Sun N Fun '07 Redux

Here are a few high points, in no particular order, for those who may
have missed the show:

Jay, thanks for the post. I was only there for two days, and it is
great to "relive" the show through your post. This was the first time
there for me, and I had read in various places that the attendance has
been steadily declining. Thanks for that perspective.

- Attendance early in the week was waaaay down from the other years we
attended.


- Light Sport Aircraft were EVERYWHERE. We were able to take a close
look at Cessna's new LSA (and their next generation GA plane), but
they were overshadowed by the European manufacturers, who seemed to
have an LSA in every shape and size, no matter which direction you
looked.

So true about the LSA,s. Took a ride in the Legend Cub, and I can
definetly see why they cant keep up with the orders. And IMHO the
workmanship outclassed the stuff from Eastern Europe. I was facinated
with all the VLJ,s. My budy and I were offered jobs at both the
Eclipse tent and the Diamond tent. It seems that they have some pretty
low time pilots who are ordering these jets, so they have set up a
pilot mentor program for new owners to fly with experienced pilots for
awhile. I think the insurance companies are playing a big role in this
program.
To go off on a "Mini rant", as you put it, there was no Honda Jet
(Although they had a huge display of Honda generators, go figure). I
own a big chunk of HMC stock, and it would have been nice to see where
my investment was going .

As an added bonus, got some good deals on avionics, and the WX was
better than OSH. Thanks again for the post.

After sitting in the Diamond D-jet mock-up, I too am now convinced that the
VLJs will see brisk sales. I could not believe how "car like" the cockpit
felt. There are probably more buttons and knobs in a Cirrus than in the
D-jet.

Of course this could lead to problems as well, I suspect. There is no
"intimidation factor" like when sitting in the TBM or like. Pilots who can
afford it will sell their pressurized C210 or turbo SR22 and step lively
into the new role of Flight System Manager. I just hope that they will be up
to the task of Piloting, when in the Mod to Severe that was shown by XM
weather to be an opening kicks the AP offline.

Point of reference: The Diamond rep felt confident that owners yearly
insurance budget shouldn't be more than "$24k to $32k per year depending on
flight experience" (his quote). Anyone know the typical for a TBM owner?

"K Baum" wrote in message ....
............... I
was facinated
with all the VLJ,s. My buddy and I were offered jobs at both the
Eclipse tent and the Diamond tent. It seems that they have some pretty
low time pilots who are ordering these jets, so they have set up a
pilot mentor program for new owners to fly with experienced pilots for
awhile. I think the insurance companies are playing a big role in this
program.

"Mike Isaksen" wrote

Point of reference: The Diamond rep felt confident that owners yearly
insurance budget shouldn't be more than "$24k to $32k per year depending
on flight experience"

24 to 32 THOUSAND???

Are you sure?

Wow.

I know I would be WAY over my head, when just the insurance could be more
than HALF of my gross yearly income.

Wow!
--
Jim in NC

24 to 32 THOUSAND???

Are you sure?

Wow.

Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
24 to 32 THOUSAND???

Are you sure?

Wow.

Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.

What is the hull value of a Cirrus compared to your 30 some-odd year old
aircraft?


--
Matt Barrow
Performace Homes, LLC.
Colorado Springs, CO

The amount you stated seems high, unless you are talking about a low time,
non-instrument rated pilot, with high liability coverage and full hull.

Even considering the cost of a new plane, the hull coverage seems very high.

"Jay Honeck" wrote

Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.

I had no idea that it was so expensive to insure jets.

I have a hard time seeing how they will ever be able to get the cost down
low enough to make air taxi service with the VLJ's affordable.
--
Jim in NC

I have a friend who owned a Citation for many years. The insurance was
$90K per year. He also owned a Caravan on amphibs, that ran $45K per
year for insurance. Another friend has a Caravan on wheels, that only
costs $35K per year.




Morgans wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote


Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.


I had no idea that it was so expensive to insure jets.

I have a hard time seeing how they will ever be able to get the cost down
low enough to make air taxi service with the VLJ's affordable.

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:32:07 -0600, Newps wrote:

I have a friend who owned a Citation for many years. The insurance was
$90K per year. He also owned a Caravan on amphibs, that ran $45K per
year for insurance. Another friend has a Caravan on wheels, that only
costs $35K per year.

I can understand the jet (high due to being a jet and the number of
seats) and the Caravan on floats, but on wheels that is almost twice
what they quoted me for a TBM 700 with the Caravan costing less and
being considerably slower.





Morgans wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote


Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.


I had no idea that it was so expensive to insure jets.

I have a hard time seeing how they will ever be able to get the cost down
low enough to make air taxi service with the VLJ's affordable.

Morgans wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote


Well, Jim, the average Cirrus pilot is paying $10 - $15K annually for
insurance, from what I've been told.

Makes my $1200/year seem positively reasonable.


I had no idea that it was so expensive to insure jets.

I have a hard time seeing how they will ever be able to get the cost down
low enough to make air taxi service with the VLJ's affordable.

Eclipse is quoting around $32K for full coverage on it's 500 for a "fully
qualified pilot" (ie, something around 2000+/500 hour pilot), or $64K for a
newbie.

http://www.eclipseaviation.com/ownership/insurance/