Sun N Fun '07 Redux

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

"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

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

Jay, this reminds me of a time in GA when insurance for certain
operations/types simply wasnt available at ANY price. I think what the
VLJ manufacturers are doing is a great proactive way to sell even more
jets. For anyone in RAP land who might be looking to try this mentor
pilot program, the requirements were pretty low. I dont recall what
the Diamond people wanted, but the Eclipse people only wanted to see
1000 multi and 500 turbine. Seems like an easy way to make some extra
spendoolies as a side job. I have mentored a few polits over the years
and it was fun (Got to fly to some interesting places too).

Jay Honeck wrote:
Mary and I just returned from 6 glorious days at Sun N Fun in
Lakeland, FL, where we enjoyed the most amazingly perfect weather I
have ever seen at such an event. The nights were cool (almost cold
the first few nights) -- perfect for sleeping -- and the days were
sunny and warm. No humidity, no bugs, no alligators -- just lots and
lots of aircraft!

Yeah, go ahead, rub it in...no, wait, you already did that...in my case,
twice! :-)

- The single-engine PiperJet is very, very cool. Given the inherent
reliability of jet engines, I don't know why that single-engine-in-the-
tail configuration hasn't been tried yet.
Did they have the mock-up on display? Saw it at the AOPA convention in
Palm Springs and it was very cool to see.

- Coolest overflight of the week -- Kyle(?) Franklin flying aerobatics
in a Twin Beech (really!) came over our campsite at MAYBE 50 AGL. I
*felt* the overflight as much as heard/saw it -- and also (hopefully)
captured it on video tape!
Looking forward to the footage. Sounds *very* cool.

The food at SNF continues to be head-and-shoulders above Oshkosh.
Doesn't take much to get above Oshkosh in terms of on-site food.

Best of all,
there was a real, live SALAD BAR on the field, which meant that -- for
at least one meal -- you didn't have to eat deep-fried-greasy food.
Hmmm, did you partake of said salad bar vs. deep-fried-greasy?

Thanks to Montblack (for keeping an eye on our kids while were gone)
Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Perhaps the "Black" half
of the duo from the Twin Cities conveniently arranged to send "Mont"
your way and paid the kids a handsome price to watch him for a week :-)

it was a great time, and we met a lot of fantastic people -- many from
this very newsgroup. Our taste has been wetted for OSH, and we can't
wait for July!

Heh...3 months baby!


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

("Jack Allison" wrote)
Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? Perhaps the "Black" half of
the duo from the Twin Cities conveniently arranged to send "Mont" your way
and paid the kids a handsome price to watch him for a week :-)


That's closer to the truth than you realize. g


Montblack

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
Mary and I just returned from 6 glorious days at Sun N Fun in

I am not the big fly-in fan that some of you are. I would love to spend time
with the planes and the vendors but the mass of people just get on my
nerves.

One thing that caught my attention was the number of small, mom&pop
companies making digital display instrumentation. If they've been around for
a while, I hadn't noticed. Must be great for the experimental guys. I
presume that most of them are not certified but I haven't even started
visiting web sites from the literature I bagged.

My favorite vendor was the notepad on a wriststrap. If he has been at other
fly-ins, I missed that too. I'm guessing that the husband dragged the wife
into it. I would love to know what she is really thinking.

The owner's fly-in for the Lake (www.lakeflyers.com) is usually in February
but they (we) moved it to coincide with Sun 'n Fun. I went down last
Thursday. A weekend of enjoying the many, many Florida lakes, workshops,
forums, and conversation focused on my baby followed by a week of Sun 'n
Fun. Even if Sun 'n Fun is dwindling, the combination of activities over the
weekend and week really got me going!

One of the Lake owners coordinates the seaplane base and the spash in. I
enjoyed the splash in thoroughly but was also disappointed. It seemed like a
very sparse showing of seaplanes and the crowd was pretty thin. I'm planning
on spending a few days at OSH just so I can camp at the seaplane base.

Coming back, I took a more easterly route. Actually, it was straight north
but that is easterly of the straightline from LAL to PWK. Managed to come
across the wild fires burning in southern Georgia. A huge area of swamp on
fire creating massive amounts of smoke. Continuing straight north into the
hills south of Knoxville. Wandering around from mountain lake to mountain
lake. Although it was very hazy, I thought it was breathtaking. My first
time in that area. I can't wait to plan a vacation there.

This was my first time flying to Florida where I didn't need to file IFR for
at least a few hours. Amazing weather. Low deck but VFR flying into clear
skys with a 30kt tailwind on the way down. Good VFR and not a killer
headwind on the way back. Again, Amazing.

Thanks for your post Jay. Good summary. Good to meet you and Mary.

-------------------------------
Travis Marlatte
Lake N3094P
PWK

Thanks for your post Jay. Good summary. Good to meet you and Mary.

Thanks, Travis. Same here!

Now, plan on Wednesday at OSH, for the rec.aviation party!

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