A Falling Weight Just Broke the Sound Barrier with Tom Stanton's Supersonic Trebuchet

Europe Climate Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:01:32 GMT Moderate confidence — 64/100

Tom Stanton has spent years chasing a number that gravity itself seemed to forbid.
On a quiet field somewhere in the UK, a 40-kilogram mass dropped a short distance, spun a carbon-fiber arm past 2,300 revolutions per minute, and sent a 4-gram projectile into the air at 776 miles per hour.
That is nine miles per hour past the speed of sound.

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Tom Stanton has spent years chasing a number that gravity itself seemed to forbid.
On a quiet field somewhere in the UK, a 40-kilogram mass dropped a short distance, spun a carbon-fiber arm past 2,300 revolutions per minute, and sent a 4-gram projectile into the air at 776 miles per hour.
That is nine miles per hour past the speed of sound.

Sources: Techeblog