Fastest propeller-driven airliner-size aircraft (FAI record)

What to remember

On 9 April 1960, Ivan Sukhomlin and Konstantin Sapielkine flew a Tupolev Tu-114 at 877.21 km/h, or 545.07 mph. The mark belongs to a narrow category: the fastest propeller-driven aircraft of airliner size, per the FAI.

That wording matters. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines the rules for all official aviation records and ratifies every claim. It sorts aircraft into classes (landplanes, seaplanes and amphibians), then into weight categories, then by engine type: piston, turbojet, turboprop or rocket. Within each group, speed is measured over a straight course or around closed circuits, with various payloads.

Both the Tu-116 and the Tu-142, however, claim higher maximum speeds. The Tu-114 mark is nevertheless the one the FAI keeps for a propeller-driven airliner.