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Is there any evidence the lack of medical was the cause of the crash? The NTSB didn't think so. Is your contention he should be denied insurance despite the fact that the rule he broke was completely unrelated to the cause of the crash? If so, why stop there? What if he was fleeing from robbing a store but was otherwise legal? Should he be denied coverage because of that? After all, the crime is unrelated to the crash but he did just break the law, not just an FAA regulation. Or, is it just 'anything' you decide is related to aviation? So, if you knowingly fly one day out of 90 currency and crash should you be denied coverage? How about if you knowingly fly 1 pound over gross and crash due to running out of gas? Heck, there is a reg about carrying sufficient fuel so why isn't that a deliberate violation... I mean, you must have been cognizant fuel was low but deliberately and knowingly continued on anyway. Deny that coverage, right? Flying to your annual a few days after your old annual expired because of a weather delay? This guy, even per the NTSB, didn't crash because of lack of a valid medical but from spatial disorientation. Why do you feel he should be denied coverage for something unrelated to the crash? A better argument would be that he was out of instrument currency. So, we are back to who is the arbiter of how far out is too far out before coverage is denied? I'm comfortable with the insurance companies making that call. I guess I'm just tired of all the holier than thou Monday morning QBs looking for any reason to deny insurance coverage so their precious premiums don't go up. The worst are the ones that want to deny coverage for gear ups! But the moral high ground argument (oh, he broke the 'rule' so DENY, DENY, DENY!! I'm so righteous.) are tiresome, as well. Ever knowingly drive over the speed limit? Think your auto insurance should be denied if you crash while speeding? How about someone injured by your illegal actions, be they in an auto or an airplane? Should they be denied compensation from your insurance because you broke a rule or law? How about your example: you let someone drive that isn't licensed and they injure someone in a crash and you don't have assets to cover since the insurance denies coverage? Does that seem just? Change it up a bit: your unlicensed hypothetical driver is in an accident that is NOT his fault; he's sitting at a signal and is rear ended at a stoplight by an uninsured driver. You okay with your insurance denying coverage? How about if someone else in your car is injured? Still okay with coverage denied? Be careful on that high horse; the fall may hurt more than you might think.

"The difference between intelligence and stupidity is that intelligence has its limits" Supposedly said by Albert Einstein

I try not to ascribe duplicity to any situation where ignorance or dare I say, stupidity will suffice...unless I have firsthand knowledge that suggests otherwise. I did not know this pilot, but I also find it hard to believe that he did not understand that the undisclosed medical conditions for which he received treatment were disqualifying without an SI. However, I never underestimate people. I met Mooney owner just last week with a beautiful 201 that he said "cruises at 180-190kts, depending on the wind". He did not pick up on my confused look at all. The conversation did not last much longer but what remained of it convinced me that I often over estimate intellect.

Would be interesting to know how many of the pilots on this board have had an "oh $h!#" moment discovering an overdue flight review. Harder to do in this day of electronic calendars, but still possible.

We all have our preferred set of actions and situations we want covered and those that we don't want covered. Why don't we exclude from health insurance coverage anybody who doesn't actually follow the doctor's advice on dieting, exercise, and smoking? I remember someone on mooneyspace wanted to reject coverage for any flight with a special flight permit. And I think someone else or maybe the same person wanted to reject fuel exhaustion claims. There isn't a large enough pool of people to offer specific policies for each set of things people want covered or not. If you have not heard this line that I think started with George Carlin: Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?

So the pilot of the Cirrus that spun in at Love Field in 2016 was at 25 months since her last flight review so just one month out of currency. One could make the argument that her unfortunate lack of airmanship might have been corrected prior to the accident had she received a proper FR in the weeks leading up to the accident flight. It's no stretch to attribute that accident to task saturation and poor airmanship, the very reason we get a flight review is to identify and rectify deficiencies in our performance. Legally out of currency and a fatal accident attributed to poor airmanship. Should her insurance have denied to cover that loss? The same case could be made for the Mooney accident. Much easier to make the case that his lack of instrument currency was causal when compared to the medical issues. I'm sympathetic to your view point, but I think that the professionals in the industry have repeatedly encountered this situation and found it preferable to err on the side of paying claims in spite of bad boy/bad girl acts. In the case of this Mooney accident, you appear to be implying that there was intentional and deliberate fraud with regard to this pilot's policy renewal. I don't think we have enough information to be sure of that but it's certainly a strong possibility. In such a case, I think it's prudent to pay the liability claims but the pilot and their heirs do not collect.

An Insurance policy is fundamentally a financial contract between the indemnifier and the indemnified. The limits and limitations of the policy are codified within the contract. An accident/incident either falls within the bounds of coverage or it does not. It’s not a moral decision. It’s not about accountability for one’s actions. It’s simply a contract. Accountability for criminal behavior is for the criminal courts. This is not a new concept nor is it a byproduct of neomarxism.

