Press Releases - June 22, 2006

Build a Plane Takes Off—With Help from Avemco

Damaged Airplanes Find New Lives as Educational Tools

Frederick, MD (June 22, 2006)…

Thanks to Avemco Insurance Company's participation in a groundbreaking education project, students across America are gaining hands-on experience in the basics of airplane mechanics, avionics, and the physics of flight. Build a Plane, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in 2003, promotes aviation education by coordinating the donation of used aircraft to high schools across the United States.

Founder and aviation journalist Lyn Freeman states, "The idea behind the project is to tie together the practical and the scientific disciplines of aviation. We want to make aviation education affordable for school districts and accessible to the next generation of pilots, engineers and mechanics. In every participating school so far, we've seen tremendous interest among students."

Avemco's partnership is instrumental to the success of the Build a Plane project. Avemco donated its first airplane in October of 2005, sending a wind-damaged Cessna 150 to John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California. Since then, Avemco has donated many additional airplanes to Build a Plane for school programs across the country.

Jim Lauerman, Executive Vice President of Avemco, states, "Our mission is to support initiatives that improve aviation safety, and the Build a Plane project fits perfectly within this mission. As it grows, the aviation industry will require thousands of additional maintenance and repair professionals. The investment we make in aviation education today will pay immense dividends in the future."

Freeman is grateful for Avemco's participation. "We are thrilled that Avemco has pledged their material and logistical support. We now have a large number of planes in place, thanks to them."

Aircraft given to the schools have been deemed non-airworthy for a variety of reasons. For example, Avemco recently donated 12 aircraft with saltwater damage from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Although the planes will never fly again, they otherwise are in exceptional condition for study.

Pete Lee, whose department at Metro Tech-Aviation Career Campus in Oklahoma City received one of Avemco's donated airplanes, states, "The airplane is exceeding our expectations. It was in pretty good shape considering the reported damage. The students who have been working on it are jazzed, to put it mildly. Different classes have used it — from corrosion control to control rigging and assembly to electrical systems. We are ecstatic with our good fortune."

For additional information about the Build a Plane project, or to learn about opportunities for corporate participation, please visit the Build a Plane website at www.buildaplane.org.

Avemco Insurance Company, a leading pleasure and business general aviation insurer in the United States, has been insuring planes and pilots since 1961. Headquartered in Frederick, Maryland, Avemco is rated A+ (Superior) by A. M. Best Company and AA (Very Strong) by Standard & Poor's. Avemco is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HCC), an international insurance holding company and a leading specialty insurance group since 1974 with assets exceeding $7 billion.

For more information about Avemco, please visit our website at www.avemco.com.