Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

gibbons

gibbons

En-Route
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
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3,385
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Rogers, Arkansas
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Display name:
iRide
Our little airport got hit Saturday night by thieves. They broke into the FBO and stole instructors' headsets and some charts. They broke into three hangars in my complex (mine wasn't among them) and took at least two other headsets. Amazingly, they left behind about $10,000 worth of tools in one hangar.

The only hangars they broke into were on the runway side of the complex. Those that face the road weren't touched. My hangar has a store front door on it with a huge lock they couldn't spring. Fortunately they didn't break the glass.

I would really, really like to get my hands on these guys.
 
gibbons said:
Our little airport got hit Saturday night by thieves. They broke into the FBO and stole instructors' headsets and some charts. They broke into three hangars in my complex (mine wasn't among them) and took at least two other headsets. Amazingly, they left behind about $10,000 worth of tools in one hangar.

The only hangars they broke into were on the runway side of the complex. Those that face the road weren't touched. My hangar has a store front door on it with a huge lock they couldn't spring. Fortunately they didn't break the glass.

I would really, really like to get my hands on these guys.
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I hope you track them down and get your way.

A while back our nieghbors to the north had a whole row of planes broken into until the punks found one with an O2 tank, which was all they wanted, for drug synthesis.
 
gibbons said:
Our little airport got hit Saturday night by thieves. Those that face the road weren't touched. My hangar has a store front door on it with a huge lock they couldn't spring. Fortunately they didn't break the glass.
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Chip, that's awful! Good thing they couldn't get into yours.

Do you still have the video camera going outside your hangar?
 
I've been watching e-bay for the headsets. No joy yet.

We're pretty sure these guys were pilots. They didn't take anything but headsets and charts. They actually took two older David Clarks out of the Lightspeed bags, took the Lightspeeds out of the airplane, left the DC's on the table, and walked away with the Lightspeeds and the bag. They didn't do any damage to any airplane anywhere in the hangars or on the ramp. They left tools, electronics, and all kinds of aircraft components behind.

Here's a photo of one of the hangar doors. My door will be reinforced and the security system will be installed by the end of next week. That's what we call closing the barn door after the cows are out.
 
What is wrong with people....pilots stealing other pilots gear..........man that gives off vibes of the bad mojo.

Someone always flaps their yap about what they have done (as if they should be proud):no: ......I hope they do and they get caught.
 
If it had happened in south Texas, those things would be on their way to Mexico for use by smugglers.

Also, if the break-in happened in south Texas, you would be checking your plane for an extra transponder installed by LE. I know of someone in El Paso that found one....
 
wsuffa said:
Also, if the break-in happened in south Texas, you would be checking your plane for an extra transponder installed by LE. I know of someone in El Paso that found one....
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OK. I'm lost on this one.
 
gibbons said:
OK. I'm lost on this one.
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Apparently Customs/Border Patrol has been know to install renegade transponders in aircraft suspected of illegal activity. I know of a pilot in the El Paso area that claims to have found one. Not cool if they aren't careful of flight controls.
 
wsuffa said:
If it had happened in south Texas, those things would be on their way to Mexico for use by smugglers.

Also, if the break-in happened in south Texas, you would be checking your plane for an extra transponder installed by LE. I know of someone in El Paso that found one....
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The one story I heard of an extra transponder installed by DEA was when the pilot agreed to let them do the installation. The installation was done as a precaution for when, not if, the plane was stolen. It was, the bad guys were tracked and lead DEA right to the big dog.

BUT.....are you saying LE would commit a criminal entry into pvt property, incur damage to said property, tamper with an a/c w/o permission of it's owner, attempt to cover their intent...this so they could further their black ops?
 
wsuffa said:
If it had happened in south Texas, those things would be on their way to Mexico for use by smugglers.

Also, if the break-in happened in south Texas, you would be checking your plane for an extra transponder installed by LE. I know of someone in El Paso that found one....
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Sorry, but as an ex-police detective, I can't see any police agency breaking in like that, STEALING property, etc, just to put a hidden x-ponder in someone's airplane. Sneakily getting into a plane to put that in there is legal, assuming that there is a legitimately obtained and issued court order. But damage to property that is NOT covered by the court order and theft are not legal and I can't imagine anyone being so stupid as to undermine their investigation by doing something like that.

That being said, if ya look at how stupid the average person seems to be, it's important to remember that means half the people out there are dumber than that. Cops included.

Tom
 
Jerks! There is probably a better chance of catching these punks thank the jerks that smashed the PAPIs and REILs at Wings field a month or so ago. These boneheads will surely try to sell the head sets.

Sadly, After this post I am thinking about etching my name into my lightspeeds some where. Won't stop them from getting lifted but may give a buyer second thoughts.
 
AdamZ said:
After this post I am thinking about etching my name into my lightspeeds some where. Won't stop them from getting lifted but may give a buyer second thoughts.
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The only problem with that comes when you want to upgrade to the latest/greatest and sell your current set on eBay. You won't get as much with "THESE HEADSETS STOLEN FROM ADAM Z." scratched into the cups.
 
AdamZ said:
These boneheads will surely try to sell the head sets.
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I don't think that's a given. He also said they stole CHARTS. I think this is a case of snagging things for personal use, like shoplifting beer from the local 7-Eleven. To a lot of people a $500 headset is an attractive target. Headsets of the same model look alike, even if you're trying to tell the difference, because the dings and marks we see in our own equipment usually can't be seen from 2 feet away. So the crooks could probably use them forever with little fear of being found out.
 
wsuffa said:
If it had happened in south Texas, those things would be on their way to Mexico for use by smugglers.

Also, if the break-in happened in south Texas, you would be checking your plane for an extra transponder installed by LE. I know of someone in El Paso that found one....
Click to expand...

While you're at it, check the serial numbers on any tray mounted contemporary avionics gear. You might be the victim of a radio swap.
 
Like my old Daddy use to say.. "Locks only keep out honest people!"

Dakota Duce

"May All Your Flights Be Of Good Weather!"
 
bbchien said:
What did they use to mange the deadbolt outta the door like that?
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We wondered about that ourselves. Looks like a claw hammer and a screw driver. The door is not very substantial actually. I guess they make them pretty light since the door has to lift them up.
 
bbchien said:
What did they use to mange the deadbolt outta the door like that?
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A crowbar and heavy mallet would do nicely. It kind of looks like they bypassed the deadbolt completely and made a hole in the door big enough to slide the deadbolt out through. Problem is that the door or frame itself is the weak link on too many occasions.

What is really needed beyond a tuff door is a locking system that once they disable the obvious locking mechanism, the door defaults to locked in a very inconvinent manner. Nonstandard locking/disabling systems are much more of a hassle for scoundrels. :D Of course they have to be custom built too...preferably with no witnesses.


Scoundrels and hooligans... :mad: :mad: ...don't even get me started...
 
Dakota Duce said:
Like my old Daddy use to say.. "Locks only keep out honest people!"

Dakota Duce

"May All Your Flights Be Of Good Weather!"
Click to expand...


My dad is a carpenter who says this all the time. As he says, you build a better lock, they break the door. A better door, they break the frame. Stout door and frame, they will simply remove the whole thing as a unit.

Basically, it all depends on how badly someone wants what you have.

Wonder how much it would cost to keep a big dog in the hangar, as a favored guest of course, for a month or so?

Jim G
 
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