Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/20/hackett_takes_off/
Internode's Hackett to fly new jet around the world
Agile by name, agile by nature
Posted in Business, 20th August 2012 20:00 GMT
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iiNet Board member Simon Hackett has sunk some of the millions he scored by selling ISP Internode into a new plane that he intends to pilot around the planet.
Hackett founded Agile Communications in 1997 and cashed out last year. he has since written a cheque for a Pilatus PC-12 turboprop jet, which an aircraft comparison shopping site suggests [1] is priced at around US$3.3million.
Hackett is fond of Tesla automobiles and is also a renowned aviation enthusiast, hence his intention to fly the six-seat leather-and-mahogany executive-interior-equipped bird home from Pilatus HQ in Stans, Switzerland.
Hackett flagged the start of his mission, departing from Adelaide on the weekend, on his blog [2].
Along with his flight instructor pilot, Hackett will be taking his new toy home from August 23rd, using a scenic route that will see him pass through Switzerland, Crete, Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh, Oman’s Muscat, a pit stop in India, another in Vietnam and then on to Bali and Broome before reaching sweet home Adelaide.
A possible interior treatment for Simon Hackett's new plane
The experience will be video blogged by Hackett who is installing an AV-HD 1080p aviation video camera [3] into the cockpit, which will be interfaced into the aircraft audio system. Hackett said he would “try to capture and record a sense of the experience of flying out of and into a new international airport every day in this amazing aircraft.”
The camera gear also has a special feature which eliminates vision of the prop while filming (don’t you hate it when that happens.) ®