Records, they say, are made to be broken. Since the Wright brothers first set a record for manned flight in December 1903, pilots have been trying for firsts in aviation. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. Harriet Quimby was the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Eric “Winkle” Brown flew the most aircraft types—487. Established in 1905, the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), the official recordkeeper of U.S. aviation, encourages pilots to set records and it authenticates and publicizes those records, from the amazing to the mundane.
Like Yeager, aviation greats such as John Glenn and Bob Hoover set records that still stand today. But NAA records are more achievable than you may realize; for example, in 1998 as part of AOPA’s promotion of its sweepstakes aircraft, a Piper Tri-Pacer, AOPA Editor Alton K. Marsh set a world speed record for Class C-1.b aircraft (piston-engine landplane, 1,102 to 2,204 pounds gross takeoff weight) over a recognized course from Phoenix, Arizona, to Palm Springs, California (average speed 92 knots).
According to the NAA, national and world records can be set in any type of aircraft and for a variety of different tasks. The records are classified by engine type and aircraft weight “making it possible for a variety of aviators—even pilots owning small single-engine airplanes—to establish a national or world mark,” NAA says. NAA also administers other air sports in the United States, such as gliding, soaring, ballooning, and ultralights. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is the international organization that certifies world aviation and space records.
