AVIDSteve

10 hours ago, old man emu said:

The more people who insure with a particular company, the more the premium should come down. This is imply due to the fact that your premium is going into the pot to pay what claims arise. If ten people pay one dollar to cover a ten dollar risk for one year, then at the start of year 2, the pot contains $10 if there have been no claims. Therefore the insurer might be able to set the premium at 95 cents for year 2. The amount set as the premium is the insurer's odds that a claim won't be made.

Mate,

In my experience premiums don't go down unless there is competition. Insurance is a business not a charity. if a customer is willing to pay X one year, they sure as hell will not lower it for them next year just because others are also willing to pay through the nose. They will just charge everyone the maximum they can until someone undercuts them.

22 minutes ago, skippydiesel said:

I converted a 1975 Viscount Caravan into  an Aircraft Carrier

 

I was in a hurry, did the conversion over 2 weeks. The day it passed rego,  embarked on a 20+hr round trip to pick up my new Sonex. Shes not the prettiest but is weather proof and does the job handsomely. She's carried the Sonex and later an RV (8 ?) .

 

From memory the Viscount can accommodate a bit over 8m in length. I have installed lots of tie down anchor points all down each side. Loading, through the full width back door, is with the aid of aluminium motorcycle folding ramps.

 

I prefer dual axle for stability & load flexibility. It has electric brakes. Is super light (for such a big van) at 1240 kg. Tows straight but at speeds above about 90 kph your built in head wind really starts to  have a negative impact on fuel consumption.

 

The widest part, of a completed aircraft (without wings on) is the horizontal stabiliser - if you are going to leave your stab attached, this will determine the internal width, of an enclosed van (may not be possible for some aircraft).

 

Vertical tail not usually an issue bit this should also be checked

The Viscount lives on. I love it. Caravans near as old as me. I am hoping to leave the wings on as the Avid wings fold easily. But they do make it wide. I'll check the internal width on some old vans. Cheers

Hi all,

it took some doing and some great advice from the folks here but hull insurance is possible for two newbies in NZ with a 2 stroke tail dragger. The Crombie Lockwood folks found Agile aviation for us. It's not cheap at 4k a year but I'm sure that would go down after we rack up the appropriate magic number of hours. Their third party is a bit steep at 500 bucks. I hope other newbies can find this thread as I am sure there will be others come along in the same boat and it might help.

Hi all,

I need to build a trailer. I'd prefer it to be boxed so it is a portable hangar. Has anyone built one or trailed theirs? I am chasing some true dimensions. It appears that folded the speed wings are 2.43m wide. Some say the fuselage has to be level to trailer . Some say not even when on a flatbed and exposed to the wind.  if I can load it level then i can have the box wider at wing height and narrow close to wheels for those narrow New Zealand guardrails on bridges.

I'd love to hear from folk who have actually done it.

Cheers

On 23/09/2022 at 11:49 AM, Phillip King said:

Hi all just purchased a ground looped Avid flyer mark iv  with damage to landing gear ,wondering if anybody out there that might have some build plans or construction manuals that I can buy or borrow.

cheers Phil

For new landing gear Hatz gear

15 hours ago, RossK said:

Vectored Thrust

Proof that horsepower fixes everything 🙂

1 hour ago, spenaroo said:

yeah, used mostly in low speed, high thrust applications.
the density means that they have a large drag at higher speeds.

so question. with outboards, and azimuth pods being talked about.
is there any aircraft steered by changing the prop position?

In that thing with blue people.

Also the Americans are doing it I saw recently for VTOL

27 minutes ago, spenaroo said:

It is used in ships and sailing vessels

yep. though it is really expensive and not terribly good. It didn't make that much difference to yachts to justify the maintenance. Ships though, another story

3 hours ago, johnm said:

OK Asteve - when I had plane - these people insured it and were good (it had a training wheel up front though)

 

give them a go ?

 

Thanks John,

I have filled out the form and sent it through. Never know., We need a similar system like Go compare. Fill in the BS once and let them come chase us as the customer.

2 hours ago, spenaroo said:

Scrappy's, fan boat prop certainly looks the meaty. Bit short on top end performance but you can climb a wall by all accounts.

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

It doesn't look like these toroidal props are worth the effort. These tests are carried out with 3D printed props, but I think the methodology is sound. 

 

 

 

They look very flat compared to the boat props. maybe that makes a difference? I know some talented folks with 4d fluid modelling that could tell us

6 minutes ago, johnm said:

probably telling you how to suck eggs ASteve ................... have you tried an insurance broker ? 

 

 

Yeah mate. Three of them. useless.

It is a very cool idea. If it works in water then there is a chance it would work in air as well. Make it from carbon fiber?

10 hours ago, onetrack said:

Steve, try contacting the people in the link below. Despite being U.K. based, they apparently do insure outside of Europe, and I noted a NZ "Business Terms" page on their site.

