I run a small business, supplying rental equipment to some retail stores, mostly hardware stores. I run the business from the hangar at the local airport.

Yesterday, I finished making the rounds of some stores, re-supplying them and doing the monthly billing for them, then at the end of the day I parked the delivery truck at the airport, as I have been doing for almost ten years.

I got a message this morning that the truck had been broken into. Arriving at the airport, I found that the passenger window had been smashed. The cab had been ransacked, papers and other stuff thrown around, looked like the hurricane had blown through the inside of the truck. Glass everywhere.

As far as I could tell, nothing had been taken, except an access panel was pried loose from the passenger side of the dashboard and there was an empty compartment where the airbag used to be.

$1,000.00 deductible on comp.

Bastard thieves. The local cop who took the report told me that I'm not allowed to shoot them.

It's only a problem if you get caught.

Everglades. Chainsaw. Alligators. Rubber gloves.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeGLI:
Everglades. Chainsaw. Alligators. Rubber gloves.

Pythons, too!

I have been using this airport since arriving in Florida in 1985 (time flies when you're having fun).

This is the fourth time that I have been vandalized at this airport. Twice, years apart, thousands of dollars worth of communication and navigation radio equipment was stolen from the V-Tail. Another time, thieves evidently wanted to siphon fuel from the Volvo when it was parked there. I had a locking gas cap, so they cut a fuel line under the car. And now, this. Hundreds of dollars worth of damage, just to find that nothing worth stealing had been left in the truck, so rip the dashboard apart and steal an airbag. Sonsabitches!

Work truck break ins are common around Tucson. Thieves looking for work tools to use or sell for cash at Pawn shops.

No room to park it in the hangar?

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
No room to park it in the hangar?

Assumption:
I don't see a box van, or really any road legal 4-wheeled vehicle fitting in a standard airplane hangar with one of these in there:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
No room to park it in the hangar?

When I did classroom teaching, I always said on the first day of class, "Please do not hesitate to ask, if you have a question. Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Until, one day, somebody asked a really dumb question.

If you can figure out how to fit a GMC 3500 with a 12 ft box in a 3,500 sq ft hangar that has two airplanes it it, please come show me how to do it.

If there were room to park it in the hangar, why do you suppose that it was parked outside?

Hey, P250 -- that is A V-Tail, but it is not the V-Tail.

The one in your photo is an older model. The landing lights in the leading edges of the wings are a dead giveaway, as is the shape of the third (rear-most) side window.

Newer Bonanzas, both V-Tails and conventional tails, have the landing light in the nose bowl and the taxi light on the nose gear strut. They also have larger third windows, with a different shape. The one in your photo has a retro-fitted prop, too. I'm pretty sure that three-blade props were not offered by the factory on models this old.

That "flying wing" antenna on the cabin top, also dates the airplane as an older model, and the sort of blunted off tail cone.

No matter, they are all great airplanes. I actually like flying them better than the newer models. They just seem to handle nicely. More responsive to control inputs than the newer ones.

No security cameras around the hangers? If not maybe you should get some and point them at your entrances and parking area.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
No security cameras around the hangers? If not maybe you should get some and point them at your entrances and parking area.

Nope. No cameras that I am aware of. No way that I know of, that I can get cameras installed to cover the entire parking area. Even if a portion of the parking area were covered, there is no guarantee that there would be a slot open in that area when I return from a trip.

Nice idea, I have thought of it before (when the Volvo's fuel line was cut by gas thieves), but it is not within my authority. Yeah, this is something that has been requested, but the requests fall on deaf ears. There's always a reason that it can't be done.

Maybe, just maybe, if a vehicle belonging to somebody on the Board of Directors was vandalized, we might see some action. But until then, I'm not gonna hold my breath. I might turn blue.

Are you in a position to install security camera(s) on your portion of the [leased] hangar which could cover the parking area?

What about something like this?

Ring stick-on wireless security cam

It can run on a small solar panel, apparently.

Shooting them would be cruel. Just chop of the hands.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
No room to park it in the hangar?

When I did classroom teaching, I always said on the first day of class, "Please do not hesitate to ask, if you have a question. Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Until, one day, somebody asked a really dumb question.

If you can figure out how to fit a GMC 3500 with a 12 ft box in a 3,500 sq ft hangar that has two airplanes it it, please come show me how to do it.

If there were room to park it in the hangar, why do you suppose that it was parked outside?

Sorry, I should hang out at airports more often in order to have a basis to work on before I ask a question.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
No room to park it in the hangar?

When I did classroom teaching, I always said on the first day of class, "Please do not hesitate to ask, if you have a question. Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Until, one day, somebody asked a really dumb question.

If you can figure out how to fit a GMC 3500 with a 12 ft box in a 3,500 sq ft hangar that has two airplanes it it, please come show me how to do it.

If there were room to park it in the hangar, why do you suppose that it was parked outside?

Sorry, I should hang out at airports more often in order to have a basis to work on before I ask a question.

Believe me, if parking the truck in the hangar were an option, it would have been parked in the hangar. With a Bonanza and a Grumman in the hangar, I'd be hard pressed to find room to park a Vespa in there.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
What about something like this?

Ring stick-on wireless security cam

It can run on a small solar panel, apparently.

Got no place to put anything like this, since my hangar is nowhere near the common parking area. Also, the parking area is way to big to be covered by one camera.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Are you in a position to install security camera(s) on your portion of the [leased] hangar which could cover the parking area?

Nope. Visualize the taxiways as streets that run parallel to each other. The common parking area for vehicles is four "streets" away from my hangar. No direct line of sight, many rows of hangars between mine and the parking area, and the parking area is big enough that it would take a bunch of cameras to cover it, even if cameras could see the parking area from my location.

'Nother thought: Let's get hypothetical. Suppose there was camera coverage. Further suppose that the information from the camera was instrumental in catching the thief. What have I really gained, other than the satisfaction of maybe seeing him get some jail time? Odds are, he doesn't have a pot to piss in, so restitution isn't going to happen. I'm still out the cost of repairing my truck, up to the $1,000.00 insurance deductible. And the cop was very definite when he told me that I'm not allowed to shoot them. He actually asked me whether I had a gun. I asked him how many he needed. I was not in a good mood.

quote:

'Nother thought: Let's get hypothetical. Suppose there was camera coverage. Further suppose that the information from the camera was instrumental in catching the thief. What have I really gained, other than the satisfaction of maybe seeing him get some jail time? Odds are, he doesn't have a pot to piss in, so restitution isn't going to happen. I'm still out the cost of repairing my truck, up to the $1,000.00 insurance deductible. And the cop was very definite when he told me that I'm not allowed to shoot them. He actually asked me whether I had a gun. I asked him how many he needed. I was not in a good mood.

Add on to your fantasy. The perp is caught in the act, he attempts to grab the cops gun, he is beaten to a pulp, and sent to jail where they find he is implicated in a series of other crimes. He goes to prison for years. You are hailed by everyone at the airport and the local media for the increased police presence that led to his apprehension. That should make you feel better.


By the way I have been burglarized before. It sucks.