Experimentals

I spent all day — it was a Monday — with my plane, poring over each system part and preflight check until I was satisfied the only tests left were those that must be answered in the air. It was late when I got home, and at least 1 a.m. before I finally made it […]

My company specializes in providing pilots with the lowest term life rates available … if you qualify medically. Typically, an insurance company requires a life insurance medical exam before they can approve your policy and provide you with a final premium rate. After taking your application for life insurance, your agent will call a paramedical […]

True story.A guy named Chuck flies 757s for a major airline, and builds and flies an RV-8. Flying the RV-8 is quite different from his day job: The 757 has a glass cockpit, side-by-side seating, and trainer wheel up front, and is designed for straight-and-level flight; RV-8 has steam gauges, fore and aft seating, is […]

Increased security, increased perception of risk, increased litigation — the aviation insurance industry has had a lot of challenges recently, and most of us have seen the effects of those challenges when we paid our severely increased insurance premiums. But those premiums are for hull and liability (and sometimes medical) insurance — what about life […]

It’s wintertime again; the third winter since I started on this little adventure in airplane building. The fourth year on the Pietenpol project rolled around in late November. As I’ve said before, trying to predict when a project like this will be finished, or even when a component will be done, is a dangerous thing. […]

In uncertain times like these, when insurance rates are skyrocketing and good coverage is hard to find, aircraft owners and pilots have lots of questions for their insurance agents.Tom Chappel of CS&A Aviation Insurance answers these “Most-Often-Asked Questions From Clients and Friends.” There are only eight standard aviation-underwriting companies and one direct writer remaining in […]

Richard Johnson of Winter Haven, Florida, isn’t your average flight instructor. For one thing, he is well past his early twenties, which the silvery gray hair poking out from under his baseball cap attests to. He has no particular interest in building hours to take him to the next rung of the professional pilot ladder, […]

Think you’ve got everything you need for that Caribbean trip? Looked up that insurance policy, just to make sure? Be careful — your insurer’s definition of “the Caribbean” may not include the particular island to which you’re flying. Tom Chappel of CS&A Aviation Insurance discusses the variety of ways insurers define their coverage area. In […]

Click any image to view a larger version. (All images open in new windows.) Elegant, the Cessna 195 is just flat out elegant. The Panel isn’t exactly original, but it is straightforward and well equipped. From Georgia to Florida and back again, this patriotic RV waves the flag where ever it goes. While not available […]

While the majority of the country was settling in for a long struggle with the slush and snow of early winter, the gates to Sun n Fun’s Lakeland, Fla., facility were thrown open for a new special event. The pre-Super Bowl weekend of January 25th and 26th saw an RV Fly-In take place that may […]