Register

Insuring Experimentals: Fleet Size Matters

Walk the grass at AirVenture, lead image, and it's easy to get smitten by a huge variety of experimental. Better check with your insurer before pulling the trigger on one. A mainstream model might be more favorable.

Let’s go to the dark side. You sell the family Bonanza for a used Lancair, and within the first year of ownership get it into some ice, lose control and join the NTSB reports as a double fatal. The wreck shocked and rattled our airport community a number of years ago, and you can bet it—and others like it—got the attention of the deceased pilot’s insurer. 

As we’ve been reporting (and as readers confirm) the insurance industry is playing hardball with the policies for older pilots who fly complex airplanes—no matter the experience level and claim history. Some are facing non-renewals, if not eye-watering rates.