Virgin Orbit 'Cosmic Girl' 747 almost ready

[underfire]

The 747 from Virgin is in test flights after being modified with the rocket launch system.

pretty interesting stuff, and a great use for the Queen.

They were joined by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, city councilmembers and Long Beach Airport officials who greeted Cosmic Girl and flight crew with a champagne toast and water canon salute. The 747-400 was crewed by Cosmic Girl's chief pilot Kelly Latimer and co-pilot Richard Nelson.

For those of you that know Buzz.


Virgin Orbit's 747-400 Rocket Launch Platform Lands in Long Beach Airport - SpaceRef Business (http://spaceref.biz/company/virgin-orbits-747-400-rocket-launch-platform-lands-in-long-beach-airport.html)

[waffler]

Very nice and all that but I don't think that I am the only one to view Virgin Galactic as
1. a vanity exercise by Richard Branson
2. A money pit by similarly vain arabs
And possibly a pyramid scheme to provide a bucket list tick by rich folk.
I suspect it will end in tears but at least it is not my money unlike Concorde.