Someone is missing with my airplane.

1600vw

1600vw

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Someone is messing with my airplane.

I went out to my hangar the other day and found someone has misseed with my airplane.

I top off my fuel after every flight. I am very careful not to over fill or the cork gets hung up in the neck of the tank. It happened once to me and I am certain to never let this happen again.

When entering my hangar I could see my fuel gauge or wire the cork is hooked to was sticking up to high.

I took off the fuel cap to find my fuel filled all the way to the top. I could not even put the cap back on without spilling some fuel.

First thing I did was check for water. I found none. I drained some of the fuel off and ran the engine. It ran rough. I drained the fuel and added new fuel. She ran great.

I believe someone is missing with my airplane. I told the airpark owner and he thinks I am nuts, but I never over fill my tank like this.

Locks are getting changed on the hangar in the next day or so. I would like to catch who did this.

Tony
 
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So someone is messing with you by topping off your tanks?

When you find out who it is send them over to my hangar :D
 
I guess it could be worse......they could pour oil on the floor....under your engine. :lol:
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
What was up with the fuel you took out? Smell or look different? Sugared?
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I noticed it looked a little funny. I did not smell it though. Almost like it had oil in it or something. Hard to explain what I saw but it did not look correct or like anything I see when I check my fuel.

It ran so much better after removing the fuel and adding new. It was spitting and sputtering until I removed this fuel. It ran but rough.
 
It could have been sugared. My thoughts also. I might add some sugar to some fuel and see if I get the same results by the looks of it, not trying to run it.
 
How was the fuel tank in the other side? What position was your fuel selector valve? What does your POH say about where the selector should be when you park? Any chance you just has fuel run from one side to the other?
 
twiggles said:
Are your tach and hobbs time as you left it?
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No one flew it. I live at the airpark and would have seen this. It was messed with, I am 100% certain of this. I do not over fill my fuel.

Here you see my fuel gauge, the tank is empty so the gauge is down but you see how the cap is made. This is a one fuel tank airplane. This did not happen in this hangar but my hangar. The hangar the airplane is in for this pic is the owners hangar. We do condition inspections in this hangar, then its back to my hangar.

Fuel always gets shut off before the engine is shut down. I then let the engine die from lack of fuel. I do not leave the fuel valve open.
 

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Airparks have way too much petty drama, and attempted homicides for my liking. You on the HOA board? Rat people out for not hiding their garbage cans 30 minutes after pickup?
 
So the picture seems to show the airplane there and not missing at all. :D
 
Do you have a fuel truck in the park? Possible someone went to wrong hanger by accident and put fuel in wrong airplane?
 
1600vw said:
No one flew it. I live at the airpark and would have seen this. It was messed with, I am 100% certain of this. I do not over fill my fuel.

Here you see my fuel gauge, the tank is empty so the gauge is down but you see how the cap is made. This is a one fuel tank airplane. This did not happen in this hangar but my hangar. The hangar the airplane is in for this pic is the owners hangar. We do condition inspections in this hangar, then its back to my hangar.

Fuel always gets shut off before the engine is shut down. I then let the engine die from lack of fuel. I do not leave the fuel valve open.
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Set up a trail camera inconspicuously in your hanger and catch them red handed if you truly believe someone is screwing with you. Frankly, if you are certain something is going on, do not be afraid to involve the Police. I would be most inclined to do a trail camera first though to see if I could figure out whats going on before involving the authorities...

Time to think of who you've PO'ed recently including wife, family and friends...
 
You have a cork in your fuel tank?

That's gonna make it run extra interesting when (not if) it disintegrates.

That sounds profoundly paranoid. If the fuel had been sugared, draining it would NOT have fixed the damage. Sugar doesn't dissolve in gasoline, so you either saw it out the sump, or it's still in there. If your engine is running smooth now, it's fine.

It sounds like someone fueled your airplane, probably by accident, and maybe with a Jerry can (and got a little water in there -- you sumped, right?).
 
I wish someone would sneak fuel into mine. First world problems.

Anyway, I suggest the game cam as well. But are you sure you didn't put jet fuel in it by accident, then thermal expansion just made it over filled?
 
Pedals2Paddles said:
I wish someone would sneak fuel into mine. First world problems.
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Possibly an urban legend, but...

A fellow with an early VW was insufferable about what good gas mileage he was getting.

So his neighbors conspired to go out very night and put some fuel in his tank.

I don't think the early models had a fuel gauge, so everyone got to hear him going on and on about how he had gone for months and still had not needed to fill up! AMAZING!!!

Probably apocryphal, but a cute story!
 
Uh, I might be wrong about this...but...being in law enforcement myself, I believe there are some charges on the federal side for tampering with an airplane...we suggest the trail cameras to people all the time. There are several cemeteries here that use them. They stream to the internet and we can receive the pictures via email every time something trips the camera. There are also some that we can view live. Works great. File a police report and do the cameras. Also, dont wipe off the area around the filler neck....you'd be surprised at how well we can lift fingerprints.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Does anyone ever get federal charges for airplane or mail tampering? Not advocating either as a hobby. All the mail theft and airplane vandalism cases I've seen get petty state charges. Dirtbags getting a little community service.
 
FastEddieB said:
Possibly an urban legend, but...

A fellow with an early VW was insufferable about what good gas mileage he was getting.

So his neighbors conspired to go out very night and put some fuel in his tank.

I don't think the early models had a fuel gauge, so everyone got to hear him going on and on about how he had gone for months and still had not needed to fill up! AMAZING!!!

Probably apocryphal, but a cute story!
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Ever flown a cub? The cork is coated with something (I don't know what) to prevent absorbing the fuel.
 
