AOPA just sent me a letter informing my that the insurance on my Hughes 269A-1 is about to expire.
Wait… I have a Hughes 269? :eek: And someone has been paying the insurance on it? Why didn’t anyone tell me? 'Cause if I have a helicopter, I want to know about it! For a Hughes 269/TH-55/Schweizer 300/Sikorsky S300 I’d dance naked in Pioneer Square!
Gosh, I hope it’s not just a marketing gimmick…
I’d send them all my bank-account info, just to be sure.
The helicopter is currently in Nigeria. Please send me your banking information, sorry, no Paypal, so we can start processing the shipment to the US.
Just to be clear, it was mailed correspondence from AOPA; not an email. Around 2001 I came this close to buying a 1960 Hughes 269A and asked for an insurance quote. Since insurance would have been $13,000/year, I decided not to buy it. I’m guessing the quote request is knocking about in a database somewhere.
So they think you’ve had insurance for your helicopter for about 12 years and you’ve never paid your premiums? Just wait until they send that to collections! :eek:
Check with Elmer J. Fudd; maybe he’ll buy it from you. He’s already got a mansion and a yacht.
In Thailand, a “butterfly” is what you call someone with many sexual partners. This has led some exceptionally active bargirls to refer to themselves as “helicopters.”
Maybe you should suggest that you’ll be happy to pay the $13,000 premium if the insurer gives you a 1960 Hughes 269A, seeing as you don’t currently have one.
You get a helicopter with insurance coverage, they get the insurance premium. Win-win!
Did the insurance cover theft? Because yours was stolen and they owe you the replacement value.
Good to see they take such pride in their work. But is their insurance $13K a year?
But now I know, if I see some expat in Bangkok with helicopter-pilot wings pinned to his hat I should not assume…
I should have bought the helicopter then. It was only $39,000 and I had the money. Now the cheapest one I can find is a '66 for $80,000 (eBay BIN price). Insurance would be lower if it was not put into leaseback, and I could have flown it quite a bit before having to do the $20,000 engine overhaul and $45,000 rotor blade replacements.
I knew maintaining aircraft was expensive, but never realized just how big a hole in the sky that you throw money into it was.
I do like the idea of paying the renewal, then filing a claim for a stolen helicopter. Unfortunately, the insurance company will take a dim view of insurance fraud.)
The second thing you hear, after ‘Helicopters are inherently unstable’, is the old joke ‘What makes a helicopter fly? Money.’
All airplanes need to be overhauled periodically. But helis have to have their rotor blades replaced from time to time. That’s like replacing the wings on an airplane. Then there’s the tail rotor, the transmission, and all the stuff that is common to fixed-wings.
Anyone else reading the title in LOLcat? ‘I can haz helicopter?’
If so, it wasn’t intentional.
Can I borrow your helicopter?
Yes, actually! I feel less insane, now.
You are as sane as I am.
…Says the man with the invisible helicopter.
:dubious: