Sport Pilot Talk

Hi Bob,
I work for a county Sheriff's Office and am in the beginning phases of proposing an Aviation Unit here for our agency. I'm focused on LSA's as an affordable way to bring an air asset to the area. I've requested a ballpark estimate from our insurance carrier, and given them a general idea of what we want to do (patrol,etc.), experience levels of potential pilots (#1 comm. fixedwing w/ 300+hrs, #2 private pilot w/120+ hours), and 4 LSA models I am considering. I haven't heard back from them. I have heard, however, from several contacts who stated they were also researching LSA for similar use at their agencies, but could not get insurance. Have you had any experience with insuring LSA's in this capacity, have any predictions as to our success in finding insurance, or have any advice or direction should this become a terminal issue? Thanks!

I remember the Redlands, CA police trying out a CTSW and the purchase(s) eventually fell through.

Maybe you could call and see what they learned?

Actually, I heard about that today from the CT dealer for my region, which is what prompted me to start looking for answers. And ironically enough, about an hour ago I got a callback from my county insurance agent who told me his "aviation expert" suggested I revisit the idea of using LSA because they are "not certified", "dangerous", and "don't meet the same standards" as a traditional airplane. His suggestion was that we look at buying a used 182.

So...used C-182=older, used, more expensive to buy, more expensive to operate, more expensive to maintain, more complex to fly, not as stable at slow speeds BUT easier to insure. What did I miss?

Oh, and I do have correspondance in with Redlands PD and am hoping to hear from some of their staff soon. Thanks for the help.

i live, and fly out of mono county california. long distances, lots of little airports and other landing opportunities and sparse population.

i am contractor not a law enforcement guy yet i find the ctsw slsa to be very versatile, economical and a great blend of economy, speed and low and slow observation.

what i'm trying to say is that i think you instincts are good a slsa could give you an extraordinarily level of access without much of an ongoing burden to the county's budget.

too bad you work for the gubermint and bureaucrats are involved

I am an LSA enthusiast but there are some conventionally certified aircraft that cost very little more to buy or operate and may be easier to insure, specifically the Liberty Aerosapce XL2 and AMD CH2000.

There are many good deals on used CH2000s.

Then of course there are the Cessna 150/152s.

Chuck,
I greatly appreciate your input. I'm going to put a thread in the general LSA forum and solicit folks to recommend the a/c they think would be best for our purpose.

I've become pretty defensive about the merits of the LSA's when dealing with the insurance guys or my supervisors for that matter, because IMO, it's a matter of not understanding the potential, as opposed to having a legitimate reason for not using them.

With that said, I am open to using any a/c, traditional included, that we can afford and safely use. Beside being able to safely fly around at rather low speeds, my primary focus with the LSA's is the relatively minimal maintenance, and low per-hour costs. Being able to purchase a brand new plane with nice avioncs for the same price as a 20 yr old traditional that has nothing in it is also a factor. But I'm open to suggestions, and that's why I registered for this site-to get input. So, please-keep it coming. I'll look into the makes/models you mentioned. Thanks!