Lock your plane and hangar: avidyne stolen

[MoonRiver69]

Hey everyone.  Just thought it would be worth passing on,  this morning i hopped in the plane for my commute, a Mooney Bravo ‘96, and looked forward and noticed a big hole in the dash where my avidyne 540 used to reside.  The hangar was locked, so still waiting for the surveillance.  Nothing else taken.

Not sure why you would take that, I’m not sure you can even use it on a different plane.  I’m sort of a known person (i say that humbly) so it’s possible it was targeted.  
 

anyway, just be aware.  It sucks

[EricJ]

9 minutes ago, MoonRiver69 said:

Hey everyone.  Just thought it would be worth passing on,  this morning i hopped in the plane for my commute, a Mooney Bravo ‘96, and looked forward and noticed a big hole in the dash where my avidyne 540 used to reside.  The hangar was locked, so still waiting for the surveillance.  Nothing else taken.

Not sure why you would take that, I’m not sure you can even use it on a different plane.  I’m sort of a known person (i say that humbly) so it’s possible it was targeted.  
 

anyway, just be aware.  It sucks

Can you say what airport or state or part of the country?

 

[ArtVandelay]

Hey everyone.  Just thought it would be worth passing on,  this morning i hopped in the plane for my commute, a Mooney Bravo ‘96, and looked forward and noticed a big hole in the dash where my avidyne 540 used to reside.  The hangar was locked, so still waiting for the surveillance.  Nothing else taken.
Not sure why you would take that, I’m not sure you can even use it on a different plane.  I’m sort of a known person (i say that humbly) so it’s possible it was targeted.  
 
anyway, just be aware.  It sucks

Notify Avidyne, if someone tries to update the databases they’ll prevent it and let you know. Essentially the box is useless to whoever buys it. I believe Garmin does this.

[0TreeLemur]

Sad.  I'd betcha Avidyne can ID the unit when someone goes to update the database.  Surprised if not.

[LANCECASPER]

Jeppesen handles the databases for Avidyne. They don't need the serial number for a database update.

[EricJ]

14 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Jeppesen handles the databases for Avidyne. They don't need the serial number for a database update.

I think software updates do, though, and there's gonna be one before too long to fix the bugs in the latest major release.  It'll get snagged if it ever goes back for service or update, though, and there are a number of hardware updates available now.

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard MR!

Crummy to have to have that as your first post…

+1 for the post.

+1 for reporting it with Avidyne…

If you have any questions… we have an Avidyne guy around here somewhere…

Best regards,

-a-

[Tony Starke]

58 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Can you say what airport or state or part of the country?

 

If I was betting man, I’d say Chicago area.

[carusoam]

14 minutes ago, Tony Starke said:

If I was betting man, I’d say Chicago area.

There weren’t many hints to search on… 

But the results are interesting… 

I didn’t see anything Chicago related… more like Las Vegas…

Or is Chicago a place where missing Avionics come from?

Best regards,

-a-

[MoonRiver69]

Hahahah good guess?  Morris illinois.  1 hour south of Chicago.  Not a high crime area but, near one!

left a message with avidyne today but never heard back.  Will try again tomorrow.  Hopefully the surveillance video has some hints. 

[Culver LFA]

6 hours ago, MoonRiver69 said:

Hahahah good guess?  Morris illinois.  1 hour south of Chicago.  Not a high crime area but, near one!

left a message with avidyne today but never heard back.  Will try again tomorrow.  Hopefully the surveillance video has some hints. 

Avidyne is out of the office due to the approaching hurricane in Florida, I’m sure they’ll get back with you as soon as they are able.

[MoonRiver69]

FYI two more airports in the area were hit. Poplar grove and one other

[NotarPilot]

8 hours ago, MoonRiver69 said:

FYI two more airports in the area were hit. Poplar grove and one other

Just curious, how did they get in your hangar? I have a combination lock on mine. A few trusted people have the combination and I’ve never had an issue. Sorry to hear this happened to you. I trust your insurance will cover the loss?

[M20F]

Good morning, DKB Tenants, et al!

 

I was alerted by Officer Gates/DeKalb Police Department that on 09-27-2022 at 2:52 AM, three hooded and masked subjects broke into several hangars and airplanes at the Morris airport. The suspects were driving a silver Range Rover with an unknown registration; see photos below. 

