 Operation Top Flight : On 6 December 1959 , the second XF4H @-@ 1 performed a zoom climb to a world record 98 @,@ 557 ft ( 30 @,@ 040 m ) . Commander Lawrence E. Flint , Jr . , USN accelerated his aircraft to Mach 2 @.@ 5 ( 1 @,@ 650 mph ; 2 @,@ 660 km / h ) at 47 @,@ 000 ft ( 14 @,@ 330 m ) and climbed to 90 @,@ 000 ft ( 27 @,@ 430 m ) at a 45 ° angle . He then shut down the engines and glided to the peak altitude . As the aircraft fell through 70 @,@ 000 ft ( 21 @,@ 300 m ) , Flint restarted the engines and resumed normal flight . 
