My plane has been stolen! (I last saw it two years ago)

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Member for

18 years 11 months

Posts: 8,847

Rather careless, what? :D

Wednesday, a man walked into the local Sheriff's office to report that his aircraft, a 1955 Cessna 310, had been stolen from Turlock Airport (roughly 90 miles east of San Francisco), about two years ago. It seems the victim bought the plane on the east coast back in 2007, flew it across the country and parked it in his hangar. Details are sketchy, but the victim apparently left his plane unchecked until the FAA contacted him to let him know the aircraft had been sold in 2009, or was otherwise out of compliance. When the victim went to check on the aircraft, he discovered it was missing. Merced deputy Tom Mackenzie told local newspaper The Merced Sun Star that it appears the aircraft had been flown off the airport and that the criminal had then forged signatures on a bill of sale dated April 2009, before selling the aircraft to someone else.

The FAA is conducting an investigation and has placed the aircraft's identifying features, plus its serial number and registration number, into the national database for stolen property. Many aircraft are stolen each year from the U.S. and placed in service in South America for the purpose of running drugs, according to the FAA. The victim in this case estimated the value of his aircraft near $25,000.

http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/1840-full.html#204143

Original post

I ask you with tears in my eyes, he bought a plane and never looked at it for two years????

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

I couldn't do that. If I owned an aircraft I would have to at least visit it regularly even if I couldn't fly it.

Member for

19 years 7 months

Posts: 1,274

If you look at any So. Calif airfield you will find a good number of aircraft sitting which has never moved for years. Nor has the owner been seen in the last decade. They will have an increasing layer of dirt and dust, and sink further into the pavement. But seek out the owner and ask to buy it, and you will be told where to go. So I am not surprised to hear of this. Not at all.

T J

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

In light of that neither am I. If they are not going to fly/restore to flying condition what is the point of paying out good money for them?

Member for

14 years 2 months

Posts: 1,259

I couldn't do that. If I owned an aircraft I would have to at least visit it regularly even if I couldn't fly it.

I'd visit it so much my wife would probably think I was having an affair!

Member for

13 years 6 months

Posts: 722

Terrible,

Ironically I am takeing care and flying a Cessna 172 by an owner who has not seen it in, gawd, maybe THREE years!

I keep telling him to go up, and he pays for a lot of the keep, but does not even see it.

I wonder how full his garage is?

Member for

16 years 7 months

Posts: 1,404

I see mine daily....it`s outside the kitchen.

Member for

15 years 11 months

Posts: 5,339

I'd visit it so much my wife would probably think I was having an affair!

:D:D:D

Member for

13 years 1 month

Posts: 22

I don't own a recreational aircraft, but I assume that they would have keys and locks. Are the hangers all unsecured and can people just hotwire a cessna and fly it away?

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

I'd visit it so much my wife would probably think I was having an affair!
Likewise.:D

Member for

17 years 4 months

Posts: 1,375

I see mine daily....it`s outside the kitchen.

ditto :D

.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 4,450

They do... But most are easier to forge than a kids' padlock...

Hangar doors aren't much better secured if someone really wants ot get in, either. That is why most airports are gated / guarded nowadays...

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 16,832

If you look at any So. Calif airfield you will find a good number of aircraft sitting which has never moved for years. Nor has the owner been seen in the last decade. They will have an increasing layer of dirt and dust, and sink further into the pavement. But seek out the owner and ask to buy it, and you will be told where to go.

No need to cross the Atlantic.

This sad sight greets anyone visiting Bourn

http://www.airport-data.com/images/aircraft/small/227/227253.jpg

Moggy

All copyrights acknowledged. Will remove if requested

Member for

16 years 11 months

Posts: 338

Sad. If I had the money to buy one you can be damn sure I would be flying it even if it had to go in to a syndicate.

Member for

19 years 8 months

Posts: 188

Shocking, although i know of a hangered Yak that has undergone its annual twice and never moved.