To reiterate @Shadrach, and others, what do you buy insurance for? To cover YOUR MISTAKES! Do you really want to pay for a policy that is going to deny YOU coverage because YOU broke a rule? Be VERY careful for what you wish for when saying, "You would think" insurers should deny coverage for legally errant pilots. Ask yourself how many accident reports you have read where the pilot was innocent of any and all transgressions.

Just when I was thinkin' that our petroleum powered flying machines are the pinnacle of aviation, this article gave me a reason to reconsider. It describes a satellite-logged flight of a 5-month old Bar-Tailed Godwit in Oct. 2022. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-feathers-are-one-of-evolutions-cleverest-inventions The bird was tagged as a juvenile in Alaska. Flight path shown here: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/alaska-science-center/news/juvenile-bar-tailed-godwit-b6-sets-world-record Wow!

According to my calculations, that figures out to almost 35 mph for his flight. That seems like an awfully good speed to me. Do you think that bird's genes come with proper accounting for good tailwinds.

But albatross soar. This little guy was 4 months old, and flapped his wings for 11 days without pause! Absolutely amazing! Plus he found New Zealand.

an interesting perspective. I was in the Hmmm am I really good enough for this exacting hobby? For my flight review I flew with a really good pilot. F16/Reno Air Race Pilot/etc etc. It was a bumpy day as in I hit the cabin top and knocked my headphones off.. He said he was going to work me over. Pretty much did everything on the pilot test. It really upped my confidence and let me know that I am still safe. On the ground I asked if he ever felt the need to go to the pedals. He said "no" I would say go fly with a better pilot.

Well, I don’t think this is as simple as you might prefer. The evidence here falls way short of establishing the “brazen fraud” you posit. He was certainly licensed (certificated to be pedantic) as I saw nothing to indicate his cert was ever revoked. As far as the medical, I’m allowing for ignorance of what conditions require a new 3rd class medical when already under Basic Med rather than conclude deliberate malice. This guy paid for his mistake with his life, and fortunately didn’t hurt anyone else. And now you want to punish his grieving wife by denying the claim for the plane and having her pay for damage to the farmer’s field out of her pocket? You certainly aren’t punishing him!

It looks like the Orion 650E is what you need, a 12v red and a 12v green. https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/elpages/orion650eseries.php?clickkey=22748 A Mooneyspacer @OSUAV8TER is a Whelen dealer - he should be able to help.

Albatross do that, too, and fly for very long periods without stopping. Very interesting stuff.

The Story: I bought an Ovation last October that needed some attention. My son and I are going to travel in it and he is building time for a flying career. It had a new and very nice glass panel in it but everything else was well used. The airplane flew about 35 hours in the last 5 years. The paint was very oxidized, carpet old and dirty worn through and the seats looked like a frat house couch. Both wings had fuel leaks. It had been well maintained but it was tired when i bought it. I used the Winter months from then until now to refurbish the airplane. I tackled a bit more than i wanted to but my thinking was to fix everything now and fly it versus fly-it-and-fix-it etc….. So, this is what we did: Firewall forward is all new. Every line, hose and connector. Factory new IO-550. New engine isolators. Stripped and painted the engine baffles. Prop Governor Overhaul Prop Overhaul to include new internals. Compete external light conversion to Whelen (WATT) LED’s. New wingtip and taxi/ landing light lenses. New tires and tubes. New batteries (2) New O2 bottle and fill. Polished the spinner and took the dents out. 18 hours with a buffer and ceramic wax to bring the paint back to life. Complete fuel tank seal scheduled for this year. New Interior. (I started with the just carpet but I had to take the seat out to take out the carpet………and one thing led to another and i just took everything out). I also removed most of the old adhesive, cleaned every inch of the inside and added insulation and sound proofing to the interior. FIRST FLIGHT: Accomplished the first flight and first two hours of engine break-in yesterday. The new engine and prop are powerful and smooth. Everything else mostly worked as advertised. After the first hour I landed. We took the cowlings off to inspect. No leaks. We adjusted the prop governor for full take-off thrust and the gear warning horn on the throttle cable. We flew another hour and I got two more landings in since it had been awhile in GA for me. I would have added 4 more hours to the break-in except i was limited to lower altitudes and high power settings for the break-in and it was VERY windy. TAS was 176-178 on 24/24 at 3500” so I am guessing 180-185 higher. It was a rough ride. I have a fuel pump that needs overhauled so that is going out. I also have a small box in the avionics bay that controls glareshield and panel lighting that needs overhauled. Maybe one EGT probe as well. Otherwise, for the amount of work we did on the airplane……everything went well.

I had my towbar powder coated, it still went into the gear leg easily.

Oh, fun.

So you spaced out your medical and it expired last week and you had a gear up. So sad to bad......