 

DPD officers were advised and will have afternoon/night shift officers give the airport extra patrols, especially early morning. Please be aware of surroundings and call me or DPD, 815.748.8400, if you notice suspicious activity or a similar vehicle around DKB.

 

Thank you for being alert!

Renee

[Yetti]

This happened in the Houston area a couple of years ago.  It was found that someone associated with avionics installs was the culprit. 

[Bolter]

9 hours ago, NotarPilot said:

Just curious, how did they get in your hangar? I have a combination lock on mine. A few trusted people have the combination and I’ve never had an issue. Sorry to hear this happened to you. I trust your insurance will cover the loss?

Not having your combination does not limit the bad guys.  Watch "The Lockpicking Lawyer" channel on YouTube, and become crestfallen at how useless many lockes are.  (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfDPtt-bnAI&t=304s ) Most padlocks, combo or key, are useless against a slightly motivated lockpicker.  Many can be done with a shim (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2DcfJLquOk )  

-dan

 

[N201MKTurbo]

7 minutes ago, Bolter said:

Not having your combination does not limit the bad guys.  Watch "The Lockpicking Lawyer" channel on YouTube, and become crestfallen at how useless many lockes are.  (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfDPtt-bnAI&t=304s ) Most padlocks, combo or key, are useless against a slightly motivated lockpicker.  Many can be done with a shim (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2DcfJLquOk )  

-dan

 

I lost my keys to my truck last week. The locksmith needed to pick the lock to make a new key. It took him 45 min to do it. He said the new Ford locks are super hard to pick.

I havent found a Mooney, Cessna or Piper I can't open and start with my Mooney ignition key. It has a bump on the end so it makes a good lock pick. I asked the locksmith about putting Medico locks in the Mooney. He said he can pick them, but it takes him a long time.

[M20F]

On 10/4/2022 at 4:18 PM, Bolter said:

Not having your combination does not limit the bad guys.  Watch "The Lockpicking Lawyer" channel on YouTube, and become crestfallen at how useless many lockes are.  (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfDPtt-bnAI&t=304s ) Most padlocks, combo or key, are useless against a slightly motivated lockpicker.  Many can be done with a shim (ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2DcfJLquOk )  

-dan

 

I would skip the video and use bolt cutters.  

[Bolter]

39 minutes ago, M20F said:

I would skip the video and use bolt cutters.  

Brute force is always the obvious risk with any lock.  It was thinking that a lock was effective because only a few knew the combo that caught my attention.  

[Pinecone]

There are two sides to a top quality lock.

1)  You make it a bit harder to defeat, so they go somewhere else.

2)  You are telling them there is something worth stealing inside.

[FloridaMan]

One trick is to steal units and then swap an existing unit with a stolen one and sell the one that wasn’t reported stolen. 

[ArtVandelay]

One trick is to steal units and then swap an existing unit with a stolen one and sell the one that wasn’t reported stolen. 

That won’t last long if an owner keeps databases updated or has customized his unit.

[A64Pilot]

On 10/5/2022 at 6:28 PM, M20F said:

I would skip the video and use bolt cutters.  

Dinghy motors were being stolen in the Caribbean, so people started buying these expensive super heavy duty stainless steel lock devices that covered the motor clamps thinking nothing could get through that.

They were right not much could, but the thieves took Sawasalls and took about 30 sec to cut the transom out and stole the motors with the locking devices. So not only was your motor stolen, but your $5,000 dinghy is now trash

People who steal avionics are never your run of the mill crooks, sadly they are almost always associated with aviation, often flying in and stealing them and flying out, because that gets around the whole locked gate thing

[ArtVandelay]

People who steal avionics are never your run of the mill crooks, sadly they are almost always associated with aviation, often flying in and stealing them and flying out, because that gets around the whole locked gate thing

If true, they should know the GPS will be useless as soon as owner reports it stolen to Avidyne, so either they are counting owners not reporting it, or people buying it without checking it.
If I was the owner I would check eBay and classified pilot forums.
First thing to always ask for is a picture of the back to check it’s serial number.

[Fly Boomer]

3 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

People who steal avionics are never your run of the mill crooks, sadly they are almost always associated with aviation, often flying in and stealing them and flying out, because that gets around the whole locked gate thing

Sorry to hear that.