Insurance Costs.....How much will it go down as gyro time goes up?

[Jason312]

Hi Folks,

I've been getting quotes for gyro insurance and the price is CRAZY EXPENSIVE!!!!
Here is what I have and am looking for.
I have Commercial w/instrument in Rotorcraft-helicopter and Airplane-SEL.
1,750 total time
1,625 helicopter
125 airplane
0 logged in gyro

I am looking at 2 seat enclosed SxS gyro's with the 915is for high DA flying. This puts me in the $115,000+ price range.
I have 3 quotes for insurance on gyro's for that price range. They range from $6,458 to $7,978 per year or $538 to $665 per month.
I know as my time in gyros increases that the insurance will go down but by how much???

I am considering not insuring the entire hull value to bring the cost down.

What are you guys paying?
What is your insured hull value?
How many hours do you have in gyros?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[GyrOZprey]

With close to 600 hrs total gyro time & about 400 ...IN brand TYPE .... my rates are about $4,000 per year for $70-80 hull value. Liability only component- about $1800/year. Zero gyro time WILL cost significantly more! ....& there is an "in-motion" deductible to factor in when figuring how much you want to self-insure the hull-value!
Good luck ...small pool & underwriters have paid out too many recent claims .... just going up UP UP:help: ...IF you can get it at all!

 

[Jason312]

Thanks Chris. That gives me an idea of what to expect. Of course I was hoping with that much gyro time that the rates would be closer to $2,000 but who doesn't want lower rates

I was surprised when I was quoted insurance on a $125,000 Aviat Husky for $1,800 with only 125 hrs airplane and 4 hrs tailwheel. Even though I've only had a couple demo flights in gyros I feel so much more comfortable in them vs airplanes.

 

[ventana7]

About 500 hours gyro and 500 FW. PPL rotary and SEL, SES, Instrumen. Fly a Xenon SxS worth about 90k. Last quote was over 5K, so lo longer carry insurance. Even liability only was prohibitive.

Rob

 

[WaspAir]

I expect to pay about 6% of hull value for my rotorcraft to get full (including hull) coverage, when it is available. My impression has always been that claim-free years (regardless of activity level in that year) with a carrier seems to be as important as hours of piloting experience, but they won't disclose their rating algorithm.

 

[Jason312]

I expect to pay about 6% of hull value for my rotorcraft to get full (including hull) coverage, when it is available. My impression has always been that claim-free years (regardless of activity level in that year) with a carrier seems to be as important as hours of piloting experience, but they won't disclose their rating algorithm.

It would sure be helpful to know their algorithm!
Your 6% sounded familiar so I just looked at my quote from Falcon again and it shows 6.6% of hull value for hull coverage and $1,770 for liability. I got the quote from Falcon several months ago. My other more recent quotes didn't break it down like that.

 

[Jason312]

About 500 hours gyro and 500 FW. PPL rotary and SEL, SES, Instrumen. Fly a Xenon SxS worth about 90k. Last quote was over 5K, so lo longer carry insurance. Even liability only was prohibitive.

Rob

Hey Rob, I sent you a PM with a few questions about the Xenon.

 

[scottessex]

That is one of the biggest negatives about gyro's in the U.S. For the price of insurance you could buld a nice single place every two years...

 

[Jason312]

Thanks for all the input so far.

I would say the cost of insurance is a major reason why gyros aren't more popular in the US.

Hopefully the greater safety of the modern gyro along with better trained pilots will change this soon!

 

[Vance]

When I was flying helicopters the insurance was typically ten percent of the hull value.

It appears to me the safety record of the modern gyroplane pilot is not going in the right direction.

Last year was particularly bad with 17 accidents showing up on the NTSB reports in 2018. There are five that I know of in 2019 so far, no fatal accidents so far in the USA this year. The improvement may be in part to the bad weather so far this year.

The cost of repairs for a minor tip over can easily exceed $20,000.

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of inexperienced gyroplane pilots out there at this time.

It appears to me they are over represented in the accident reports.

In my opinion part of the problem is the lax sport pilot rules for both CFIs and gyroplane pilots.

Most of the accidents appear very preventable to me and are very expensive for the insurance companies.

My advice is don’t rush your training, pre-flight and maintain your aircraft as though your life depended on it, plan your flights well and don’t forget there is more than airspeed to taking off in a gyroplane.

When we get better the insurance rates will likely go down.

 

[GyrOZprey]

Very well stated Vance! HEAR HEAR!

 

[Jason312]

I agree. There is no substitute for good training and experience.

One quote I received was very specific requiring me to get 15 hrs of factory approved training and even had minimum hour requirements of the CFI.

 

[GyrOZprey]

We are attempting to get better insurance rates ... by promoting Phil Harwood International Gyro pilot training curriculum and offering a master-pilot class along with valuable CFI masterclass opportunities.

To be hosted in Arizona!


Those of us who think the Phil Harwood method ..International training program "Gyropedia" is a good avenue to achieve National & World standardization of Gyroplane training ...as well as a personal "tune-up" ...to lift our game to the next level are looking forwards to attending the Master-class pilot & instructor's symposium in Arizona ...later this year!
The dates have just been announced!
The location and dates for the 2019 IAPGT Gyroplane Symposium Events in the USA have been announced.

Mastering the Gyroplane	26th/27th Oct 2019
Instructor Collaboration Symposium	23rd/25th Oct 2019
Instructor Masterclass	29th Oct - 1st Nov 2019

Mastering the Gyroplane is a two day event for everyone interested in Gyroplanes. It includes:

• Gyroplane Technical - Made Simple;
• The differences in flight characteristics between gyroplanes and other forms of aircraft, and;
• Lessons learned since 2013, when the IAPGT project began.

Instructor Collaboration Symposium is a three day event for gyroplane instructors who want to share their experiences, discuss techniques or learn from others as part of the ongoing development of Best Practice.

Instructor Masterclass is a four day event (flying) for gyroplane instructors who want to participate in the IAPGT certification process.

See the full brochure for details.

Interested? Reserve your space. I look forward to meeting you at one of the events.

Must Fly!

Phil Harwood
Chairman: IAPGT
#gyropedia #iapgt