Planes

Gabriella Somerville Founder and Managing Director of Connectjets

Gabriella Somerville – Founder and Managing Director of Connectjets

The Vintage Magazine recently attended an event at Biggin Hill, in Kent to celebrate the latest model of the world’s most eco-friendly private jet, the Avanti EVO made by the Italian manufacturer, Piaggio Aerospace, hosted by ConnectJets, who are the official agents for the Piaggio Avanti EVO in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

After a presentation, we boarded the plane for a 45 minute demonstration, returning to Biggin Hill all too soon. During the buffet lunch consisting of delicious Italian delicacies accompanied with Prosecco we spoke with Gabriella Somerville who is the founder and Managing Director of ConnectJets and passionate about all things to do with aviation.  We were also very fortunate to meet a professional Pilot called David Scofield, who liked the plane so much that he went along to get the type rating and then had it added to his Commercial Pilot’s License last year.

I therefore asked David if he would kindly put his thoughts on paper for The Vintage Magazine, as his knowledge of the jet’s capabilities would be far more comprehensive than ours.

Private jets are the ultimate ‘status symbol’ amongst the Billionaires’ club, but when you are buying a multi-million dollar jet why not spend a few hundred million dollars on decorating the interior of the plane as well?

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s Airbus A340-300 cost $238 million, but after the luxury remodelling of the inside, it’s estimated that the jet cost him around $600 million.

This super jet can carry 375 passengers and fly for 9000 miles at a time. The billionaire named his jet Bourkhan after his father, a suitable partner for Usmanov’s multimillion dollar yacht which he named after his mother, Dilbar.

However, for the merely ‘exceedingly rich’, rather than  the obscenely rich, the Avanti EVO offers a more modest solution at around £7 million to the problems which they face by making the world’s most ecological private jet, without sacrificing any power.

So, here is David Scofield’s review of this revolutionary aircraft, from A  Pilot’s Point of View, which is very detailed but we are sure that the would be aviators amongst you will enjoy reading this thoroughly informative piece.

Robert Jarman – Founder and Editor of The Vintage Magazine

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‘I suppose society is wonderfully delightful. To be in it is merely a bore. But to be out of it is simply a tragedy’.  Oscar Wilde

There is no better way to arrive at one of the events that make-up the English social Season than by helicopter.  It avoids the need to leave home two hours earlier than you should have to, just to avoid the traffic jams, and enables you to arrive at your destination looking well groomed and relaxed, although ladies are advised to wait until the rotor blades have come to a standstill if they do not want to have that famous ‘Bridget Jones’ convertible car look!

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Agusta 109 outside Goodwood House

Whilst researching all the various companies which are based at Goodwood, I came across Elite Helicopters, who are based at Goodwood Aerodrome, and provide an excellent service anywhere in Britain, and Western Europe.

Clients use them for business, because over shorter distances (say up to 100 miles) Helicopters are the most efficient way of getting there, but many people now use them for leisure, including getting to Shoots, going Skiing, and taking them to holiday destinations, so the range  of uses has increased, with the added bonus that they save so much time.
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Fleet of Helicopters

The sell-out 2012 Goodwood Revival achieved a record 146,000 attendees over the three day event (14th-16th September) in glorious Autumn sunshine.  Motor sport enthusiasts and retro-fashion fans flocked to Goodwood  to join in the fun and celebrations at the world’s largest historic motor race meeting, firmly establishing the Revival as the ‘must attend’ event of the year.
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AC Cobras credit Giles Babbidge