Theft Prevention / Security

VaporGlobalAviation

VaporGlobalAviation

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 8, 2022
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119
Location
Memphis
Hello all,

I hope to be a Citabria owner next week. Besides heel brakes, what works well for security/theft prevention when stored under a sunshade while waiting for a hangar? I am also thinking of uninstalling the avionics (Garmin 660/GTR 200) until I secure a hangar. Not really needed for the flying I will be doing.

Respectfully,

Pete
 
Big Ed said:
What the heck would someone even do with a stolen aircraft?
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I would fly it like I stole it! But I'm sure that would be my plan regardless. At work shoplifting is a persistent problem, but I can't say I've heard of a single thing stolen from my local airport in 30 years of hanging around.
 
My plane is kept in the country, I worry about the locals stealing gas out of it. They prolly don’t know it will run in their pickups.. Other than that I don’t worry. We used to say at work if u could figger out how to start it, it was yours.
 
It may run in their pickups, but as I understand it, it will destroy that expensive catalytic converter.

In 60 years at all kinds of airports I have lost to thieves one set of Cub hubcaps, one set of tie down ropes, and a bicycle. The bicycle was stolen from inside the airport manager's office.
 
Yeah, the lead would play hell with the CC... XS24 is out in the country, and I feel purty safe.. There's also a Cub and a C185 based at the strip as well. One of the owner's kid's along with a bunch of ranch hands live there too...
 
Howdy,

I will chime in on this topic. I live in Northern Maine, and it is pretty safe up here, but the bad people are everywhere, and it is getting closer to home for anyone living in rural areas.

Just recently, some young folks stole gas from a storage tank and aircraft at night at an airport in a rural central Maine airport. You can see the camera pics posted on their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/BowmanFieldFlyingClub plus a few winters ago, they toreup the groomed snow covered runway going around and under barriers.

Anyway, this element of steeling fuel, runway lighting, fire rings and destruction of airport property is growing nationwide. No one is safe, especially our beloved aircraft.

Anyone with half a brain and doing a little research will realize that an aircraft can be stolen easily. When I was the president of an EAA chapter in Meriden, Connecticut, we had a seminar on securing your aircraft. Everything from propeller locks, throttle/mixture locks, door locks and such.

This is some of what we found: #1, Prop Lock was easily removed by removing propeller and sliding snake cable off the prop and reinstalling.
#2, Throttle/Mixture locks can be cut off or just (in some cases) unscrew the knobs, slide off the lock and reinstall. #3, Door locks are outdated and a hairpin, paperclip or even a thin picket knife can move the worn tumblers to turn the assembly. #4, Window locks just need a thin blade to push them open like in many vintage aircraft. And the list goes on and on.

So, short of having your aircraft locked in a hangar with Mega Security, most anyone can take your pride and joy.

I hate to rain on any ones parade, but it is just "What it is". Security is an illusion. Just be diligent and do the best you can and hope for the best.

Ken "COWBOY" Winiarski
Cowboys Air Ranch (84ME)
 
Cowboys Air Ranch 84ME said:
Anyone with half a brain and doing a little research will realize that an aircraft can be stolen easily.
Click to expand...

Well sure. The question is, once you steal it, what are you going to DO with it?

You won't be able to register it or sell it. The N number is painted in 12 inch block letters on the side, and in many cases broadcast via ADS-B out. Probably can't sell the parts either.

So there really is no economic incentive for widespread theft of aircraft. It's all risk and no reward. That just leaves the possibility of a one off joyride or malicious event. But the population of trained pilots willing to do such a thing is probably very small. And untrained pilots stealing places makes national news because it is so unusual.

To me it's like wearing a helmet to protect from meteor strikes. Could that happen too? Suuurrre. But what are the odds?

Someone posted a picture of a Citabria at Oshkosh this week with a prop lock. I found that hysterical.
 
I agree with Ken. An old adage says locks only keep honest folks out. If a thief wants it he will take it. IMHFO. The rub comes with what Ed says. What are you gonna do with it once you take it???
BTW I worry more about the ranchhands they have access to the hangar and one keeps an old boat inside.
 
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Bob Turner said:
Nobody wants to steal Champs. If you owned a 206 and lived within 100 miles of the southern border, sure.
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Interestingly enough, the really bad actors south of the border want aircraft with squeaky clean backgrounds. Nothing that might attract attention.

Before I bought my Decathlon, I shopped pretty hard for an Arrow. Found one listed in Miami, so I googled the seller. Oftentimes that reveals a useful backstory. Boy did it ever this time.

The seller had a federal felony conviction and had served a year in prison. Seems he ran a shell company that procured aircraft for drug cartels. Buy them in the US and export them to the Caribbean. Gotta wonder how much choice he had in the arrangement.
 
When I was in the Caymans I was impressed how many aircraft there were to rent for "tours"...
206, 208 185 and Navahos in abundance...
Fish spotting ya' know...
Chris
 
Big Ed said:
Well sure. The question is, once you steal it, what are you going to DO with it?

You won't be able to register it or sell it. The N number is painted in 12 inch block letters on the side, and in many cases broadcast via ADS-B out. Probably can't sell the parts either.

So there really is no economic incentive for widespread theft of aircraft. It's all risk and no reward. That just leaves the possibility of a one off joyride or malicious event. But the population of trained pilots willing to do such a thing is probably very small. And untrained pilots stealing places makes national news because it is so unusual.

To me it's like wearing a helmet to protect from meteor strikes. Could that happen too? Suuurrre. But what are the odds?

Someone posted a picture of a Citabria at Oshkosh this week with a prop lock. I found that hysterical.
Click to expand...
Howdy,

Ok, I do understand the statement "What are you going to do with it?",....

In a previous life, at a central Connecticut airport, where I got my license in the early 80s, the security was almost Non-Existant. The fence was 3-1/2 ft tall and only 2-3 hundred yards long in front of the terminal FBO and hangars. The road ran adjacent to the fence and runway. All you had to do was jump the fence, or walk a very short distance and you were on the airport.

Skipping ahead, a tenant on the field with a Cessna 150 (Who flew weekly) noticed he was missing some fuel on occasion, but not much. After a few months, they set up a camera and found that a student pilot from another airport was coming in at night, untied the aircraft, and fly it an hour or so, then return it and park back in the tie down. This student went as far as to disconnect the hobbs each time.

The FAA got involved along with local and state police and they caught the fella, but charges were very minimum as he returned the aircraft each and every time. This was a loop hole in the law. It was considered just a joy ride and nothing much for consequences. Made the rest of us pilots really think about security.

So, your never secure. I have seen some crazy things happen and heard of a lot other things going on. That was the main reason I moved to Northern Maine where things were like it was earlier in my life in Connecticut. But as I mentioned in my earlier post, the criminal element is creeping outward to the rural areas as well.

Just be prepared and always, always, do a good preflight before you start it up. Might be missing fuel, parts, or someone messed with something? You never know.

Ken "COWBOY" Winiarski
Cowboys Air Ranch (84ME)
 
You cannot really worry about this sort of thing. The likelihood of someone stealing a Citabria is lots less than the likelihood of someone stealing your car. It is like being hit by lightning or space junk - it happens, but it is counter-productive to worry about it.
 
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