The internet has been mesmerized by a jaw-dropping simulation of what it would be like to fly at Mach 50, which is about 38,000 miles per hour, at ground level, and it has amassed over 2 million views. The video is ultra-high-speed and first-person as it blazes over open oceans, soars over majestic mountain ranges, and blusters into New York City in the ultimate high-speed flyover.
Traveling at that speed, everything is a blur of color, cities come and go in a flash, and sweeping views become mere blurred snapshots. One gets the impression of the camera being attached to a comet passing by the earth with a short distance between the two.
The creator explained that the shots were not shot in real life but created on a Darkstar jet simulated at Mach 10, which is also featured in Top Gun: Maverick. The video was then accelerated five times to an estimate of Mach 50. The effect is an invigorating, near-surrealistic rush that leaves the viewer in momentary suspension between reverence and incredulity.
People are struggling with the mind-bending scale of the experience in the comment section. One of the users commented, “It makes one realize how large the earth is.” Small, however, at the same time.” One more viewer said, “This is how I pictured flight as a kid… like a 747 just doing this.” Such wonder of the child seems to be a theme that keeps repeating itself, as most people reminisce about how they used to imagine unlimited speed when they were little.
In perspective, Mach 50 is over 60 times as fast as a commercial airplane cruises. That would have you going around the world in less than 40 minutes, assuming that you could somehow survive the heavy g-forces, friction, and heat that would otherwise vaporize any known aircraft.
Although no human-made vehicle has ever even remotely approached Mach 50 at sea level, the simulation is an electrically charged visual thought experiment. It combines physics, imagination, and state-of-the-art graphics to provide a peek into an impossible journey, one that is humbling in scope and intoxicating in speed.
