Once the wreck has cooled, the hard part starts. Will your insured value make you whole?

by Jon Doolittle

Flying is expensive because airplanes are expensive and helicopters even more so. For most light airplane owners who fly less than 100 hours each year, owning the airplane actually costs more than operating it. Due to the high cost of airplanes, as well as the high cost of repairing them, buying the right amount of insurance to match the hull value is the only way to protect an expensive investment.

When deciding how much physical damage coverage to buy, there are two aspects to the equation, depending upon what happens to the airplane. The first is the more obvious: If the airplane is picked up by a cyclone and…