Arizona-based SyberJet has made an unofficial claim for the East-to-West transcontinental speed record in the C-1.f aircraft class as the manufacturer mounts a comeback.
SyberJet said Friday in a news release that its SJ30-2 flew nonstop from Jacksonville International Airport (KJAX) in Florida to Brown Field Municipal Airport (KSDM) in San Diego, logging an average speed of 505.3 mph. The company said the light business jet—for which production ceased in 2009—made the journey in about 4 hours and 7 minutes.
Under the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s (FAI) record classification system, C-1 denotes landplanes, and the “f” indicates weight between 6,000 and 9,000 kilograms, or about 13,228 to 19,842 pounds. SyberJet said the unofficial record is under review, with certification expected in about 90 days.
If that timeline holds up, the record would be certified about one month after SyberJet’s planned debut of its next-generation SJ36 light business jet at NBAA-BACE 2026 in Las Vegas in October. The company bills the SJ36 as a stretched, upgraded successor to the SJ30-2.
The Record Claim
According to SyberJet’s website, the unofficial record flight was conducted on August 18 and covered 1,831 nm of track. The company noted that the average speed of 505.3 mph was for the course recognized by FAI, which is shorter and more direct than the route the aircraft actually flew.
An interactive replay of the flight can be found on the site.
SyberJet said the SJ30-2 beat the previous record set by Embraer’s Phenom 300 in 2013, which it said flew at an average of 339.4 mph. FLYING has reached out to the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), a member of FAI, to verify the official record.
Per the company’s news release, Gordon Bryan piloted the flight with SyberJet CEO Trevor Milton on board. According to the FAA’s registry, the aircraft (N378PG) was manufactured in 2009, the year SJ30-2 production ceased. It is registered to Isso LLC, which TechCrunch reported is the entity that Milton used to evaluate a bid for his former, defunct startup, battery-electric automobile developer Nikola.
The record claim should be viewed with some skepticism given its unofficial status and Milton’s history.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2021 charged Milton with fraud, alleging he and Nikola misled investors. In 2023, he was sentenced by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to four years in prison for securities and wire fraud. In March 2025, President Donald Trump pardoned Milton, and the SEC filed to dismiss its civil enforcement action against him in September. Milton was appointed SyberJet CEO in October.
SyberJet said N378PG will be on display at NBAA-BACE’s Aircraft Connection showcase at Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) in Nevada.
Mounting a Comeback
The SJ30-2 already has three FAI-recognized speed records. Milton in October told Aviation International News that only five of them were built, including one owned by actor Morgan Freeman, and that none were flying at the time.
Milton added that one of the aircraft would be used as a testbed for the SJ36’s avionics and larger Williams International FJ44-4A engines. The SJ30-2 uses FJ44-3AP-2A turbofans and has a top speed of Mach 0.83.
For the nine-passenger SJ36, SyberJet is targeting a top speed of Mach 0.88 and range up to 3,000 nm, which it said would make the model the fastest, farthest-flying light jet in history. The company on its website describes the SJ36 as a “direct evolution” of the SJ30-2 with an additional four feet of cabin length, SyberVision avionics, and fly-by-wire controls.
The model has a $14 million price tag, with SyberJet targeting flight testing in 2027 and certification and deliveries in 2032.
The company plans to unveil the SJ36 at its SyberWorld event in conjunction with NBAA-BACE.