David Doshay wrote:

AVEMCO is usually cited as the problem when it comes to insuring auto
conversions in Velocity aircraft.

David

Some please find their email address and ask a direct question and we will
upload their answer.

David Doshay wrote:

I just called and was given the conditions for AVEMCO to insure a Velocity.
There
are a number of conditions, all of which have been covered on the Velocity
email
reflector. The condition which is of greatest concern to this rotary engine
group is
that the answer from AVEMCO is that they will not insure any auto conversion on
any Velocity, even if all their other conditions are met. From the
conversation it
was clear that she was looking up the information on some printed document
which
had conditions listed by aircraft type.

The very pleasant representative told me that this is the policy now, and
while it
likely will not change in the next 3 to 6 months, that is not to say that
it will not be
changed at some unknown time in the future.

I asked her two additional questions:

1) Does the "no auto conversions" rule apply only to Velocity aircraft, or
are other
specific kinds of homebuilt or kit planes insurable by AVEMCO with auto
conversions?
In particular, I have read email from someone with an RV aircraft and the
same kind of
a conversion I am considering who has coverage from AVEMCO. Is there something
different about that brand of kit which makes it different from a Velocity,
or was that
individual "grandfathered" because they got their insurance prior to the
"no auto
conversion" rule?

and

2) Given that many people will not fly without insurance, how does the
experimental
aircraft community bring data to the insurers that a particular auto
conversion might
be safe enough for them to insure? In particular, many people with the
resources
to carefully develop and test a conversion's installation in an aircraft
are the same
people who do not dare fly without insurance, while people with "less to
lose" might
be willing to put a project together at lower expense, and with less
testing, and fly
it without insurance. Given that many people interested in homebuilt
aviation would
like to contribute to advancing the state of the art beyond the older
technology
which is the basis of the certificated aircraft engines, how can the
development and
testing take place without the availability of insurance? To offer up a
suggestion,
would it be possible to obtain insurance which only covers liability and
which does
not include airframe coverage? After all, if we built it, we can repair it
and likely
would have no problem accepting that risk.

The above two questions are being forwarded to the representative, and she will
forward them to someone who is in a position to answer for the company. I will
keep the group informed.

David

 
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