325 Miles an Hour by Air Predicted
In September 1923, the airplane speed record was 236 miles per hour. A New York Times Magazine article cited scientists who predicted a maximum 325 — which would be broken in 1929, before the decade was out.
Young men testing racing airplanes this month have traveled through space at a speed never before equaled by any living thing — fast enough to stagger the imagination and raise the question as to the ultimate speed possible for some man to attain.
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And we ask the scientists what shall be the ultimate speed? How fast will man eventually travel? Many believe there is no limit; others assert that with present types 325 miles an hour is the maximum.
Six years later, George Stainforth would break that supposed 325 limit with 336.
The record now stands at more than 6x that, at 2,193 miles per hour. Set by Eldon W. Joersz and George T. Morgan Jr. in 1976, the record still stands today.
325 Miles an Hour by Air Predicted
Published: Sunday, September 30, 1923