The fastest propeller planes, ranked by cruise speed
Pistons and turboprops together, where props rival jets
How to read it
- Props and turbines rank together. A fast turboprop often matches an entry jet’s cruise at a fraction of the operating cost.
- Turboprops own the top. The fastest pistons sit a clear tier below; the fastest piston aircraft board isolates that cut.
- Cruise figures are KTAS from sourced specs, comparable across every aircraft here.
A propeller is supposed to be the slow way to fly, the thing you accept for the fuel bill. The fastest propeller planes in our catalog say otherwise. This board ranks the top five, pistons and turboprops together, by one sourced figure: published cruise speed in KTAS.
The quickest here cruise near 400 knots, overlapping the slower business jets while burning a fraction of the fuel. The Piaggio Avanti leads on its three-surface pusher design, the only propeller airplane in the catalog to crest 400 knots.
The turbines hold the whole top of the list. The fastest pistons cruise around 280 knots, well behind turbine entries already past 330, and that gap is the ceiling of reciprocating-engine speed drawn in a single ranking.
Our picks
Select up to 5 to compare side by side, or open any aircraft for full specs.Tick 2 or more above to compare them side by side. selected (max)
A regional airliner walked onto the list
The “fastest propeller plane” list surprises on two points. First, the Piaggio Avanti wins it on shape, not power: its three-surface pusher layout reaches 402 knots. Second, the Dornier 328 sits in the top five, a 33-seat regional airliner among owner-flown airplanes, because the board ranks on cruise speed alone and applies no filter for size or role.
What the board does not hold, anywhere near the top, is a piston. The quickest reciprocating airplane in the catalog cruises around 280 knots, more than a hundred behind the Avanti. The piston ceiling sits far below the aircraft on this list.
Where the speed goes next
This board mixes engine types on purpose. To separate them:
- The fastest turboprops keep the turbines that own the top here and rank them alone.
- The fastest single-engine turboprops cut to the owner-flown turbines, one pilot and one PT6.
- The fastest piston aircraft drop to reciprocating power, where the ceiling this board hides becomes the whole story.
Or look at the spread directly: compare the Piaggio Avanti and the Lancair IV, 402 knots of turbine against 278 of piston, both turning propellers.