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On April 14th I wrote a post called "Looking Rich". The post was about a trip I was about to take with one of the richest men in the world. Sometime in the 1980's he sold his company for $10 billion dollars. God knows what that is worth now. Anyway, the flight was to be on his private jet. I also said I was going to try and have some fun with a buddy when he inevitably asked me about the discomfort of flying, he not knowing how I was going. Well, I didn't run into the buddy before the flight but I still have a shot at him now that I am back.
A few points from the trip...
This was no mere private jet, like say, a Gulfstream. This was a private jetliner completely remodeled with a custom exterior paint scheme. There was also a private bedroom with bath, kitchen, fore and aft seating areas with couches, and huge overstuffed swivel chairs.
Breakfast was a choice of three kinds of omelettes, fruit, juice, coffee, pastries, cheese plates etc. Also, the major newspapers and magazines laid out.
Five man crew. Pilot, co-pilot, navigator, and two stewardess. There was only five of us.
Only flight I was ever on where the door to the cockpit was left open. I wandered in, sat down and talked to the flight crew.
The avionics had been updated and it was a real hotrod. I noticed once we were going over 600 miles per hour.
I asked if I could take a snapshot and was told, "Take all the pictures you want", so I took a few.
When we landed at our first stop we were at an airport with no airline service. The last time I flew in I had to drive a hundred miles to get to this town.
We took a limousine to our destination for our three day meetings.
We stayed at a hotel downtown and the plane crew stayed at a different hotel near the airport. However, they were a cell phone call away. If we wanted, the owner could have picked up the phone and said, "We are going to... Brazil, Paris, Cairo..." anywhere.
The last day we had an evening party and the crew was invited out to join us. I spent some time with the crew and asked them, "Is this a dream job?". I wasn't sure because someone had told me that a top pilot might want to fly more advanced modern aircraft. But what the pilot said was, "This plane is more fun to fly, all the newer stuff is auto-pilot driven, not much fun to fly." I'm not a pilot so I don't know, but this sounded right.
One other thing. I had a good long time to interact with the billionaire. He was definitely a little eccentric but not at all pretentious. It was clear that he had had great wealth for decades. Presidential candidates were at his house, regularly, and always have been.
The money brought comfort and convenience. If it saved him time and hassle he spent the money, no matter how much. But when it came to personal stuff... he wore a $30 watch, "I always have, don't care about that stuff." He carried a $100 briefcase and his sport coat looked like that of a somewhat rumpled professor, with the lining slightly protruding at the back.
Quirky, outspoken, a little irascible, but not rude, dominating or overbearing, my host was altogether that rare individual, rich but with enough class to somehow pull it all off and leave a good impression.
After our meetings I was scheduled to fly with just the host to New York. That was a story in itself. I then turned back into a pumpkin and spent a week exploring Manhattan at a less exalted level.
There is more, but that is a snapshot of the first week of my trip. The rest will have to wait.
boont
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