We all break rules, have you never broken the speed limit?

In 6’ 260 and I owned a Cherokee 235. Mooney is wider and much more comfortable.

Fair enough. I've never had an SI or BasicMed, so I don't have any first-hand experience with this, but I have certainly encountered a lot of ignorance about aviation regulations (medical or otherwise) and there isn't much that would surprise me

Huge difference between making a mistake, which we all do, and flying illegally, with no medical, which I hope none of us do. That's not a mistake, that's intentional. Should they cover someone without a license? If I knowingly let an unlicensed driver drive my car, should my (and maybe your) carrier cover me? Personally I don't think so, but everyone has their own viewpoint.

If I read the facts in the light most favorable to the pilot here, it’s possible that he thought since his most recent application for a third class medical had not been denied, and his BasicMed was current, he was good to go. There are definitely some conditions that would require a new application for a third class and a grant via SI before he could fly under BasicMed, but I suspect that many people don’t read that far into the reg.

I’m not sure whether he does instruction in his own plane, but @KLudwick is a Mooney owner and experienced CFI in Kansas City

Better yet, buy all four for a VERY talkative panel.

With the lifespan of LED why not have it on all the time as a recognition aide?

Looks like you and FAA have different sources: https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-revokes-certificate-santa-monica-propeller-service

That is not how insurance works in almost any area of life. Insurance companies do not deny claims based on bad behavior. The deny claims based on policy exclusions. If you get hit and are permanently injured by a drunk driver, the drunk driver's insurance is still liable for your damages even though he knowingly engaged in risky and illegal behavior. If he misses you all together but destroy his own car, insurance still replaces his car (if he has full coverage). Insurance covers negligence and poor judgement as well as bad luck. The system won't really work any other way. Such a system would require that every single claim be adjudicated by an independent third party.

Sadly a big understatement. All should review the pilot's log book in the docket. It highlights IMO a callous disregard for maintaining and logging instrument currency requirements. I counted 10 log book pages for the last 10 years, 1 per year, rarely logging individual flights but almost entirely just summary entries. Only logging actual instrument time in summary entries involving many hours without naming approaches, departures, holding etc. Notes may indicate IFR work, such as ILS's RNAV's but never logged actual approaches by name nor logged a single practice instrument approach under the hood in the 10 years I saw; except logging simulated instrument during a flight review by instructor. No IPC endorsements in the back either. Can only imagine what an Inspector would conclude when the pilot was last "legal" to file an IFR flight plan. I seriously doubt the medical status had anything to do with his accident, the reports finding was Spatial Disorientation. Why do smart people keep reminding us that IMC flying, especially low IMC, should only be flown by instrument "proficient" pilots? His wife said, that he had no appointments, meetings, or compelling reason to return home on the day of the accident. At the time of departure they cited a 300 ceiling with 4 mi vis.

My policy has no such exclusions and I am sure that is the norm. Just possibly if they can show the pilot misrepresented their status on their application for coverage just maybe they would pursue that, but that's not the typical and they don't typically deny coverage because a pilots flight review or medical has lapsed during the policy period. But lying about it might be different. But the NTSB report isn't saying the pilot misrepresented their basic med status but that his previous heart condition disqualified him for a Basic Med.

If you're planning on getting out of flying, yes, but if you're planning on replacing it you'll be paying the same market pricing for whatever you buy.

It’s been some time but wanted to share with you the painting I did for last years silent auction at the summit. I Don’t know if the winner is someone that visits Mooneyspace but wanted to thank them for their contribution to the Gilliland (spelling corrected) foundation. Was very nice working with them and I was very happy with the results of my work as were the recipients. They run Cadillac aviation in Michigan. John

I would use a piece of closet rod and a vice to make the bend. Clamp one end with the closet rod. Then use a rubber mallet to help you bend it. If the closet rod is the wrong size then wood dowel. Go to NAPA and get some of the little springy things, drill a hole and insert. Then go to fabric store and buy some foam filling, some leather of your color and some contact cement (not the water based, the good smelly stuff) Cut and glue. Pilots can do interior stuff under Preventive Maintenance. Make it look better than factory and nobody will care. If you want to redo all the lower panels in leather. leatherhidestore.com Buy a couple of hides. There is different weights of leather hides.

Prayers for the lost airman… -a-

While on a flight from Salt Lake (U42) to Tri-cities WA (KPSC) early this morning, we hit a bird in the blackness over the Great Salt Lake. It was jarring! The windshield doesn't seem to be damaged at all, but it doesn't smell good. We think it was a duck. We feel lucky, as my brother-in-law, the GIB, hit a swan in his Idaho Air National Guard F4 some 40 years ago, ending the flying career of his pilot as it smashed through the canopy. My bro-in-law ended up landing that plane from the back seat, getting all kinds of flying awards in Washington DC. Ute