At Mach 6.7 and 4,520 MPH, the X-15 Set the Crewed Aircraft Speed Record in 1967 — 59 Years Later, No One Has Flown Faster

At Mach 6.7 and 4,520 MPH, the X-15 Set the Crewed Aircraft Speed Record in 1967 — 59 Years Later, No One Has Flown Faster

On October 3, 1967, U.S. Air Force pilot William “Pete” Knight flew the X-15A-2 to 4,520 miles per hour — Mach 6.7 — setting the speed record for a crewed powered aircraft that has stood for 59 years. Four years earlier, NASA pilot Joseph Walker had flown the same rocket-powered research aircraft to 354,200 feet, roughly 67 miles above Earth, an altitude record no crewed winged aircraft has broken since. Twelve pilots flew the X-15 between 1959 …