The fastest single-engine planes, ranked by cruise speed
The quickest piston singles in our catalog, certified and experimental
Reading the ranking
- Cruise speed is true airspeed (KTAS). Indicated speed at altitude reads much lower, so KTAS is the comparison that holds across the list.
- Check the badge. Certified, light-sport, and experimental aircraft rank side by side, and the very fastest singles are usually experimental.
- Fast singles are demanding singles. Most near the top are retractable, turbocharged, or both, with the insurance and currency to match.
The fastest single-engine airplane is a disputed title, because brochure numbers flatter and hangar talk inflates. This board settles it on sourced figures: the five quickest single-engine pistons in our catalog, ranked by published cruise speed in KTAS, fastest first. Turbine singles fly faster still, and rank on their own board; this is the piston ranking.
The quickest are usually experimental kits like the Lancair series, which trade certification for slippery airframes and cruise speeds that reach into the turboprop range. They rank here because they genuinely are the fastest. The badge on each card shows which are certified and which are amateur-built.
Speed in a single always costs something: retractable gear, a turbocharger, or a wing that demands respect. Read the ranking next to what each airplane asks of its owner.
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)
The experimental tax, in reverse
The two airplanes at the top, the Lancair IV and the pressurized IV-P, are amateur-built, and they cruise at 278 knots. The fastest certified single beneath them, the Mooney M20TN Acclaim, gives up thirty-six knots at 242. That gap is the price of a type certificate: a production airplane carries weight and compromise a kit built to one owner’s tolerance does not.
The certified field has its own surprise. The Cessna TTx holds 235 knots on fixed gear, no landing gear to retract, where almost everything near this speed folds it away. Speed in a single usually costs complexity. The TTx argues the exception on gear alone, which is why the badge on each card is worth reading before the number.
Where the speed goes next
One engine, the propeller out front: this is piston-single speed at its ceiling. The neighbouring boards redraw the field:
- The fastest piston aircraft add the twins, which the fastest single still outruns.
- The fastest single-engine turboprops swap the piston for a turbine and jump fifty knots in one step.
- The fastest propeller planes open the field to everything with a prop, where these singles sit a tier down.
Or weigh certificate against kit: compare the Lancair IV and the Cessna TTx, 278 knots experimental against 235 certified.