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Stop, thief… Some ideas from members on how to combat Rotax engine and other aviation theft
he response to Tim Houlihan’s appeal for ideas on how the recreational flying community might better tackle the scourge of Rotax engine thefts, met with a very healthy response. Too many in fact to simply put a few examples in the Letters column. I have therefore taken the salient points from many of the letters and hope that some of the ideas will strike a chord and filter through as actions that will lead to owners being able to better protect their valuable assets. It would be nice to be able to provide more definitive solutions, a ‘one size fits all’ if you will, and I do have an ABC of setting up a mobile phone/camera system that I am considering for publication in the future, but I think the reality is that no two applications are the same. Please keep us informed of what you find works for you, as you will see below, where specific systems have been installed, we are protecting their anonymity. I hope what follows stimulates some ideas and results in better protection for your aircraft. Ed.
T
ReolinkGo surveillance (Details withheld)
Like many, my hangar is in a desolate spot, so two years ago I looked into some form of protection. Also like many it doesn’t have a WiFi connection, so any surveillance has to be on 3G or 4G. I purchased a ReolinkGo surveillance camera (others are available), which can operate with a solar panel, although hard wired is better. I went for the cheapest data SIM (£6/month) with the best coverage in my area to run the system on. The camera can sound an alarm and/or send text alerts to a number of mobile phones as soon as motion is detected, allowing the
Above Every theft is a personal nightmare for the unfortunate owner. Let’s make it more difficult for the thieves.
operator to view, listen to and record what is happening in the hangar. It also has the ability to permit two-way communication. The cost is about £250, but in the grand scheme of things I believe it is money well spent.
GSM Active (via Brian Mellor)
This is from Nick, an LAA member and Jabiru owner. In my business we use GSM diallers to alert us that a boiler has gone into fault. We have fitted many of these units, and they have proved very reliable. The unit sends a text message to, or will dial, up to three phone numbers when it sees a contact closure from any switch, or PIR, etc. The company that make the units is GSM Active, based at Shoreham Aerodrome (https://tinyurl.com/gsm-auto). Brian contacted Bob, the factory manager of GSM Active (who is a pilot) and explained the background of the engine thefts. Bob’s comments were as follows: GSM’s products are in the marketplace now and can be bought off the shelf. Switches such as microswitch, magnetic, tilt, etc. can be used to trigger the dialler. They can produce bespoke designs, but the cost would be £2k to redesign the circuit board. This would only be economical if there were sales of 100 or so. Since the engines would necessarily have an electronic control unit, consider the possibility of having a sensor integrated into this, by the manufacturer. I suspect this is not practical as an after-sales mod, but it raises the question: Is Rotax missing a trick here? The device involved could have a phone sim card and make contact with the control centre by a ping. If no ping back is received, the unit would be automatically disabled.
8 | LIGHT AVIATION | June 2020
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21/05/2020 10:45
