As the number of Light Sport airplanes increases and more pilots are opting to forego the third class medical and simply fly Light Sport, we were curious to see how the insurance market is for liability coverage for those airplanes.
For more than 30 years, the most popular liability policy in aviation has provided coverage of $1 million with sublimits of $100,000. Owners sleep soundly at night, confident that they have an insurance pool of a million bucks should they roll Ol Bessy into a ball. These same owners have the personal net worth necessary to own an airplane and often have auto and homeowners insurance that has at least $1 million in liability coverage.
There are only some 200,000 aircraft in the U.S.-there are more cars than that in a large town-so why any profit-oriented insurer would enter such a restricted market seems to defy logic. Yet, in the last decade, the number of aviation insurance underwriters has gone from the old, hard core of nine to 14, an increase of more than 50 percent. The result is predictable-with a relatively large number of companies competing in a limited market, insurance premiums are low and owners have little trouble getting coverage.
One of the bugaboos of operating most seaplanes is that once the engine is running, the seaplane is moving forward. To stop moving, you have to either shut the engine off or hit something-neither of which may be desirable. Maneuvering a seaplane in tight quarters, especially when there is a wind blowing or current flowing, can be challenging at the least and expensive if things get out of hand.
If the all-metal, high-build-hour M20 series is a sunset product, Mooney figures it will find some sales in the twilight. In addition to investing heavily in M10T/J design and production, the company has poured at least $1.4 million into its Kerrville, Texas, plant, where Mooneys have been built since 1946.
Frustrated buyers who complain about the stratospheric prices of new airplanes sometimes argue-rightly or wrongly-that manufacturers could offer cheaper products if they would just build simpler airplanes using more automation in construction. With its surprise announcement of two new aircraft at last falls Zhuhai Airshow in China, Mooney may be about to test the theory. At the least, Mooney is poised to muscle into a market it heretofore barely dabbled in: trainers.
Dry chemical extinguishers have long been attractive because they are less than half the price of Halon and Halon alternative units. A visit to our local Home Depot store and a quick survey on the web found prices for 5B:C and larger dry chem extinguishers in the $35 to $70 range. However, the FAA specifically recommends against using them in aircraft in AC 20-42D. In general, dry chemicals are not recommended for hand extinguishers for internal aircraft use, due to the potential for corrosion damage to electronic equipment, the possibility of visual obscuration if the agent were discharged into the flight deck area, and the cleanup problems from their use.
The idea of an inflight fire rightfully scares the bejabbers out of pilots. Uncontrolled combustion in a confined space is ugly enough-adding altitude and speed to the mix can make a fire lethal in short order. Its no wonder that pilots dealing with an inflight fire have jumped out of their aircraft even though they had no parachute. While inflight fires are rare, we think that every aircraft should have an effective fire extinguisher in the cabin where the pilot can reach it quickly and easily.
I read Stephen Phoenixs letter in the April 2015 issue of Aviation Consumer, where he effectively states that the Piper J-3 Cubs fuel tank location is not an issue, and that your article is irresponsible because you said it is unsafe. His assertion is wholly unfounded. I was flying my fully restored and meticulously maintained 1937 J-3 Cub at Danbury Airport in Connecticut. While departing a short runway, the engine sputtered. I started a right turn to a long runway and as the nose lowered, the engine sprang back to life. Wishing not to make a forced landing, I made the mistake of turning back to the original heading. The engine quit. Facing a forest and a swamp, I committed the forbidden sin and did a 180-degree turn.
As we researched this article, we heard about a turboprop owner who was renting a single-pilot jet. When asked how he was insuring the jet, he said that he paid a lot of money for insurance on his turboprop and it had better cover him in the jet. He then got concerned and called his broker. Fortunately, his particular policy covered him when he was flying other airplanes-but thats not always the case. If youre going to rent a jet, making sure that appropriate insurance coverage is in place is a huge part of the deal.
That was proven at this years National Training Aircraft Symposium held at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. The annual event gathered alphabet group leaders, aircraft and avionics manufacturers, and educators from many major aviation colleges and universities. The major focus at this years NTAS event was addressing the challenges of equipping the training fleet for the 2020 ADS-B mandate. But it was also an opportunity for a sales pitch.
Well start with the good news that came out of our examination of the 100 most recent Aviat Husky accidents: There were extraordinarily few engine/mechanical accidents and absolutely no accidents that were fuel related. In our accident surveys, we expect to see about 15 engine/mechanical accidents-there were three, and two of those were apparently due to carb ice.
