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RNB

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My cell provider service is not working, so unable to call Avemco.

I am investigating insurance today as I have a prebuy lined up and an accepted offer. I am a 311 hr private pilot, instrument rated. No documented time in type (RV10). Zach was busy when I was up there in May, not sure how easily I can spend time up there with him with school starting in August. I am trying to make some calls and learn more.

I am a bit willing to self insure for a while, will still get instruction in high performance, and other instruction until comfortable with the plane (if the sale goes through).

My local airport will want some documented coverage.

How to proceed from here with training, HP endorsement, and best route for insurance? Any carriers likely to work better with me and my hours/ratings/situation?

I might post as a separate topic, but if ferry flight home with RV10 proficient instructor can knock some of this out it would be nice. Anyone to suggest?

Thanks
 
Avemco requires 25 hrs actual time in retractable gear for an RV10! Just a couple hrs with an instructor.
 
I can't imagine taking on the financial risk of an RV10 without insurance. Went through this last year, I'm an experienced pilot, but had 0 in make & model. To be honest, I got quotes literally all over the place. Avemco was compeititve-ish, but probably mid pack. I would up with better options calling three independent brokers. None would issue a certificate of insurance with 0 hours. One would at 3. Most were 5-10, and I selected one that required 5 hours and was priced near the very lowest.

First renewal, I had 300+ in model (I fly a lot), and my rate dropped by 50%.
 
RNB said:
My cell provider service is not working, so unable to call Avemco.

I am investigating insurance today as I have a prebuy lined up and an accepted offer. I am a 311 hr private pilot, instrument rated. No documented time in type (RV10). Zach was busy when I was up there in May, not sure how easily I can spend time up there with him with school starting in August. I am trying to make some calls and learn more.

I am a bit willing to self insure for a while, will still get instruction in high performance, and other instruction until comfortable with the plane (if the sale goes through).

My local airport will want some documented coverage.

How to proceed from here with training, HP endorsement, and best route for insurance? Any carriers likely to work better with me and my hours/ratings/situation?

I might post as a separate topic, but if ferry flight home with RV10 proficient instructor can knock some of this out it would be nice. Anyone to suggest?

Thanks
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Call a broker. Let him/her find you a good company at a reasonable premium. Take any insurance advice you get on the internet with a large grain of salt. No two pilots and no two insurance carriers are alike and internet advice is unlikely to apply to you. Commonly used brokers that are Experimental and RV-friendly/knowledgeable are BWI and Gallagher. I'm sure there are others, but those are the two that I know best.

When I ferried my airplane back (500+ miles), my CFI/buddy came with me and I logged the time as dual. That ferry time had almost no impact on making me competent in that airplane. My insurance company (AIG at that time) wanted 2 hours dual with a CFI who had at least 25 hours in a side-by-side RV but I did 16 hours dual since I was also brushing up on instrument currency, as well as the ins and outs of an all-glass panel, which I had never flown with. With 310 hours TT, I'd be surprised if you'd find an RV10 to be as plug-and-play as you anticipate. As you mentioned, the airport required insurance before they'd let me lease a hangar. I can't imagine owning an RV-10 with only self-insurance.

ETA: I found AVEMCO to not even be close to being in the ballpark relative to premium
 
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MacCool said:
Call a broker. Let him/her find you a good company at a reasonable premium. Take any insurance advice you get on the internet with a large grain of salt. No two pilots and no two insurance carriers are alike and internet advice is unlikely to apply to you. Commonly used brokers that are Experimental and RV-friendly/knowledgeable are BWI and Gallagher. I'm sure there are others, but those are the two that I know best.

When I ferried my airplane back (500+ miles), my CFI/buddy came with me and I logged the time as dual. My insurance company (AIG at that time) wanted 2 hours dual with a CFI who had at least 25 hours in a side-by-side RV. As you mentioned, the airport required insurance before they'd let me lease a hangar.

ETA: I found AVEMCO to not even be close to being in the ballpark relative to premium
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Thanks, on hold with BWI right now
 
Carl Froehlich said:
I suggest calling Katie. This group has always provided the best deal for me.

Carl
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Thanks Carl.
BWI made it sound like they handle insurance with 13 of the 14 different insurers. The 14th is Avemco. Agent suggested that Gallagher and others like Katie likely handle the same product lines. Will call Katie if BWI does not follow up.
 
I wasn't sure if it was a taboo to discuss companies - but I would up with BWI. My policy was underwritten by IAT. Very pleased with the speed of communications with BWI.
 
I bought an RV-10 about 2 years ago in a somewhat similar situation (private/instrument with about 380 hours). I used Gallagher for insurance and at that time, AIG was the only carrier willing to insure me then and required that the plane be hangared. They also required 5 hours of dual and another 5 hours of solo before being able to take passengers. At that time, I had 30-50 hours each in a C182, DA40 as well as a fair amount of tailwheel & aerobatic time. My first year premium was over $4500 (though I found out later that there was a screw up between the broker and the carrier and the fact that I had an instrument rating did not get reflected in the quote and I didn't catch it when I got the statement of coverage - to their credit, they gave me a credit for the amount the following year).

