Someone broke into my airplane :(

Went out to the airport last night around 8:30p.m. with the
intention of doing some night stop-and-go's to regain night currency in
my 152. The last time I'd flown it was Saturday (From JeffCo to
Scottsbluff and back). After stopping in at the FBO to let them know
I'd need some fuel I headed out to the airplane. When I went out to do
the pre-flight and such, I noticed that the keyslot wasn't vertical. I
can only remove the key when it's vertical so I thought that it was a
bit odd. I reached up and pulled the latch, and found that it was
unlocked, another oddity, as I always lock my airplane after tying it
down. Normally I keep everything that stays in the airplane in one of
those plastic tubs with a cover (I figure I need to keep things
organized now that it looks new) and upon looking inside found it
opened with my aircraft POH and sectionals outside of the container
strewn about in the rear of the airplane. It was at this point that I
noticed that my portable GPS and it's cabling were gone. Usually I put
it in between the chocks that I have in the container and then toss the
aircraft manual and sectionals on top to put it out of sight. With that
and the cover on the plastic tub, you can't see what's in the back of
the airplane except for a plastic tub with some quarts of oil and
sectionals in it.
At this point I mentioned to the line guy who was in the process
of topping the tanks off that my airplane looked like it had been
broken into and my GPS was missing. He didn't know if there was any
formal reporting process for handling such things, so he radioed his
manager to determine if there was anything that they were accountable
for, to whom they might need to report something like this, etc. They
called the local sherriff who then came out, took down some information
and then had to call out another officer who had a computer to file the
actual report. The local police were very good at getting the
information and such and easy to work with (this is the first time I've
ever had to do anything like this.) They gave me a case number and said
that a detective would be calling me (I guess due to the value of the
property stolen it's a felony theft.)
Since I'd already entered the aircraft they said it would be
useless to take prints (and both officers made it a point to state that
fingerprinting and the database don't work like what they show on T.V.
already knew that though) and the one officer was concerned that the
powder used wasn't good for an airplane as it gets everywhere and he
didn't want to be gumming up the moving parts.
Thankfully I still have the box for the GPS and was able to call
them back and provide them the serial number, but I'm guessing I will
probably never see it again. I don't like the fact that it was stolen,
but it's only equipment and can be replaced. What I don't like at all
and is still unsettling is that someone was in my airplane without
permission and without my knowledge. I have no idea what else they
could have done (more than likely just 'shopping' for things, but still
an unknown). Everything looked ok from a cursory glance at things, but
it was night and I couldn't do a real good look, therefore I abandoned
my plans to fly that evening (which really sucks because it was a
GORGEOUS night to do so).
So I guess the moral is to not leave anything at all in the
airplane. I take my headset with me because I fly various aircraft and
only have one headset. I left the GPS in the 152 because it's the only
airplane without one, and it's one less thing to remember to bring when
heading to the airport. I figured that by burying it beneath the maps
and what not, it would be out of sight, out of mind. Looks like it
didn't work out that way.

--
Louis L. Perley III
N46000
N370

Guess the fence around BJC is worthless afterall. Any idea what
time of the day/night this occurred? I'm betting after the
tower closed at 10.

I would guess the sheriff was called because it may be a Federal
offense.

Miserable to know it was so easy to break in. Good to know that
there doesn't appear to be any damage to the aircraft.

"Blanche Cohen" wrote, "Guess the fence around BJC is worthless afterall."

As far as keeping anyone on foot away from tied down aircraft, yes it is.

Louis, have you checked with ops to see if there any surveillance videos?
I'm also based at Jeffco and know there are cameras recording traffic
through the gates.

At a seminar I attended several years ago, the presenter said that he and a
friend were in their hangar one night and heard strange noises coming from
the other end of the row. They investigated and found someone in the process
a stealing a radio. They grabbed him and took him to the FBO where they
called the cops. When the cops arrived, they said they were amazed he had
the dexterity to steal an aircraft radio considering all the times he
tripped and fell down on the way to the FBO.

Hope you recover the stolen items.

Jon

On Sat, 21 May 2005 14:07:51 -0600, "Jon Woellhaf"
wrote:

At a seminar I attended several years ago, the presenter said that he and a
friend were in their hangar one night and heard strange noises coming from
the other end of the row. They investigated and found someone in the process
a stealing a radio. They grabbed him and took him to the FBO where they
called the cops. When the cops arrived, they said they were amazed he had
the dexterity to steal an aircraft radio considering all the times he
tripped and fell down on the way to the FBO.

One hates to make light of another's losses, but here's an account of a strange
theft occurrence at my home airport:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/stories/witch.htm

Ron Wanttaja

"Blanche Cohen" wrote in message
...
Guess the fence around BJC is worthless afterall.

Fences keep honest people honest. All they do to criminals is slow them
down a second or two.

("Dave Stadt" wrote)
Fences keep honest people honest. All they do to criminals is slow them
down a second or two.


Fences keep the deer in.


Montblack

"Louis L. Perley III" wrote in message
oups.com...

So I guess the moral is to not leave anything at all in the
airplane.

Louis L. Perley III
N46000
N370

Yup, it's true of item left in cars as well. I see police reports all the
time in the paper, people staying at a hotel or parked at the mall,
reporting a laptop stolen, or big CD collections or $1000 worth of clothes
or whatever. Locked or not, alarm or no, if they see something they want,
they will get it. You just have to remove the temptation.
I know it's longshot, but hope you get your stuff back.

--
Hello, my name is Mike, and I am an airplane addict....

Bummer -

We had an incident here in western MN about 15 years ago where they
stole the engine from a Mooney in a locked hangar. They left the prop
- maybe because it wouldn't fit in their car/truck or ? They knew
what they were doing as several aircraft in the hangar had been broken
into & the logbooks out on the wing. Guess they wanted to be sure to
get a good one.

It pays to be suspicious around airports.

Who would keep their logbooks in the plane? I keep them under lock and
key at the house. Sorry to hear of your misfortune. There isn't a tree
tall enough to swing those *******s from....

Jon Kraus
'79 Mooney 201

nrp wrote:
Bummer -

We had an incident here in western MN about 15 years ago where they
stole the engine from a Mooney in a locked hangar. They left the prop
- maybe because it wouldn't fit in their car/truck or ? They knew
what they were doing as several aircraft in the hangar had been broken
into & the logbooks out on the wing. Guess they wanted to be sure to
get a good one.

It pays to be suspicious around airports.

Jon Kraus wrote:
Who would keep their logbooks in the plane? I keep them under lock and
key at the house. Sorry to hear of your misfortune. There isn't a tree
tall enough to swing those *******s from....

For an airplane shared between several owners in a juristiction where
some of the logs have to be in the plane when it flys (Journey log in
Canada), there often isn't a viable alternative to keeping it in the
plane. The technical log on the other hand is almost never in the plane.

Fred