USUA membership?

[ironnerd]

Is a USUA membership worth while?
What do you get out of it?

Are the USUA and EAA Ultralight registrations the same?
What is the benefit of registering a Part 103 Vehicle?

[Dana]

USUA ultralight registration lets you get insurance, which you can get through USUA.

[ironnerd]

Would EAA Registration allow me to get insurance?

[Dana]

I didn't know EAA still did UL registration... ask your insurer.

[ironnerd]

Does anyone know what the benefits of a USUA membership might be? I am genuinely curious.

[Dana]

Does anyone know what the benefits of a USUA membership might be? I am genuinely curious.

You get a magazine, and can get insurance through their partner(s). Nothing more that I can see.

[TrikeTrash]

Looks like the "Powered Sport Flying" magazine is kaput.

https://www.rotaryforum.com/threads/powered-sport-flying-magazine.1148095/

[Sam Buchanan]

It appears insurance coverage through USUA is no longer available, at least I couldn't find it. There is an old link on their site that forwards to First Flight Insurance but I couldn't find any aviation coverage on their site. Most of the pages I found were old and hadn't been updated in several years.

The lack of insurance is a serious problem for someone who wants to base their UL at a public airport. Most airports require liability insurance for tenants on the airport. Then there is the personal liability exposure for the UL operator. Ultralights are an intriguing option but the lack of insurance is a deal-breaker for those who feel the need to protect assets. USUA still offered coverage when I was flying my Legal Eagle but it appears ULs wouldn't be an option for me now.

[Dana]

There's this:
https://www.o2sportsinsurance.com/programs/usua/



USUA

Offering 3rd Party Liability insurance for ultralight or light sport aircrafts. Policy offers you $1,000,000 of liability coverage. Which is often requested by public airports or hanger locations. You MUST be a member of the United States Ultralight Association to qualify for this insurance coverage.
Start A Quote Now

[ironnerd]

I think the forum has been over the Insurance topic in an older thread.
https://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?9788-Liability-Insurance-where-go-you-buy-it

What I am really wondering is if USUA provides any benefits over and above what the EAA provides and access to Insurance.

I understand that USUA is, in some ways, like the National Association of Rocketry in that it governs its membership so the Government does not need to. But again, the EAA seems to understand this as well:
There is a statement on the EAA Ultralight Registration page that reads as follows:
"By offering free registration programs for ultralight vehicles, EAA is helping the ultralight community meet that commitment to self-regulation. If we don’t regulate ourselves, the FAA will be forced to do it for us."

I can look up a lot of info on the EAA web page without being a member. With USUA, I need to join to see what I am going to get - all the links on the Home Page take you to the Home Page.

[Dana]

At one time, USUA, EAA, ASC (Aero Sports Connection), and USHGA (US Hang Gliding Association) all had "Basic Flight Instructor" programs, to allow a BFI to legally instruct in a 2 seat "ultralight trainer". I think even AOPA might have been involved in the very early days. The instructor needed to be a BFI and the ultralight needed to be registered with the insurance.

EAA abandoned ULs early on, their ultralight registration program is likely vestigial. Later, when the Sport Pilot / LSA rule was passed (largely due to widespread abuse of the BFI program, so much for "self regulation"), the FAA eliminated the 2 seat ultralight training exemptions for everything except foot launched hang gliders and paragliders which USHGA (now USHPA) and ASC maintained.

USUA continued with the UL registration program which was required to get insurance through their affiliated broker, and provided a magazine which now appears to be defunct. There were also some shenanigans and disputes involving the USUA management around that time. It appears that insurance may still be available through USUA as per the link I posted above. When I had UL insurance through USUA around 10 years ago it was $300ish.

[ironnerd]

I think I'll keep poking EAA and USUA to see what each offers. Maybe the former should absorb the latter... I dunno.