I found the low-wing experience from the DA40 helped a lot in making the transition to the -10 relatively straight-forward. When it came time for my renewal, I was on track to have 150 hours in the plane in the first 12 months and the premium went down by about $1400 (part of it was the credit for my instrument rating from the previous year). I was told that 500 hours TT and 100 hours of time in type are important milestones so plan to get that in the first 12 months if possible. Also, Gallagher was able to get quotes from multiple carriers for the renewal and I chose to renew with AIG.

Vas
 
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+ 1 for Gallagher and the Team there. They have specialists for RVs and have always gotten me the best deal. Usually more than I wanted to spend, of course. But that's the market at my age. Building more time is the key they tell me. Good reason to fly more as if we needed one.
All the best.
 
RNB said:
Thanks Carl.
BWI made it sound like they handle insurance with 13 of the 14 different insurers. The 14th is Avemco. Agent suggested that Gallagher and others like Katie likely handle the same product lines. Will call Katie if BWI does not follow up.
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Yes, my experience too. Gallagher and BWI have both been very responsive. I currently use Gallagher and insure with Global. No regrets. Renewals are all done online and very straightforward.
 
RNB said:
My cell provider service is not working, so unable to call Avemco.

I am investigating insurance today as I have a prebuy lined up and an accepted offer. I am a 311 hr private pilot, instrument rated. No documented time in type (RV10). Zach was busy when I was up there in May, not sure how easily I can spend time up there with him with school starting in August. I am trying to make some calls and learn more.

I am a bit willing to self insure for a while, will still get instruction in high performance, and other instruction until comfortable with the plane (if the sale goes through).

My local airport will want some documented coverage.

How to proceed from here with training, HP endorsement, and best route for insurance? Any carriers likely to work better with me and my hours/ratings/situation?

I might post as a separate topic, but if ferry flight home with RV10 proficient instructor can knock some of this out it would be nice. Anyone to suggest?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I switched from Avemco and got insured with Global through BWI. I had 200+ hours in my RV9A at the time (< 400 total) and saved 75% on my bill.
 
Some random thoughts.
1. Insurance. Avemco does their own direct selling; everyone else uses independent brokers. So, in principle, you only need to call one (I use Gallagher, they advertise here, I’m happy). Expect your first year’s premium to be expensive.
2. Your airport probably only requires liability insurance. If so, liability only is quite inexpensive. Only you can decide if your finances and personality (ask yourself: if the engine quits, will I do what’s best for the people (like ditch in the Hudson) or will I try to save the airplane?) are okay with no hull coverage.
3. I’m an RV-10 owner and cfii. I’d offer you transition training if I lived in the southeast, which I don’t. But yes, imho, the previous poster is mostly correct: a lot of transition training is landings and takeoffs, not long distance cruise. And a lot of the rest is talking, especially if the new plane has unfamiliar avionics (don’t discount the time needed to go ‘steam to glass’, if that’s the case.) But you can get in some useful talking about the avionics, range, wt and bal, etc. (commonly done in ‘ground training’) while ferrying. You can also practice changing altitudes just to get used to the CS prop with power changes. IMHO the CS (“High Performance”) endorsement is only a very small part of the nominal transition training. A lot is just getting used to the speed.
 
BobTurner said:
A lot is just getting used to the speed.
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So true. I found it was no problem transitioning from my old Warrior to the -9A. Both are forgiving airplanes that are easy to fly. But WOW the difference in time-to-climb, especially during cruise, was startling.
 
Dugaru said:
So true. I found it was no problem transitioning from my old Warrior to the -9A. Both are forgiving airplanes that are easy to fly. ]But WOW the difference in time-to-climb, especially during cruise, was startling.
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The deck angle at Vy was kind of surprising...
 
vas4vans said:
I bought an RV-10 about 2 years ago in a somewhat similar situation (private/instrument with about 380 hours). I used Gallagher for insurance and at that time, AIG was the only carrier willing to insure me then and required that the plane be hangared. They also required 5 hours of dual and another 5 hours of solo before being able to take passengers. At that time, I had 30-50 hours each in a C182, DA40 as well as a fair amount of tailwheel & aerobatic time. My first year premium was over $4500 (though I found out later that there was a screw up between the broker and the carrier and the fact that I had an instrument rating did not get reflected in the quote and I didn't catch it when I got the statement of coverage - to their credit, they gave me a credit for the amount the following year).

I found the low-wing experience from the DA40 helped a lot in making the transition to the -10 relatively straight-forward. When it came time for my renewal, I was on track to have 150 hours in the plane in the first 12 months and the premium went down by about $1400 (part of it was the credit for my instrument rating from the previous year). I was told that 500 hours TT and 100 hours of time in type are important milestones so plan to get that in the first 12 months if possible. Also, Gallagher was able to get quotes from multiple carriers for the renewal and I chose to renew with AIG.

Vas
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What kind of hull value did you insure for? What plane?
 
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