Tailwheel insurance question

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Mtns2Skies

Final Approach
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Jul 12, 2008
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Mtns2Skies
Super quick question.

For buying a taildragger, does having 100 hours TW times reduce your insurance significantly more than 99 hours?

I'm 17 hrs away from 100 and wasn't sure if I should really focus on getting to 100 or if it doesn't really matter.
 
Maybe marginally, but I highly doubt it would be significantly less. I doubt it would be very much for you anyway.
 
It helps, but not a huge difference. Maybe a couple hundred per year discount for a vanilla variety tailwheel.

With most aircraft, hull value has the biggest factor in premium.
 
So is the "hours flown in last 6 months" category also just a small difference as well?
 
Fearless Tower said:
In my experience, yes. Small, if any difference.
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Thanks!
Ravioli said:
Send a note to [email protected]

She'll answer your questions and get you binded for coverage. Saved me heaps on this year's renewal.
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I'll save that contact info. Looking to buy as soon as I have a full time job signed, so about a year.



I got my answers. This thread can now descend into it's normal debauchery. Thank you all!
 
I imagine time in type would be more beneficial than total tailwheel time. But if you're not buying for a year you ought to have ample time to get to the 100 hour tailwheel mark anyway. Maybe consider some type specific training in near future if you know for sure what you're going to buy?
 
I do my best begging for rides! :)

I've got 1.1 in a 180 that the guy more or less turned into a 185.

And I rent this which is the closest thing I can rent to a 180:
IMG_20170406_112120745.jpg
 
It's probably not what you want to hear, but you may have to travel somewhere to get good type specific training. I think it would be worth your time and money pursuing, both to protect your future investment and to ease the pain of the initial insurance quote.
 
mondtster said:
It's probably not what you want to hear, but you may have to travel somewhere to get good type specific training. I think it would be worth your time and money pursuing, both to protect your future investment and to ease the pain of the initial insurance quote.
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I'm not upset at all about hearing that :).

Any suggestions for reasonably priced 180 instruction somewhat near CO?
 
Mtns2Skies said:
I'm not upset at all about hearing that :).

Any suggestions for reasonably priced 180 instruction somewhat near CO?
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I don't know who is doing that kind of training in your area. But you might check with Brian at Adventure Seaplanes and see what he can do for you. It looks like they might have a 185 on wheels to do some training in.

http://www.adventureseaplanes.com/
 
From my own unpleasant experience, underwriters do NOT like telling us what will get us a discount.
For two logical reasons:
A) they lose money (and they LOVE money)
B) some pilots might actually fudge the numbers

I too was trying to figure out whether I should fly a few more hours before renewing my insurance (for the whole year) to see whether it could save me a few hundred bucks.
Nobody would tell me. Typical "uhhh, we don't know, sir" BS on the phone.

So if you have an underwriter that will tell you the truth, stick with them! :)
 
Time is type, as others have noted, makes a difference. Though I have over 1500 in taildraggers, my first year insurance in my RV-4 was higher than it was in subsequent years because I had no time in type. IIRC, once I had 50 in type, the premium dropped at renewal by a about $100.
 
While I've never tried to get insurance in a tailwheel plane, it seems that the primary things that reduce premiums are:

- More total time
- More time in type
- More relevant time

I wouldn't bother trying to hit any magic number prior to purchase - just fly what you want to fly. The important thing is that you have enough time to be insured in the first place, and then your rates will go down significantly in year 2 once you've accumulated more time in type. You don't necessarily need time in type to get insurance, either. I had 0 hours of 414 time when we got the 414, and I had no problems getting insurance. They even insured me doing the ferry flight without having gone to school, but then required that I go to school before any further flights. It was a special request due to the circumstances surrounding the plane.
 
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