Born to Fly - 2011/05

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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 in the event
that you lose all of your RC gear. My good friend,
Stephen “SleepyC” Cinch, interviewed Greg about this
terrible event.
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
Jim T. Graham | jgraham@Born to Fly rcgroups.com
Protect your hobby from fire!
Greg Poppel (R) is a Team Futaba member and emcees many large RC events
across the country.
This would be a sad sight for any modeler.
This happened to Greg, and it could happen to you! Make sure
your home and hobby are protected!
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.
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May 2011 81
This Futaba hat has seen its last RC event. Fire can
strike at any time.
Greg spent 40 years collecting some rare kits. Luckily he was smart about
his insurance and will be able to get his RC collection back together.
SC: Late in 2010 Greg had an unfortunate incident. He is going to
share his story to help others be prepared in case it happens to you.
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
tails of five Cardens, she just
about choked. 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 content.
Greg confuses his microphone for his cell phone. He
is also a notorious peanut thrower at late-night
dinners. Clowning around is half the fun at RC events.
Greg is bright-eyed and ready to emcee the
Extreme Flight Championships at the AMA
International Aeromodeling Center.
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.
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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! MA
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