The Bell X-1 was the first X-plane to fly and break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947,

Piloted by U.S. Air Force Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, the X-1 reached a speed of 700 mph, Mach 1.06

It flew a total of 78 times, and on March 26, 1948, Yeager attained a speed of 957 mph, Mach 1.45, at an altitude of 71,900 feet

The airplane was named "Glamorous Glennis" by Yeager as a tribute to his wife

👉 Scroll down to meet the Stiletto—the titanium dagger that pioneered high-speed aircraft design.

Designed to explore the challenges of supersonic flight, with its slender fuselage and needle-like nose

The X-3 flew 26 flights between 1952 and 1955. Designed for Mach 2 but only reached Mach 1

The X-3 is now on display in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

👉 You think Mach 1 is fast? Keep scrolling to see the ship that hit Mach 6.7 and touched the edge of space!

First flown in 1959, the North American X-15 was the first winged aircraft to fly Mach 4, 5, & 6

The program saw 199 flights over 10 years and set the world’s unofficial speed and altitude records of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) and 354,200 feet

The success of the program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle piloted spaceflight programs

In 1967 the X-15 #3 had a technical issue with the adaptive flight con

👉 Mach 6.7 is just the start. Scroll down to discover the uncrewed X-plane that shattered speed records at Mach 9.6!

This uninhabited vehicle holds the world record for the fastest air-breathing aircraft, achieving Mach 9.6 (6,860 mph) in 2004

👉 Enough noise! Your final X-plane is here: See the revolutionary jet designed to turn a sonic BOOM into a sonic THUMP.

The "Silent" Supersonic Jet: Its primary mission is to reduce a standard sonic boom to a quiet "sonic thump" (75 PLdB)

Designed with Extreme Length: It features an incredibly long, sharp nose that makes up about a third of its length, which is key to diffusing the shockwaves before they can form a loud boom

The pilot relies on an external Vision System (XVS), using high-resolution cameras and monitors instead of a forward-facing windshield