I Want My Own Bird

if the above got double posted... I apologize.. Problems with
Netscrape.. My story and I'm stickin to it.

Dave

Dave S wrote:

Yea... those overhaul costs just totally suck.. I'm rebuilding the first
of 3 Mazda rotary 13B engine cores I obtained for $700 batch cost. I've
spent maybe $500 in tools that I didn't already possess.. The first
engine has minimal wear (I've mic'd all the clearances) and all the
major components will be reuseable. I'm expecting an outlay of maybe
$1000 for new seals, gaskets, seal springs, oil pump chain... Another
$1000 for the ECU.. another $1000 for engine monitoring equipement. The
the radiators, peripherals and such should run under $1000 (no vacuum
needed, dual alt bird).. Another $3,000 for the gearbox/psru.

So.. my initial cost is going to be $7500 or so... and when rebuild time
comes again (whenever that may be... As long as compressions and temps
are good, keep on running...) I will have to spring for another $1000 in
springs/seals/gaskets.. Or start working on one of the other two
engines.. Oh yea... maybe $2,000 or less for the turbo assembly and
wastegate to mildly charge/normalize the engine, so that we get 200-250
hp max up to altitude.

Yea.. those engine rebuild costs just eat your lunch.
Dave (putting on asbestos suit)



Seriously, homebuilts aren't for everyone, and neither are
auto-conversions. Unless you are prepared to spend the time, money and
RISK troubleshooting a truly custom powerplant its best to stick with
tried and true. I would not even be attempting this if it were not for
the large base of knowledge and experience I've been able to tap in some
other venues with regards to this venture. I'm learning every day. But
when its over with, I am hoping to realize economies and performance on
a scale that would not be possible with the certified air cooled engines.


Newps wrote:




Engine overhaul. An overhauled O-360 will cost close to $20k
installed, with a TBO of 2000 hrs, so this is $10/hr. Even if you do
not save an overhaul resever, your plane will depreciate at roughly
half this value ($5/hr) because of the increased engine time.



And this is where you see a large difference for you Lyc boys. Lyc
prices are ridiculous. I can have my O-470 overhauled and reinstalled
for closer to $15K. I will be turning my 470 into a 520 and it will
still be less than $20K installed.

The actual premium was $1885 (I just rounded it up) The PA24-250
is a high performance retract which will generally cost more than
a fixed gear airplane. When I bought it I had 50 hours retract
time and 0 hours in type. I now have 50 hours in the plane and
a multi-engine rating added since then too so I'm hoping it may
go down a bit.

Hmmm.

Our Pathfinder is a high performance (albeit stiff-legged) aircraft, with
the same (albeit low-compression) engine as your Comanche, and the same
constant speed prop. The only real difference is the retractable gear.

And I'm insuring TWO pilots, for less than you're paying for one. Both of
us are VFR only. I've got around 900 hours, Mary has around 450 hours. When
we bought the plane, neither of us had the high performance endorsement, nor
any time in type. (They didn't count our zillion hours of Warrior time --
the birds are too different, in their words. We had to fly off 5 or 10?
hours with a CFI to become insurable.)

Either you are way over-insured (if that's possible nowadays), or methinks
you need to get another insurance agent to run some quotes for you.
Somebody appears to be funding their 401K on your nickel.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article 7ZI9d.213826$D%.4022@attbi_s51,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Our Pathfinder is a high performance (albeit stiff-legged) aircraft,

And how do you propose to land that gear-up?

(I also pay north of $2000 for a 1965 PA-24-260, with 100 in type, 100
retract, and an instrument rating).

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Our Pathfinder is a high performance (albeit stiff-legged) aircraft,

And how do you propose to land that gear-up?

Actually, the very first owner landed our plane "gear up" within 6 months of
buying it, way back in 1974.

Well, the left gear went up, anyway...

(In fact, Atlas is celebrating his 30th re-birthday this month, marking the
date when he emerged from a west-coast Piper service center with new left
landing gear, prop and engine, way back when...)

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Ben Jackson wrote:

In article 7ZI9d.213826$D%.4022@attbi_s51,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Our Pathfinder is a high performance (albeit stiff-legged) aircraft,

And how do you propose to land that gear-up?

Invert.

Of course, that pesky rudder will get in the way.

- Andrew

It is hard to compare insurance premiums. For instance, what is HIS
liability limits compared to yours. You don't know, they could be
high. What is your deductible? (Mine aircraft is $10k). I just won
the hail lottery (house insurance) on my roof, and was comparing
insurance rates with neighbors. I have a high deductible and higher
liability (insure for what you can't afford to loose). Next door
neighbor has lower permiums, but minimum deductible and LOW liability.
She thinks she's getting a better deal just because "her premiums are
lower".

