Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LOS ANGELES, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Billionaire British adventurer Richard Branson has set his sights on setting a record for an aircraft to circle the globe California to California non-stop. Daredevil Branson paid for the $2.75 million, ultra-light plane named the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, but will only be the back-up pilot, the London Mirror reported Friday. Advertisement Friend and fellow billionaire Steve Fossett, who completed the first solo around the world balloon flight, will be at the controls for the risky trip. He will have to lie down for the entire 80-hour, 25,000-mile bid, and will fly at up to 52,000 feet in the single-seater craft. A test pilot died preparing for an earlier record attempt. The 39-foot craft was unveiled in California's Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles Thursday. The plane will carry nine tons of military aviation fuel in its 114-feet-long wings and two stabilizing booms. By the time its 34 fuel tanks have been emptied, GlobalFlyer will weigh just two tons. The flight will be either in April or October, Branson said.
