BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- British entrepreneur Richard Brans on and American adventurer Steve Fossett have successfully test flown an aircraft that will attempt the first solo, non-stop, non-refueled circum-navigation of the world, CCTV reported Monday.

    Branson, the Virgin company chief & Globalflyer reserve pilot, has selected American adventurer Steve Fossett to pilot the Virgin "Globalflyer" to make the new world record attempt next January.

    In California's Mojave Desert, reserve pilot Branson watched Fossett make a successful test flight last Wednesday.

    Branson said: "First of all there is the actual challenge itself which is pretty incredible and that is that the pilot has to sit awake for 80 hours, it takes off with an enormous load of fuel. It is an experimental path and it has every chance. Then when it comes to land it will be incredibly light so it's not going to be easy to control, but these test flights will hopefully help iron out some of the issues."

    At the start of the world record attempt flight, the plane will weigh nearly 10 tons. If it completes the 80-hour flight over 37,000 kilometers, it will have shed more than 8 tons of fuel to land at its dry weight of a little under 2 tons. The aircraft will fly at nearly 14 kilometers at speeds in excess of 250 knots. It's also scheduled to fly 75 percent further than the range record for jet-powered planes. Enditem

    (CCTV.com)