British tycoon Richard Branson stole the show at Farnborough Wednesday, announcing that he and his family would be on Virgin Galactic's first trip into space, as Airbus and Boeing (IW 500/15) eked out more plane orders.
Branson was showcasing a full size mock-up of his SpaceShipTwo (SS2) aircraft at the biennial Farnborough airshow near London -- a key event in the aviation sector calendar that typically sees planemakers Airbus and Boeing battle for orders.
"Obviously this is the most exciting adventure I have ever undertaken," Branson, founder of the Virgin Galactic space program, told AFP.
"It's both an entrepreneurial and personal adventure in being able to build a spaceship and ask my [two adult] children to come along."
