The first-ever owner of the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition has the ultimate voyage in mind

Fancy a helicopter with sex appeal? Look no further than the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, says high-flying Australian techpreneur Jean-Paul Thorbjornsen, who was the first in the world to own one.

By Jamie Nonis

At the age of 10, Jean-Paul Thorbjornsen was being home-schooled. At 16, he was learning to fly. And at 34, he embarked on an epic voyage around the world spanning 21 countries in 41 days – in his own ACH130 Aston Martin Edition helicopter. His story is as unconventional as his bespoke luxury chopper.

Growing up in rural Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia, Thorbjornsen was one of 10 children whose parents, both teachers, chose to home-school. The young lad excelled in math and science and secured himself a place at the University of New South Wales studying aero nautical engineering, and finished top of his class both at university and in pilot training. He then spent more than a decade flying Royal Australian Air Force jets, based in multiple locations across Australia including Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Darwin.

Eight years ago, Thorbjornsen moved into financial technology and has, for the last five years, been the boss of a global fintech firm, which he co-founded. Unsurprisingly, the Australian techpreneur is bullish on Bitcoin – so much so that he named his ACH130 Aston Martin Edition ‘VH-BTC’, the Australian registration for civil aircraft followed by the cryptocurrency code.

“I’ve always loved flying and was looking for a reliable and powerful helicopter that could safely fly my family and friends around. What I love about the ACH130 is the look and the feel, the finish on it – it looks amazing. It oozes sex appeal; it’s a very sexy helicopter,” says Thorbjornsen, chatting with Boulevard at the Singapore Airshow in February.

“Airbus then said, ‘for a small amount extra, you can have this Aston Martin spot’,” he recalls. Thorbjornsen found the price premium “pretty reasonable”, and placed his order for the seven-seater ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, which we understand carries an estimated price tag of €4 million and up.

Arguably unrivalled in style and prestige, and with more sex appeal than the ‘standard’ ACH130, the Aston Martin Edition, as one might expect, borrows styling cues from the supercar company. There are several liveries and cabin interior designs from which to choose, all developed by Aston Martin, including a plush leather two-tone seating embossed with those iconic Aston Martin wings.

“I have absolutely no regrets because it’s an extra-special machine; it creates conversations, it creates inquiries. You wouldn’t have this kind of cross-pollination with the automotive world otherwise, and I have an amazing passion for engineering racing,” says Thorbjornsen, who was involved in Formula SAE, a student design competition organised by SAE International (formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers) during his university days.

The Aston Martin Edition, Thorbjornsen’s third chopper, could have been conveniently delivered to its new owner in Australia, but no, that would have been too “boring” for the highly driven businessman. “I love the freedom of flying and I’m buying the helicopter for exploring and adventure. So I thought it’d be really cool to pick it up from England and fly it back to Australia,” he says.

The book ‘My Adventurous Life’ by Dick Smith – the Australian tycoon, national icon and record-breaking aviator whose autobiography chronicles his daring adventures around the world – provided endless inspiration for Thorbjornsen’s own round-the-world trip. It ended up being a voyage of epic proportions: a total of 10,000 nautical miles flown across 21 countries over 41 days and some 100 flying hours.

“In Europe, going through the Italian Alps and the coastal regions in the south of France, flying past Monaco, was stunning. It was also very cool to be able to fly over the pyramids in Egypt and see them with my own eyes, from my helicopter,” he reminisces.

The incorrigible adventurer is now gearing up for an even more epic expedition. In 2026, Thorbjornsen will set off for another trip around the world, this time with the aim of traversing seven continents as he covers some 30,000 nautical miles over 300 flight hours – in not one, but two helicopters. At the Singapore Airshow, Thorbjornsen signed a purchase agreement for Airbus’ ACH125, which comes with an estimated starting price of €3 million, and will be delivered in 2025.

The single-engine ACH125 is well regarded as a multi-mission workhorse, known for its performance and agility, and for excelling in hot and extreme environments, while low vibration levels in the cabin make for a comfortable ride at high altitudes. These make the ACH125 the perfect aircraft to complement the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition on this next voyage. And when it arrives next year, Thorbjornsen’s fourth helicopter will be additionally specced out for long overwater, multi-terrain and multi-weather environments.

Starting from his hometown in Darwin, the convoy of helicopters, together with one other pilot, will travel to 50 countries as well the North and South Poles over a period of six calendar months. Of the many exhilarating highlights on the coming itinerary, Thorbjornsen is most looking forward to flying past Mount Everest. “You can climb it or fly over it in a commercial jetliner, but to experience the Himalayas first-hand, myself, right there in a helicopter on the mountainside just hits differently,” he enthuses.

The most challenging portion, he anticipates, will be the journey from Antarctica to South Africa. “It’s going to be 2,000 miles over water; that will be a very difficult and exciting leg.”

Why the need for a second helicopter, though? Because Thorbjornsen intends to film the expedition from the sky this time around, with the objective of striking a deal with a TV or media partner such as Netflix, perhaps.

“The idea is already showing commercial viability and we’ve received a lot of interest in this premise of flying around the world, and demonstrating what’s possible with technology – it’s quite a strong narrative,” he explains.

“The second helicopter represents a jump in capability. If you just had a single machine, you can only film looking out. With the second machine, we can film the first machine flying, plus the stuff we’ll see and do.” Then he adds: “One chopper can also rescue the other.”

The ambitious entrepreneur is confident this massive and expensive undertaking will pay off handsomely. “You’ve got the capital costs of the helicopters plus the camera gear and filming costs, and also the operational expenses of the logistics, the fuel, the permits. We’re self-funded, but we believe we can recoup all the operational costs for this trip,” he shares.

He also sees it as a good investment. “The helicopters don’t really depreciate and they’re easily monetisable because they’re utilitarian machines. So I’m not worried about growing a fleet like that, and when I finish the trip, these premium utility helicopters will be very monetisable assets.”

So what other big boys’ toys will Thorbjornsen be adding to his collection? Well, he’s already placed deposits for several helicopters, and at a gala dinner and charity auction in Japan last year, he clinched the winning ¥29 million bid for a replica of Aston Martin’s 2024 Formula 1 race car, with funds raised from the event going towards the Japanese Red Cross. “If you go to any F1 event this year and you see an Aston Martin demo car on display, that’s my vehicle. It’s a full F1 car and it’s got everything minus a gearbox and a powertrain. So I’ll get it after the race season,” he beams.

Anyone else finally convinced to get into crypto?

Read next:

• The interview: Eric Martel, CEO, Bombardier
• Citation Latitude treads the path between convenience and luxury