Eurocopter X3
Eurocopter · 2013
- Top speed
- 472km/h293mph131m/s255knVerified4.5× cheetah
#1 of 3 · Fastest Helicopters
Vehicles · Ranked by top speed
Fastest Helicopters in the World (2026)
Three helicopters are ranked, and the conditions say which figure is the FAI absolute record. Guinness, the FAI and the Helicopter Museum all print 400.87 km/h for a modified Westland Lynx AH.1, registration G-LYNX, flown by John Trevor Egginton on 11 August 1986 near Glastonbury. The Vertical Flight Society names the same speed as FAI record 11659 in class E-Absolute. Conversions to miles per hour and a 216-knot rounding are not stored.
3 rankedA source on every row
3 helicopters, ties share a rank.
- 1Eurocopter X3
Eurocopter · 2013
472km/h293mph131m/s255kn4.5× cheetah - 2Sikorsky X2
Sikorsky · 2010
463km/h288mph129m/s250kn4.4× cheetah - 3Westland Lynx
Westland · 1986
400.87km/h249mph111m/s216kn3.8× cheetah
The Eurocopter X3 and the Sikorsky X2 are compounds, and they are on this list with that label rather than dropped for belonging next door. Guinness records the X3 at 255 knots (472 km/h) in level flight on 7 June 2013. Flying and Vertical print the same level-flight figure and a faster shallow dive, which is not the rank. The Smithsonian prints 250 knots for the X2 on 15 September 2010. Guinness and Flying use that mark as the one the X3 beat.
The Lynx remains the FAI absolute. The compounds are faster on their own terms and are ranked with the unit their sources lead with. Three rows stay below the index gate. Checked 8 October 2026.
The lineup · 3 on file
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Ranked by top speed
Fastest Helicopters
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