Insurance for no or low time tailwheel pilot

[Blw2]

Is this a showstopper issue.... in terms of high prices for insurance relative to teh same model with nosewheel I mean?

I'm just over 300 hours total time with just over 10 hours conventional gear...but it was all a long time ago and not at all congruent.... I never actually got my endorsement. Most of it was in a Champ 7AC, little bit in cessna 140, and just a tiny bit in both C-120 and an old Decathlon

daydreaming about RV-14, maybe RV-9...but more recently I'm most interested in an RV-15...as a retirement project in a few years time

and in the interim I've been toying with the idea of picking up something like a cessna 140 or a Champ (although I don't have a hangar would hate to park a champ outside) as a cheap way to get something to fly that's economical, not a high value so should be relatively cheap to insure. It would be a great time builder to get back into flying and build tailwheel time.

The most fun I had in all my flying was in that Champ.

 

[Desert Rat]

I'm not flying yet so it may have gone up, but the builders insurance on my RV7 is convertible to all risk when I'm ready to fly and the rate I was quoted a while back was somewhere around $2k per year for $175k of hull coverage.

The company I'm with requires a minimum of 25 hours of tailwheel time to start, and the rate will go down several hundred dollars when I hit 100 hours tailwheel time.

Lot's of other factors go into that though- Other pilot experience (I'm a multi-thousand hour CFII) Hangar or tie down, runway lengths at your home airport, etc.etc.etc.

Your best bet is to call Leah at Gallagher and just ask for a quote with your actual parameters so you're not getting this all 2nd hand.

 

[Sam Buchanan]

No point in you wasting keyboard time on your question, get a valid answer by calling the broker referenced above or Skysmith. Talking to a broker is the only way you will get the info you need.

https://skysmith.com/

 

[RV6_flyer]

My LIABILITY only insurance went up this year more than any other year. It was pretty much flat without change for the past 20-years. It is still under $400 per year as I have over 3,000 tailwheel time in RVs. I am still getting the BEST rate possible. I had over 200 hours total time and 50-hours tailwheel when I made first flight in my RV back in September 1997.

The only way you will know what you are going to pay is to follow Sam's advice above.

 

[msstahl]

Data Point

Just a data point here but I received a quote 30 days ago. 110 hours with nearly 25 hours tail wheel to insure my RV-8 was $12,000 a year. I thought it was a joke at first....

 

[BobTurner]

Just a data point here but I received a quote 30 days ago. 110 hours with nearly 25 hours tail wheel to insure my RV-8 was $12,000 a year. I thought it was a joke at first....

Let me guess: Avemco?
Call a broker recommended above.

 

[PhatRV]

Insurance Update

Just a data point here but I received a quote 30 days ago. 110 hours with nearly 25 hours tail wheel to insure my RV-8 was $12,000 a year. I thought it was a joke at first....

I have only a few more hours than you but my quote came out about the same, sky high like yours minus a few dollars . Plus it requires 10 hours dual + 5 hours solo before it kicks in. But at least I know before making the first flight in my RV8, from the insurance perspective, my risk factor is off the chart.

Let me guess: Avemco?
Call a broker recommended above.

It's the low hours both of us have that drive the rate.

 

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

Don't forget that there's an EAA insurance program.

You'll probably get the same (or almost) rate through any broker, as they then talk to the underwriter who actually issues the insurance. The EAA plan has a few minor benefits, though.

And it's considered bad form to talk to multiple brokers.

 

[pazmanyflyer]

Here's my data for what I did in June this year.

Broker: Gallagher
Rep: Leah Ringeisen
Insurer: AIG
$150K hull (ground & flight "in-motion")
Aircraft RV-7 (first flight 10.8.2023)
Me: 160+ hr PP, 30 hrs TW, 5 hours transition with Mike Seager
$3922.00

 

[spatsch]

With all the stuff happening at Vans I am sure the 15 is out a couple more years. That gives you plenty of time to pick up more taildragger time. You will have fun doing so, you get your money back on the insurance rate or at least partially and you will be saver when the time comes to fly….. .

I am paying 1200$ on my RV-8 but I got lots of taildragger time at this point…. .

Oliver