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After banking the proceeds of iiNet’s $105 million cash-and-shares takeover of his Internode ISP operation, Adelaide high-flier (in all senses of the term) Simon Hackett has bought himself a new Swiss toy.
He has acquired a brand-new $3 million Pilatus PC-12 turbo-prop aircraft to go with his electric-powered Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport and his Stemme powered glider, and tomorrow begins flying the Pilatus back to Adelaide in an 11-day mission.
He’s installed another toy in the cockpit: a $499 Datatoy video camera that uses technology to eliminate the twirling prop from its scenic HD recording of the trip.
The natty Pilatus PC-12s are a common sight in outback Australia: the Royal Flying Doctor Service has 31 of them, and the WA and NT cops also have several. But they’re outfitted in rather more spartan furnishings than Hackett’s six-seater executive model with its plush leather and mahogany trim.
The PC-12 can be flown by a single pilot, cruises at 500km/h and – being pressurised – has a ceiling of 30,000ft. It can take off in 450 metres and land in 228: handy in outback SA.
While it has a range of up to 4100km, Hackett is planning a leisurely trip home from Stans, Switzerland, with stopovers in Crete; Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt); Muscat (Oman); Agra; Chiang Rai; Ho Chi Minh City; Bali; and Broome.
“This will be the first time I’ve ever been to any of these places. What a way to get there!” says the Internode chief in his online blog.
