Hinterland Green

Monday, February 1, 2010

Sir Richard Branson Unveils the Necker Nymph, An Underwater Plane

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has unveiled his latest toy -- an underwater plane called Necker Nymph. It can dive to depths of up to 130 feet. Sir Richard reportedly plans to lend the Nymph out to visitors of his luxury Necker Island hideaway. The Necker Nymph can carry a pilot and two visitors on a two-hour trip. Of course, this is for those with deep pockets. A trip on this fascinating addition to his collection will set you back $25,000 a week, after you have forked over a minimum of $88,000 for a seven-night stay on the luxury catamaran, the Necker Belle. This comes on the heels of the Virgin Galactic space ship.

According to the Daily Mail, the luxury sub has a fighter jet technology and is piloted with a joystick. Most subs use ballast for propulsion under the water, the Nymph used downward "lift" on wings to fly down. The Necker Nymph, which is the first of its kind, was designed and built by Graham Hawkes, chief of Hawkes Ocean Technologies.

You have to give Sir Richard Branson credit for being a visionary and seeing past the status quo. Here's a man who built his organization under to Virgin name from a mail order record retailer in 1970 to a corporate powerhouse today that includes 200 branded companies worldwide, employs about 50,000 people in 29 countries.
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