Richard Branson-backed mini-concorde that can fly from London to New York in 3.5 hours is unveiled

Claimed to be the 'world's fastest civil aircraft ever made', the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator created by Denver-based boom is due to take off on its first test flight in late 2017. Richard Branson (pictured inset) and his Virgin Galactic space firm backed the development of the plane. The hope is that the prototype will eventually be scaled up to produce the Boom Passenger Airliner. The airline tycoon has confirmed that Virgin has options to buy 10 of the recently revealed supersonic Boom jets, which will be capable of flying at 1,451mph - about 100mph faster than Concorde - and reaching New York from London in three and a half hours