Branson aims to fly high and break non-stop record

BRITISH mogul Richard Branson unveiled his latest flying machine yesterday a futuristic plane which he hopes will fly non-stop around the world in less than 80 hours.

GlobalFlyer is the Virgin boss's latest record breaking challenge in a move away from his ballooning efforts. The record breaking flight is expected to take place in April, but could be put back to October depending on test flights and favourable winds.

The single piloted, single engine turbo fan aircraft which will fly at around 50,000ft has been built in the Mojave Desert, California. Mr Branson, who saw the finished plane for the first time yesterday, said: "It is just a beautiful looking machine. It looks as magnificent as the project it is an awesome project and I wish there were two seats."