Born to Fly - 2011/05
Protect your hobby from fire!
Jim T. Graham | [email protected]
In this edition of "Born to Fly" we'll take a look at something that can affect us all: fire.
Greg Poppel is a Team Futaba member and an emcee at RC events across the country. His online name is "Kitman," and in the following interview we will find out why. We will also learn about the total loss of everything he has collected throughout the course of his 40 years in this hobby.
Are you protected if your house were to burn down? If you are not sure, read on to find out how to be prepared in case you lose all of your RC gear. My good friend, Stephen "SleepyC" Cinch, interviewed Greg about this terrible event.
Interview: Greg Poppel ("Kitman")
SC: Greg, how did you get the nickname "Kitman"?
GP: Well, Steve, over the last 40 years I started collecting kits. I figured while I can afford them, I'm going to buy them. My friends that have been in my basement understand why my nickname is Kitman!
SC: I have been down there and seen the stacks and stacks of kits. That doesn't include the ones you have in storage. You deserve the name.
You also do a lot of announcing for RC events. You have done it for the IRCHA (International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association) Jamboree and a lot of the Huckfests. How did you get started with that?
GP: Bob Sadler, "The Mouth of the South," asked me if I would help him out at the Joe Nall Fly-In. I would emcee when he needed a break. One thing led to another and he found out that I had emceed for 18 years at IRCHA Jamborees. So I had worked the mic before, just not at any big airplane events.
So Bob set it in motion and I did the Huckfests, the DOGS show, the Tucson Shootout. So now at just about every major event I get on the mic at some point. It's a lot of fun.
SC: Late in 2010 you had an unfortunate incident. You are going to share your story to help others be prepared in case it happens to them.
GP: December 3 I came home to find my house on fire. I lost everything that I had built up in RC for the last 40 years. The fortunate thing is I didn't lose family members or pets. I lost my airplanes. To a modeler I lost kits that there were one or two of in the world. I learned a lot. The thing I would share with everyone is going forward I would encourage all of you to talk to your insurance person. The coverage with a lot of different insurance companies may not include your hobby. You might end up with only $1,000 of coverage for all of your model airplanes.
SC: The thing you just said is exactly what I found out. Because of your situation I checked my homeowner's policy, and any hobby that I have, including my bicycling and other hobbies, was only covered up to $1,500 for everything. It didn't matter if I had multiple hobbies that were different; the most I could get was $1,500. If I had a $10,000 airplane, it didn't matter.
GP: Isn't that amazing? That is exactly what I want people to know. Fifteen-hundred dollars would not cover your Yak or your Carden.
SC: It's amazing how little is covered. You seemed to have had yourself well covered, but you work in the insurance business. What information can you share with people so that their investment in this hobby is covered in case something were to happen?
GP: The best thing I can tell you is to make an appointment with your insurance person and let him or her know what RC items you own. Take pictures and invite your insurance person over so he or she can see your hobby and get a good idea about what you own.
When you say you have an RC hobby, they are thinking small park flyers. When I brought my insurance person over and she saw the rest of the collection she said, "This is a lot more than a hobby!"
I was very fortunate that my wife had made sure that everything was covered under our insurance policy as contents.
That means going back to your insurance person and finding out what is considered a hobby.
You may have to put on a special rider for your RC stuff and it's not that much money. It is barely measurable.
SC: So you are saying that an RC enthusiast needs to meet with an agent and let that person know that your hobby is not a normal hobby, and that it has a considerable amount of money involved in it. The point is to handle this before it is a problem.
GP: Absolutely. I was blessed my wife had everything done right. Be proactive. Do yourself a favor and stand in the middle of your hobby room and spin around and shoot photos of everything in it. Put those in a fireproof safe, a safety-deposit box, or take them to an office.
SC: Another idea is to post them online.
GP: There you go! That's a fantastic idea!
We lost our house, and when you are standing in that burned basement you think you know what you have, but do you really? My insurance company is keeping the claim open for two years because it may take that long for me to realize how many things were really lost in that fire.
SC: There are so many things in this hobby that are small and valuable. You might have a drawer full of $100 servos that you forgot about. When you are looking at a pile of rubble, small things like that are going to be missed.
GP: Absolutely. Just be sure to spend time with your insurance agent. Every company has different wording, different policies, and different ways of covering things. If you don't, you will be standing there and they write you a check for $1,500 instead of $10,000.
SC: So make sure you have insurance in this hobby. There are so many things that can happen. You could lose your house, all your things, and then you realize that you lost all of your hobby items with very little payback.
GP: Oh man, I would throw up! I'm currently at about $120,000 for my loss as we are going forward.
My insurance company has been phenomenal. We walked through the house, made a list of our inventory, and they understand that my collectibles are kits. Basically all my airplanes are kindling. I collected the things I wanted during my life and I'm looking back and saying, "Crap, it's all gone."
The big thing to remember is not to flip out. I haven't pressured the insurance company at all and they have been there for me. I'm very fortunate.
My Cardens are being rebuilt by Mark Bogusewski. My season is going to start a little later in the year, but I'm going to be okay. Make sure you are protected too!
How to protect your RC hobby
- Meet with your insurance agent and explain the full scope of your RC collection.
- Take detailed photos and inventory everything in your hobby room.
- Store inventories and photos in a fireproof safe, a safety-deposit box, or online.
- Ask about a special rider or additional coverage for valuable hobby items.
- Remember small items (servos, chargers, accessories) can add up and should be documented.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