Anyway, cursory insurance comparisons aren't very accurate unless the
policies have identical terms and they almost never do.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:7ZI9d.213826$D%.4022@attbi_s51...
The actual premium was $1885 (I just rounded it up) The PA24-250
is a high performance retract which will generally cost more than
a fixed gear airplane. When I bought it I had 50 hours retract
time and 0 hours in type. I now have 50 hours in the plane and
a multi-engine rating added since then too so I'm hoping it may
go down a bit.

Hmmm.

Our Pathfinder is a high performance (albeit stiff-legged) aircraft, with
the same (albeit low-compression) engine as your Comanche, and the same
constant speed prop. The only real difference is the retractable gear.

And I'm insuring TWO pilots, for less than you're paying for one. Both of
us are VFR only. I've got around 900 hours, Mary has around 450 hours. When
we bought the plane, neither of us had the high performance endorsement, nor
any time in type. (They didn't count our zillion hours of Warrior time --
the birds are too different, in their words. We had to fly off 5 or 10?
hours with a CFI to become insurable.)

Either you are way over-insured (if that's possible nowadays), or methinks
you need to get another insurance agent to run some quotes for you.
Somebody appears to be funding their 401K on your nickel.

"Doug" wrote in message
m...
It is hard to compare insurance premiums. For instance, what is HIS
liability limits compared to yours. You don't know, they could be
high. What is your deductible? (Mine aircraft is $10k). I just won
the hail lottery (house insurance) on my roof, and was comparing
insurance rates with neighbors. I have a high deductible and higher
liability (insure for what you can't afford to loose). Next door
neighbor has lower permiums, but minimum deductible and LOW liability.
She thinks she's getting a better deal just because "her premiums are
lower".

Anyway, cursory insurance comparisons aren't very accurate unless the
policies have identical terms and they almost never do.

Yes, Liability coverage plays a big part. Insurance on my C182 is well above
2K for clean record/IFR/1000hrs. I could get it around $700 for same hull
coverage with minimum liability. Personally I would like to be able to buy
more liability insurance but max seems to be about 2m smooth. Insurers must
know something.

Howard


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In article ,
Doug wrote:
It is hard to compare insurance premiums. For instance, what is HIS
liability limits compared to yours. You don't know, they could be
high. What is your deductible?

That's very true. My premiums only went down about 15% after my first
year of ownership, but the big difference was having my pick of insurers
rather than being limited to one or two who were willing to write the
risk.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

That's very true. My premiums only went down about 15% after my first
year of ownership, but the big difference was having my pick of insurers
rather than being limited to one or two who were willing to write the
risk.

That's true with many types of insurance.

Hotel/motel insurance, for example, is seen as a very high risk endeavor.
As a result, there are just two major players left in the business.

Not surprisingly, they just jacked us $900 per year (which is about what we
had been paying per month) -- and I have no recourse but to suck it up and
pay it. Mind you, we've never had a claim of any kind -- they just hiked us
because, well, because they could.

Which is why I hate product liability and ambulance chasing attorneys almost
beyond measure. I'm sure some trailer trash "tripped" and fell at a hotel
last year, and the *******s sued the poor saps for $20 million -- and now we
ALL have to pay for it.

I really can't believe that any pilot in their right mind would want a
product liability attorney a heartbeat away from the presidency. Has
everyone forgotten that these are the same a**holes that almost eliminated
aircraft manufacturing in this country?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Actually, while not discounting the very real cost of "trash trippers"
and those who see the legal system as a lottery reward for their own
stupidity...there is another factor to consider.

The underwriters invest the premiums they recieve. When the returns on
that investment perform sub-par, they need to increase premiums to make
up for the shortfall in investment income. In effect, your premium is
actually subsidized through investment, and when the subsidy comes up
short, the policyholder pays. This sort of effect has been felt
throughout the healthcare malpractice-liability industry as well. Its
true that there are lots of judgements for "**** happens" rather than
negligence, but you can also notice that premiums take a sharp hike when
the economy (and investments) is (are) down.

That being said, be thankful they didnt jack your rates in relation to
an actual claim!!.

Dave

Jay Honeck wrote:
That's very true. My premiums only went down about 15% after my first
year of ownership, but the big difference was having my pick of insurers
rather than being limited to one or two who were willing to write the
risk.


That's true with many types of insurance.

Hotel/motel insurance, for example, is seen as a very high risk endeavor.
As a result, there are just two major players left in the business.

Not surprisingly, they just jacked us $900 per year (which is about what we
had been paying per month) -- and I have no recourse but to suck it up and
pay it. Mind you, we've never had a claim of any kind -- they just hiked us
because, well, because they could.

Which is why I hate product liability and ambulance chasing attorneys almost
beyond measure. I'm sure some trailer trash "tripped" and fell at a hotel
last year, and the *******s sued the poor saps for $20 million -- and now we
ALL have to pay for it.

I really can't believe that any pilot in their right mind would want a
product liability attorney a heartbeat away from the presidency. Has
everyone forgotten that these are the same a**holes that almost eliminated
aircraft manufacturing in this country?