Sea Wings Insurance Discounts?

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Submitted by Don Charlebois, Owner of Airsurance, LLC

While the news of a possible reinstated SeaWings program has surfaced, I’d like to share a little bit on how doing this training correlates to your insurance rates. I have spoken at great length on the importance of recurrent training, whether you are a water flyer, or prefer your landing surface a bit harder. It’s just incumbent upon all of us pilots to keep our skills sharp, and recurrent training is a great way to do this. I have also said that in order to put you in the best position for the best insurance rates, recurrent training is a big part of the package. Since word of the Seawings program resurfaced, I have been asked by many of my clients how much of a discount they will see if they earn their wings. I believe in being a straight shooter, so my news to them isn’t the best. The fact is, there really isn’t a set discount available for this great accomplishment (please don’t shoot the messenger). I say that with this caveat, it will help your rates and certainly not hurt them! Please understand and forgive the doublespeak. If someone asks me if they do any type of recurrent training whether it’s a BFR, IPC, Wings, SeaWings etc, I tell them first as a pilot “are you kidding?” of course you should! Then as an insurance broker, I echo the words as they will benefit you with your rates. How much? It’s tough to say, but it gives me, as your broker going to bat for you, the ammunition I need to reason with the underwriter. You see, it’s hard to pick on someone who is doing all the right things, they(underwriters) still try, but I like to make it hard on them.

So let’s sum this up, is there a reward or specified % discount from the insurance underwriters for completing SeaWings? Not really. Should you still do it? Of course, if you are able, you should!

I can tell you this, my agency, AirSurance, is currently working on a proposal to lobby the underwriters for a more defined discount / incentive for earning your Seawings. If you are doing all the right things, besides being statistically safer, you deserve to be recognized where it really matters..in your wallet.

Tailwinds and friendly waters..

Fly Safe!

FAAST Sea Wings

 

The FAA Safety Team "Sea Wings"

Learn how to get yours at http://www.faasafety.gov

FAA Sea Wings

Yes! Pigs can fly!

Sea WINGS
Notice Number: NOTC2567

The WINGS – Pilot Proficiency Program is happy to announce that it now includes specific recognition for those sea-rated pilots who complete a Phase of WINGS in a seaplane or amphibian. The Seaplane Pilots Association will send a beautiful piece of jewelry in the form of a lapel pin to pilots who complete a Phase of WINGS in a seaplane or amphibian.
After completing a Phase of WINGS in a seaplane (or amphibian), you should select the Team Member Rewards link under the Pilots tab on http://www.FAASafety.gov and submit your request for the Sea WINGS pin. In addition, at least one insurance company, Falcon Insurance Agency of Florida, Inc., has indicated they will offer “significant premium discounts” to members of the Seaplane Pilots Association who complete a Phase of WINGS in a seaplane. For more information about Sea WINGS, contact the Seaplane Pilots Association through their web site at seaplanes.org. For more information about the possible insurance premium discount, call Ken Brice at Falcon Insurance Agency of Florida, Inc. at 1-800-881-9688.

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Seaplane News Update

Amazing things happen when we reach out!

Seaplane people are incredible networker’s. Thats the conclusion and result of the first week of reaching out to global organizations in the seaplane industry. The Seaplane Pilots Associations Field Director for Maine, Mary Build, joined our forum yesterday as the first SPA Field Director. With her,she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience,  as a Designated Pilot Examiner, Flight Instructor and well known FAA Safety  Team Representative, but also as the owner of an active Seaplane Training Facility in Naples, Maine. Within a short period of time my email inbox had filled with a few documents, and interesting topics, such as the upcoming Seaplane Safety Expo, which will take place this year on June 12th. Again, the event will be jam-packed with safety related briefings, seminars and a raffle and another opportunity for seaplane pilots to meet and shake hands. The Kathadin Wings 99’s will be active and involved and many of us up here in the cold north, cannot wait to be there. Mary will be the first user and facilitator of the SPA Field Directors corner, a section of our forum that enables free and quick sharing of news and hopefully proves beneficial to the network. 

The Aviateurs Et Pilotes De Brousse Du Quebec, or short APBQ has decided to give our community a closer look and its President and VP-Member Services, Mr. Gilles Lapierre, and Bernard Gervais are new members on the forum. In total the forum grew to it’s 85th member this friday, with more people being invited everyday. The forum now has a “For Sale & Want To Buy” Section available to it’s signed up users as well and once a visitor decides to sign up a multitude of other features become visible and useable.

However, growth and expansion also yielded some little technical issues, which are currently dealt with. The forum software is accessed by visiting two domains, one of which is its main home http://www.jasonjamesbaker.com/Seaplane/ and one under its easy to find name http://www.seaplaneforum.com . The hosting company made a small mistake in proper redirection which may have caused some confusion with newly signed up members. This became apparent when ‘yours truly’ attempted to log into his own forum repeatedly and found two different “versions”, one showing more up to date information than the other! Fixing the issue requires installation of a modification to the boards script. To avoid further issues the boards “remember password feature” was temporarily disabled. The request to new members, for using easy to remember usernames and passwords came about during my past activity on behalf of Seaplane Pilots Associations Forum which required a double login and the fact that too many characters were required to create a password. During this time it will prove helpful to keep longer documents available outside of the forum (notepad, word or other document management tools will help). Many members did not report any issues and ease of access remains to be a non-challenge for them. However, it is my desire to offer this feature in the future to keep it easy and simple – so it is being fixed while the message board is young.  Thanks to the 2 members who reported the issue, this uncritical issue will soon be attacked and solved. If you experience any issues simply try to use a different link to access the forum. If you are not successful on http://www.jasonjamesbaker.com/Seaplane/ simply swing to http://www.seaplaneforum.com and vice versa, or contact me per email or this blog.

The other and final point of this article is the new feature on SPA’s blog, that now includes a “Destinations Directory” which can be found here: http://seaplanes.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/the-secret-%e2%80%99s-out-about-seaplane-destinations/ and is an interesting document for seaplane pilots.

Fly Safe!

Follow the FAAST Blog

Several months ago an inquiry on the FAAST blog was posted, asking about the SeaWings program as it was previously known to us. The FAA entertains a blog on everything wings. Include it in your daily scan as more and more people start to catch on with asking questions! http://faawings.blogspot.com/

Fly Safe!