In 1947 the Bell X-1 rocket research plane was the world's first aircraft to break the sound barrier.

The speed of sound isn't easy to define - it varies depending on air conditions and altitude. At sea level it is approximately 760mph, while at 30,000ft it's around 660mph.

One thing is for certain - when an aircraft approaches the sound barrier, shock waves are produced. In many of the first tests, this force tore aircraft apart and pilots lost their lives. The supersonic era began with one brave man...

Bell X1
In 1947, U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager successfully broke the sound barrier piloting a rocket-powered Bell X-1. The aircraft's unique bullet shape, and wafer-thin wings, proved to be the way forward. Yeager reached a speed of 662mph - faster than the speed of sound at 40,000 ft.

F-16 Falcon
Unveiled in 1976, the F-16 Falcon has a 1,400 mile range and a top speed of 1,345mph - around Mach 2. Its powerful single jet engine - rare amongst American fighters - produces more acceleration than the entire starting grid of a Formula One Grand Prix.

SR71 Blackbird
In 1976, Blackbird set a world record that stood for the length of its career - from 1966 to 1990. Travelling at 2,193mph, at an altitude three times higher than Mount Everest, it could easily travel from New York to London in under two hours.

X-15
NASA's X-15 was used as an experiment to prepare astronauts for the rigours of space exploration. Capable of around Mach 7 - over 4,500mph - it was carried by a B-52 to an altitude of 45,000 feet then released. Its rocket engine fired for just two minutes, but sent the aircraft 50 miles above earth, before gliding back to base.

Concorde
Making its maiden voyage on March 2nd 1969, the Anglo-French Concorde was the world's first and only supersonic passenger aircraft. Its four Rolls Royce engines were equivalent to having 164 Ferrari Maranellos under each wing. Before retiring on 24th October 2003, it took just three and a half hours to fly from New York to London.

Eurofighter Typhoon
Developed by Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, the Eurofighter Typhoon is a delta-wing fighter aircraft. Two Eurojet EJ200 engines produce up to 40,000lb of thrust. That's 20 times more powerful that the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262.