A SyberJet SJ30-2 speed record attempt on 21 August 2026 covered the Jacksonville-to-San Diego route in approximately 4 hours and 7 minutes, with pilot Gordon ‘Gordy’ Bryan averaging 505.3 mph (813.2 km/h) across the continental United States, the manufacturer has claimed.
SyberJet Aircraft says the run beats the existing benchmark in the C-1.f aircraft class, which under Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) classification covers powered landplanes weighing between 6,000 and 9,000 kg. The C-1.f category’s previous east-west transcontinental record stood at 339.4 mph, according to Aerospace Manufacturing and Design, set in 2013 by an Embraer Phenom 300 flying from Melbourne, Florida, to Long Beach, California, with an intermediate refuelling stop in El Paso, Texas, for a total elapsed time of 6 hours 38 minutes.
The new mark remains unofficial for now. SyberJet stated in its press release that certification by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) and the FAI is expected within approximately 90 days.
SyberJet SJ30-2 speed record in historical context
The SJ30 platform has form when it comes to officially recognised performance milestones. According to SyberJet Aircraft’s records page, earlier demonstration flights saw the SJ30 set FAI/NAA-recognised speed records across three courses, and in 2006 the FAI awarded the aircraft a formal recognition for those achievements. That history gives the manufacturer a procedural playbook for the certification process it is now pursuing for the latest run.
On board alongside Bryan was Trevor Milton, CEO of Arizona-based SyberJet Aircraft. Milton is a contentious figure in US business circles: he was convicted in 2022 on fraud charges connected to his time leading electric truck start-up Nikola, which has since gone bankrupt. He received a presidential pardon in 2025 and, within months of that pardon, took over SyberJet Aircraft.
A programme with a long and turbulent history
The aircraft at the centre of the record bid has roots stretching back four decades. Designer Ed Swearingen conceived the SJ30 in the 1980s; the type made its first flight in 1991 and appeared at the Paris Air Show that year. Development subsequently stalled through lack of funds before Taiwanese investors stepped in, relaunching the programme around a stretched derivative, the SJ30-2. That variant was certified in 2005, though only a very limited number were built and delivered before the manufacturer went bankrupt in 2010.
The company changed hands several times after that and was rebranded SyberJet Aircraft in 2011. Under Milton’s ownership, the business is now pursuing a new model, the SJ36, a nine-seat, single-pilot light jet broadly based on the SJ30 platform. SyberJet is targeting 2032 for certification and entry into service of the SJ36.
The timing of the record attempt is transparently promotional: a high-profile coast-to-coast run at well over 500 mph puts the SJ30-2’s performance credentials back in front of potential operators and investors at a moment when the manufacturer is working to rebuild credibility around a programme that has twice previously lost momentum.
The previous record’s gap, from 339.4 mph to the newly claimed 505.3 mph, is substantial on paper, though trade observers will note that the 2013 benchmark included a refuelling stop, making a clean like-for-like comparison between the two runs difficult. The NAA and FAI review process over the coming 90 days will determine whether the SyberJet SJ30-2 speed record is formally ratified and in which precise sub-category it stands.
SyberJet has separately confirmed it has selected the Williams FJ44-4A engine for the new SJ36 programme, a decision that will shape the aircraft’s performance envelope as the company pushes towards its 2032 certification target.