 

Essentially, you need to find an underwriter who is prepared to take the risk of insuring you - and that means someone who is very familiar with aviation insurance, and the risks involved with each area of aviation.

 

Back in the day when I owned and operated a sizeable business operation, I had an insurance broker who negotiated with insurance companies on my behalf, and my broker knew exactly which company was prepared to take on whatever particular risk was involved. Many companies select specific fields of insurance coverage that they know and understand, and they will not insure anything outside their chosen field.

 

https://www.traffords-insurance.co.uk/Aviation

 

Many thanks for the recommendation Onetrack. I have secured at least third party through these folks for a couple of hundred NZ dollars which at least covers a million worth of damage if I clip a private jet.

They won't do hull insurance untill 150hrs which is excessive but at least it is a start.

So there you have it folks. It can be done with a little help from the flying community, and looking outside NZ for insurers. If everyone moves their insurance OS then maybe the local companies will come back into line and start covering again.

3 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Steve, try contacting the people in the link below. Despite being U.K. based, they apparently do insure outside of Europe, and I noted a NZ "Business Terms" page on their site.

 

Essentially, you need to find an underwriter who is prepared to take the risk of insuring you - and that means someone who is very familiar with aviation insurance, and the risks involved with each area of aviation.

 

https://www.traffords-insurance.co.uk/Aviation

Thanks very much for that info. I will look them up and let everyone know if it is successful. 

Allow me to simplify the post as it seems I was unclear. Does anyone have a solution or practical advice to the following.

Does anyone have a company that does insure these aircraft? Do the club planes have it? Someone must have done this recently (last few years) so if they can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it.

11 minutes ago, facthunter said:

They do actuarial studies and base their Business plan on that. Statistically in your circumstances you are not a good risk. If you limit your cover like on ground  only the price will drop. Tailwheel  frightens them off till you've proven your worth by doing hours without mishap. Same with 2 stroke. Some of them experience quite a lot of failures. How safe that is depends on where and how you fly. They have NO idea how safe YOU will be.  Nev

That might be Nev. However they did not even offer on ground. They just blanked it. Some said the tail wheel was scary, some said that was ok but training was not. Some said training and tail wheel was no worries but no way to 2 stroke. Zero consistency. And the 100hours?

Anyway. I am not here discuss the virtues (or lack of) of insurers. I am after advice from people who are in the same boat or recently were, and managed to get insurance. Experienced pilots telling me i am a bad risk does not solve my problem.

Hi All,

I have done the rounds of several brokers including one suggested by this forum (Thanks IBob). But it appears they will not insure us. They have various reasons.

1) tail dragger

2) 2-stroke

3) Ab-initio training

4) just not feeling the vibe.

One suggested they would only look at it after I have 100 hours plus tail dragger endorsement and 10 hrs on the plane (presumably uninsured).  (18000nzd min)

Does anyone have a company that does insure these aircraft with those, (what I would consider), not exactly far-fetched elements? Do the club planes have it? I don't want to fill out 30 insurers forms that are all identical and I figure someone must have done this recently or have I just stumbled onto a well kept secret? Do I need to point out that the Wright bros managed to survive a tail dragger without training? Yes I know they broke a few but imagine if they had had training.

Cheers

Steve

2 minutes ago, IBob said:

Hi Steve, my insurance is Avsure through Crombie Lockwood, I've found them very good to deal with:
[email protected]
 

Thanks Bob,

The sticking point seems to be the training. No idea why. There is an instructor right there to stop you breaking stuff and they won't even do third party for that. I'll check out avsure cheers

Hi Ibob,

Thanks for that. I had come across that site but didnt find any avid info, until i searched. What a great resource and history. Our AVID is on there MMP. It is still sitting with Ian while we get prepared to bring it South. Then I will do the training on it (if I can get insurance). Think I will need to make a post about that. See who everyones insured with. it seems to be an issue.

Cheers

Steve

9 hours ago, Paul davenport said:

I will be in the South Island touring after walking the Milford track. I would like to meet and see your Avid around the 8th of March

Hi Paul,

That would be great but the plane is still up in the middle of the north island. I am hoping to get it down here over the next few weeks.

On 23/09/2022 at 11:49 AM, Phillip King said:

Hi all just purchased a ground looped Avid flyer mark iv  with damage to landing gear ,wondering if anybody out there that might have some build plans or construction manuals that I can buy or borrow.

cheers Phil

Hi, I have just purchased a Avid Speedflyer so have been looking at bits myself. I saw the bush plane gear for the avid on barnstormer for 1600usd that looks pretty good. It has a wider stance than the original and 6 inches further forward. I can hook you up to his facebook page. If anyone has the original plans for the Avid I would love a copy to get familiar with all the bits. Cheers

Steve

Hi,

Any Avid or Kitfox folks in New Zealand? be great to link up to share tips and tricks etc.

I am just getting into ML from a long career in paragliding. Just acquired an Avid speedwing which I plan to move down to canterbury.

Cheers

Steve