Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
#1676954
When I park my 182 up in the UK, I think I'm going to be removing my avionics and taking them home with me. The thefts seem to be fairly rampant. In the US I can't remember the last time I heard of similar activity. Could just be that it isn't reported, of course.

Would it be tasteless to note here that I have an almost brand-new IFD440 for sale if insurance won't cover a brand new one (no it's not the stolen one I have the receipts 8) ).
#1677184
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:
Katamarino wrote:When I park my 182 up in the UK, I think I'm going to be removing my avionics and taking them home with me. The thefts seem to be fairly rampant..


Where are you getting the reports to confirm thefts as rampant?


Entirely anecdotal based on what I read on here, compared to the lack of anything like this mentioned on US forums. It's in no way scientific, but given the fact that the US GA scene is probably 100x bigger, it's odd.
#1677213
Katamarino wrote:
GAFlyer4Fun wrote:
Katamarino wrote:When I park my 182 up in the UK, I think I'm going to be removing my avionics and taking them home with me. The thefts seem to be fairly rampant..


Where are you getting the reports to confirm thefts as rampant?


Entirely anecdotal based on what I read on here, compared to the lack of anything like this mentioned on US forums. It's in no way scientific, but given the fact that the US GA scene is probably 100x bigger, it's odd.



It is never nice to be victim of crime. Not many have been reported on here. Given the size of the UK GA fleet it is a tiny percentage so I think describing it as rampant seems an over reaction.

One way to reduce the problem is to remove the market for dodgy items so thieves turn their attention to something else.

Some owner pilots prefer un-certified aircraft to reduce the burden of paperwork and cost associated with the fitting of kit and its paper trail compared to a certified aircraft. They enjoy more freedom of what fancy new kit they can fit compared to all the hoops the owner of a certified aircraft has to go through. If certified and un-certified aircraft owners came together to support mandatory checks of serial numbers on a periodic basis and potentially on ramp checks, it could be a hassle/bureaucracy/cost to bare to reduce the market for dodgy units.

If it was truly a rampant problem we would be asking the avionics producers and database update providers and CAA etc to work together to improve security and processes to make a panel mount device unusable in another aircraft or block database updates, unless the legitimate owner of the unit notified them of the sale to a new owner or shop or installer etc.

As a community we could avoid inadvertently buying stolen items by always buying from the manufacturers authorised distributors or re-sellers. As some buyers don't like that restriction of choice and associate those outlets with potentially higher prices, and want more freedom of choice where to shop, perhaps manufacturers of panel mount kit need a database of stolen items so that legit second hand buyers have a way of checking that bargain price unit is not stolen, and legit owners have a way of knowing if someone is fishing about their aircraft unit serial numbers.
#1677259
CloudHound wrote:Many years ago thefts of fuel from hangared a/c turned out to be a pilot owner in said hangar. Evidence included no record of them ever buying fuel.

My point is that criminals are among us. They are not always random out of towners.

Allegedly.


Yes I had fuel go missing from my aircraft while in its in hangar, visual checking of the tanks that day saved an embarrassing situation.

A few days before I had filled both tanks but with the fuel gauges being the cork ball in a glass tube type, when full the ball disappears and also it disappears when empty. Who ever had done it completely drained one wing tank via the fuel drain and left the other tank full so having the both of the cork balls invisible and from having just filled the tanks you couldn't tell other than doing a visual check.
#1677500
Serial numbers stolen from two aircraft:

Garmin GTX 335 Mode-S Transponder: 3EE000773
ICAO 24 bit A/c address is: 0100_0000_0010_1110_0101_1001
Hex: 402E59
Octal: 20027131

Avidyne IFD440 is M163495433.

Garmin G5 Instrument - s/n 4JQ021557

Garmin GNC255A NAVCOM radio -s/n 2A8014329


Once I get similar info from the third owner I will share too. Hopefully this will make it more difficult to shift them - in the UK at least.
Last edited by ChrisGazzard on Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.