Lindberg said:
Ever flown a cub? The cork is coated with something (I don't know what) to prevent absorbing the fuel.
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The Cub I flew back in the '70s had a cork. That still amuses me. The plane had two instruments; a compass and a cork actuated fuel gauge. In order to judge how much fuel we had, we had to slow down almost to a stall so the wind pressure didn't bind the coat hanger into the "up" (full) position. It was the first plane I flew in without a door.
 
Yes Greg, they do. We refer all of our mail tampering cases to the Postmaster when we are finished with them..and in any case that is solved, they get the appropriate federal charges. Maybe not everywhere, but they do here. You are correct, many a criminal get off very easy. But it is normally because we as a society allow it. If he waits too long to report the issue, he likely will not receive the same consideration as if he would have reported it sooner. Also, it will build a pattern with the agency that he reports it to, which will help them in the event of future similar cases


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
And all that being said, petty punishment is not a good enough reason to let them get away with it. At least if he reports it and the idiot gets caught, he can get restitution for damages, we'll know who was doing it for next time and the idiot will know that and might think twice next time. Perfect? Nope...better than letting them get away with it? Absolutely.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm not saying let anyone get away with it, just that you hear about mail and aircraft tampering being a massive fed crime. Couple of cases where it happened in towns I lived in I only heard of minor state laws being used. Maybe the feds caught up with them later.
 
You're right, it unfortunately happens more often than not in the way that you describe. But, it doesn't have to. Thats a whole 'nother discussion. Didnt mean to take up the op's post for this. My opinion, report it. Even if it goes nowhere legally, its documented and trackable and maybe even some evidence recovered. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Someone is messing with my airplane.

1600vw said:
I went out to my hangar the other day and found someone has misseed with my airplane.

I top off my fuel after every flight. I am very careful not to over fill or the cork gets hung up in the neck of the tank. It happened once to me and I am certain to never let this happen again.

When entering my hangar I could see my fuel gauge or wire the cork is hooked to was sticking up to high.

I took off the fuel cap to find my fuel filled all the way to the top. I could not even put the cap back on without spilling some fuel.

First thing I did was check for water. I found none. I drained some of the fuel off and ran the engine. It ran rough. I drained the fuel and added new fuel. She ran great.

I believe someone is missing with my airplane. I told the airpark owner and he thinks I am nuts, but I never over fill my tank like this.

Locks are getting changed on the hangar in the next day or so. I would like to catch who did this.

Tony
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How long have you had your aircraft? Could the top off be anonymous "good will" from a neighbor or relative? You're not a sleep walker, are you?
 
So when they took your A/C and went missing, did they leave you some tin foil????
 
Several years ago I did an interview with a company that flew checks in C-210 out of Florida. When I showed up it looked like a circus. There were police from local, state and federal all over the place. There was even a bomb sniffing dog and EOD guys. Seems like someone went into the locked dispatch office that is manned 24/7 and took a set of keys out of the locked key box for a 210. Then flew the airplane for exactly 2.0 hours, parked the plane in the same spot, topping off the tanks, replaced the throttle lock and prop lock, then returning the keys back in the same spot in the manned dispatch office. All without anyone seeing anything.

I was sitting with a couple other pilots there for an interview. We were laughing about how the problem would probably be that nobody checked the last pilots math.

Well sure 'nuff......:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
FastEddieB said:
Possibly an urban legend, but...

A fellow with an early VW was insufferable about what good gas mileage he was getting.

So his neighbors conspired to go out very night and put some fuel in his tank.

I don't think the early models had a fuel gauge, so everyone got to hear him going on and on about how he had gone for months and still had not needed to fill up! AMAZING!!!

Probably apocryphal, but a cute story!
Click to expand...

The variant of this I heard was that his co-workers refilled the tank until he was getting ridiculous almost impossible milage, then started siphoning it off instead so it was abysmal.

First thing I thought of when reading this post too.
 
First off yes I make mistakes when typing. Sometimes I catch them most times I don't. But all one has to do is read a few posts and you will see, I am not the only one.

I never called the police, they would have looked at me like the airpark owner thinking I was nuts.

The tank is a 8 gallon tank, just lucky I topped it off. I try do do this after every flight but sometimes I just put the airplane away. This day I topped off the tank before putting her to bed. If I do indeed over fill and the cork will be up in the filler neck, I drain off the fuel using the gascolator.

I never leave the fuel over filled. Just trying to put the cap back on fuel spilled all over my cowl. You could see when who ever did this they spilled fuel all over my cowl or gas tank cover. You could see the streaks running down it. I always clean stuff like this up or wipe it off. Never leave my airplane like this.

I never knew these game camera's could be streamed to my computer. I am going this route.

I leave the fuel level about a 1/2 inch below the filler neck. I do not let the fuel be any higher. I will take a pic of how I leave my airplane fuel system. I will post this later today.

As to the gauge itself. Its not made from a coat hanger but from piano wire. It does not flex in flight and works great. No better fuel gauge. The cork is just plain old cork. Its been in service for 4 years now without any problems.

I made this gauge in about 10 mins. One is going in my Sonerai instead of the tube running up the dash with fuel in it.

At this airpark we have an RC club. They have been here for over 25 years. The first 20 years this field was theirs, no airplane traffic. Then I come along. The regulars do not like it and have told me so. I believe its one of them who did this. After all the years I believe they have keys to my hangar. They used this hangar before I came along to put RC airplanes in during flt-ins. Now they do not because its my hangar.

I believe its one of these people doing this. They really do not like me. A camera is going up, I just need to find the right one.

Tony
 
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