Insurance Premium Reduction?

Sounds like this is a con for selling insurance doesn’t it? Insurance premiums and taxes only go one way, right? Well, for sure taxes going forward. But, in the case of insurance premiums there is a bit of good news that I recently took advantage of that I thought I would pass on to those who might be interested. Having said that, I must admit that the premium for next year will be higher than this year regardless of who is in Washington so I guess the old adage is still true. But, my Sting is insured with Avemco and they offer a ten percent premium reduction if you do two things. You get a 5% reduction if you participate in a safety program like the FAA Wings program. I attended a one night seminar put on by the AOPA which qualified. AOPA provides a certificate via email showing that you attended. I simply forwarded this to Avemco and -- voila! -- my premium was reduced by 5%.

The second 5% is issued if you take two hours of dual with a CFI. Biannual time cannot be used. To get this 5% of course will cost you something when you pay the cost of the dual. As you will see, there still is a net gain for me after paying for the dual instruction. But like I told the CFI, I would much rather give my money to a struggling CFI than to an insurance company, (sorry Avemco). To get the additional 5% reduction I copied the CFI entries in my log book and faxed it to Avemco. Now I achieved a 10% reduction, or in the real world, 10% off the increased 09/10 premium :-( Did I recently hear someplace that taxes and insurance premiums only go in one direction?

Let’s analyze my numbers to see what these exercises accomplished for me.
My policy is for $100,000 injury per person, $1M property damage, and $100,000 hull damage. The original premium pre-reductions was $2222.00. After the reductions it was reduced to $2000 even or a savings of $222.00. I get some additional premium reduction because of decades of accident free history with Avemco but I’m not aware of how much this is. Subtract $80 cost of dual time and the real savings is $142.00. Since I do not fly in Wisconsin during the winter months, the Sting is taken off from flight status and put into hibernation and Avemco charges reduced in-storage price. So, my actual saving is something less.

I’m not sure if other insurers offer similar money saving incentives to encourage safety and training but if they do not, maybe it would behoove many insureds to whine in an attempt to get them to match their competitor’s offer.

Private Airport Tucked Away In The Wisconsin River Valley

What's More...

Taking dual instruction can be fun. As pilots, we tend to get into habits in our techniques and destinations. When someone else is calling the shots we are forced to deviate from our norm and break out of our mold

Here's an example. I am totally acquainted with Southern Wisconsin from flying over it for decades (Including Oshkosh by the way). However, when I left with the CFI for our dual ride, he suggested we go to a private field owned by someone he knew. This field is in an area that I have flown over probably a hundred times and had never noticed its existence. It is in an area adjacent to the Wisconsin River valley that connects to the Mississippi River some miles down the valley. It consists of high wooded hills and narrow steep valleys draining toward the river. He directed me to the field which lay along the bottom of a narrow valley about a quarter mile wide nearly invisible unless you viewed it in the direction of the runway.

We entered downwind over the hills alongside the runway, less than a hundred feet over the trees. The runway was not visible from this position. At the end of the ridge a valley crossed the ridge which gave room to descend and make a tight base leg and turn to final which now brought the runway into view. The CFI instructed me to stay on the far left side of the runway since there was a shed tight along the right side of the runway half way and any deviation on the roll out could make life interesting. The landing was made with no problem onto relatively smooth grass.

When we stopped, the owner strode over, interested in what this beautiful aircraft was that graced his private aerodrome. He was impressed! He owns and flies an Ercoupe from this field. When it was time to depart, the field owner suggested we depart downwind since there is a ridge that crosses the upwind end of the field and he said climbing over it with his Ercoupe left not much to spare. There was not much wind in the valley so we did depart downwind but I’m sure the Sting would have cleared the ridge with no problem. To outperform an Ercoupe climb rate does not make me overly proud.

It was a fun and interesting stop. On a later trip over this area on a different day, would you believe I could not find this airport again to photograph? I circled and probed the area for twenty minutes and never found that valley again. Maybe it was just a dream. I was directed there the first time so had paid not much attention to exactly where it was and all the myriad of valleys in that area look the same. After some later direction from the CFI and a look with Google Earth I found it on a later flight and took some pictures. It was no dream after all!

Ron & Nic At Reedsburg Muni (C35)

Unsolicited Kudos for the Sting

The CFI I flew this mission with was Nic Huppert with Solverson Aviation in Reedsburg, WI (C35). He has CFI, CFII, and MEI ratings. He regularly flies Cessna 210, 310, Beechcraft A36TC, Bonanza, Mooney, Cessna 172, and Ercoupe. He has flown several light sport aircraft as well in his instruction capacity, including Technam, CT, and others. He, of course, was anxious to get some experience with the Sting that he had not flown before. On climb out, I turned over the controls to him and he executed some maneuvers. We made the airport rounds one of which I shared above. Upon landing back at Reedsbug, Nic asked if he could take a trip around the pattern which he then did. Upon exiting the Sting, he spoke with admiration of the Sting’s performance and feel. He said, quote: ”This is the first light sport I like. It flies like a real airplane. It has amazing performance!”

Another Sting convert. 

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