC braking system and ABS to ensure that stops are safe, prompt and with consistent pedal feel. Brabus has also modified the E-Class stock suspension, fitting extra-stiff sway bars, and lowering the ride height by 1.2 inches with comfort-tuned sports springs which help b