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Speed machines are breaking records around the world. There are fast planes, cars, boats, motorcycles, trains, submarines, and even robots! Here are some of the most amazing speed machines.
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1. The fastest car is the Thrust SSC. It holds the land speed record. This record was set in 1997 by Andy Green. He was driving a supersonic car called the Thrust. It weighed 10 tons and was powered by two jet engines. The Thrust went 763 miles per hour, which is Mach 1.02. This means that the car broke the sound barrier, which is called Mach 1. When a vehicle breaks the sound barrier a sonic boom is created. This is a shock wave which sounds like a very loud explosion. |
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2. The fastest airplane is the SR-71 Blackbird, a fighter jet that first flew in 1964. It was never shot down in combat because it could accelerate away from missiles! It flew 2193 mph, which made it the fastest manned aircraft. It flew at Mach 3, three times the speed of sound. The Blackbird is covered with a special black paint that keeps the airplane from getting too hot as it flies at supersonic speeds.
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3. The fastest boat was the Spirit of Australia. It was powered by a jet engine and went 317 miles per hour. This record was set in 1978 and has not been broken since then.
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4. The fastest train is the French TGV, which stands for Train a Grande Vitesse or high-speed train . It set its speed record of 320 miles per hour on May 18, 1990. This is one of the safest modes of transportation and no fatal accidents have occurred since the service began in 1981.
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5. Some of the fastest records are not very fast! The fastest trip around the world by balloon took 13 days, 8 hours, and 33 minutes. The balloon was entirely dependent on the winds in the upper atmosphere to move it along. This record was completed by Steve Fossett in 2002. Steve holds World Records in 5 sports. He is an airplane, jet, airship and glider pilot as well as being a sailor, triathlon competitor, dog sled racer, swimmer and mountain climber! |
