Smitty Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 This is just a heads up to some people in the south east. At 11:30 pm on 4/13/17 four of our planes here at 2GC were broken into and radios were stolen. KX155s to be exact. There was actually an instance where they broke into an aircraft with four bose headsets on board and only left with the KX155. Two other instances they left handheld GPSs in the aircraft. Seems like they are just targeting this one type of radio. I heard from an avionics shop that an airport south of Winston Salem was hit similar to us. Be careful if your plane is stored at a more rural airport without decent security measures. These guys were professionals and didn't really hurt anything. Also, keep an eye out for these radios, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry 5TJ Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 (edited) Sorry to hear about those thefts. That's very discomforting and invasive. But they take KX-155 radios only? My first thought - good displays are now fetching $500 or more, and are not serial numbered. Any careful person can pull the radios apart ("chop them up") and put subassemblies up on Internet auction sites. So, I suspect these radios are gone, but at least post the serial numbers as stolen. Edited April 14, 2017 by Jerry 5TJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinwing Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 That just stinks!So look out for kx-155 for sale eBay no trays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrach Posted April 14, 2017 Report Share Posted April 14, 2017 Honeywell created a black market by eliminating the vacuum display. If you lose a display on a 155 or 165 at this point your only option is to convert to digital which costs nearly what a used radio costs. The vacuum displays are pretty much unobtainium and when you do find one they are typically in the $800 range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75_M20F Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 7 hours ago, Smitty said: This is just a heads up to some people in the south east. At 11:30 pm on 4/13/17 four of our planes here at 2GC were broken into and radios were stolen. KX155s to be exact. There was actually an instance where they broke into an aircraft with four bose headsets on board and only left with the KX155. Two other instances they left handheld GPSs in the aircraft. Seems like they are just targeting this one type of radio. I heard from an avionics shop that an airport south of Winston Salem was hit similar to us. Be careful if your plane is stored at a more rural airport without decent security measures. These guys were professionals and didn't really hurt anything. Also, keep an eye out for these radios, please! Thanks for the heads up! I live in NC myself Were the planes on tie downs? Just wondering if those thieves are willing to break into hangars too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted April 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 We have open type shelters here. it looks like they tried to pry into our t-hangar but with no success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted April 15, 2017 Report Share Posted April 15, 2017 Man, that sucks! Hope the Cumberland Co. boys help the Feds track 'em down quick. Airports are federal property, right? Seems that's what all of the No Trespassing sign some I've seen have to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTK Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Professional thieves will break into hangars. We had a similar rash several years ago in a few area airports here in south Jersey. All types of radios went missing. A hangar neighbor even had his GNS430 vacate the panel of his M20C! Cameras were installed shortly thereafter and the rash has not recurred. Isn't there a central database of serial numbers of stolen avionics? I think Garmin maintains one for their boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75_M20F Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Makes me want to hide in the bushes with my AR! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennett Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Some years ago we had a similar situation with tied down aircraft at San Carlos. Only King radios were taken - several aircraft. And at Palo Alto airport six Beechcraft throw over yokes were stolen in one night. Now that was expensive for the owners. We had something like that at a marina where I berthed my sailboat. Six adjacent boats were broken into, and electronics, binoculars, and foul weather gear was stolen. No arrests no recoveries. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orionflt Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 When I fist bought my aircraft over 10 yrs ago the Garmin 430 I just installed was stolen, It turned up on eBay several months later. It turns out a ring of thefts where happening up and down the east coast, the police even stopped the criminals but did not have cause to search or arrest them. when my Garmin appeared on eBay, I recognized a fingerprint smudge I put on the screen when i first installed it and hadn't cleaned off yet. I contacted the seller and asked for the serial number, he gave it to me! I passed the info on the the police along with the account owners info. Our pilot group up here are very resourceful and we had a lot of info including his picture, I didn't ask where it all came from but it was all accurate. the FBI took down the ring, and even recovered 430 for the insurance company. taking with them later they told me that there was a lot of avionics that they could not confirm the proper owners because of lack of serial number documentation. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandelay Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 I would guess GPS manufacturers tying database updates to serial number prevents them from being a target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75_M20F Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 I'm thinking of putting a game camera up in my hangar. Cheap security measure. My nephew has one and it takes some great pictures even at night....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRM Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 13 minutes ago, Mooney_Mike said: I'm thinking of putting a game camera up in my hangar. Cheap security measure. My nephew has one and it takes some great pictures even at night....... You would think the airports would do this. A little strip like 2GC, no fence, right next to the highway, is easy pick'ens. KBPT is fairly secure since it is towered. It's also in Tejas, lots of firearms and bubbas not afraid to use them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 On 4/16/2017 at 11:11 AM, HRM said: You would think the airports would do this. A little strip like 2GC, no fence, right next to the highway, is easy pick'ens. KBPT is fairly secure since it is towered. It's also in Tejas, lots of firearms and bubbas not afraid to use them We have cameras up all over and saw the thieves in action but there was not enough detail for it to matter. All we determined from the video is it happened at 11:30pm. For a privately owned facility with no funding we do the best we can. With that being said this is the first act like this in 17 years out here. I know it wont' be the last so we're vamping up lighting and motion sensors as we speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 1 hour ago, bluehighwayflyer said: I'm really sorry this happened but it is definitely best not to disclose your entire security plan in a public forum. Jim Don't worry, I don't plan on telling everyone about the dog. Oh crap... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted April 18, 2017 Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 45 minutes ago, Smitty said: Don't worry, I don't plan on telling everyone about the dog. Oh crap... "These premises protected by guard dog three nights per week. Guess which three . . . " This was my favorite sign at an auto junkyard I used to frequent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 8 hours ago, bluehighwayflyer said: Hey, You might want to check out the slide-in replacement for the KX155 that TKM Avionics just announced at Sun N Fun. Predictably, they call it the MX155. I have a couple of their MX170Cs in my Mooney and have had 10 years of trouble free service from them both. I've been really happy with them. Jim http://www.avweb.com/videos/TKMs-KX155-Radio-Replacement-228812-1.html Didn't know this existed! Thanks a lot. Something for me to seriously consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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