10 minute read
ROTAX THEFTS
Stop, thief…
Some ideas from members on how to combat Rotax engine and other aviation theft
The 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.
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.
They can use tracker devices which are very small – 23 x 23 x 4mm. However, they would still need other circuitry, power and an antenna. He was thinking that the stolen engines could be tracked on their journey. My point is that we are looking to prevent engine theft in the first place, rather than track their subsequent journey.
Painful noise (Dick Flute)
Many years ago, we installed an alarm system in our cottage. It was quite a comprehensive system with all sorts of gizmos, but I also had included the loudest available siren, which was located in the centre of the cottage. Needless to say, the system malfunctioned the first weekend we went away. With three loud alarms on the outside the neighbours rang the police for help to quell the racket. But here is the main point. Forcing a kitchen window open they asked a small and athletic neighbour to go inside to try and find how to switch off the system, which he did. He commented that even with the police outside he was still scared stiff – the noise was unbearable – and that was just one siren. It would not cost a lot to install a number of sirens in a hangar roof, with multiple feeds – perhaps fed from batteries – plus high intensity strobe lights, the idea being that no matter how remote the hangar is, the utter sensory mayhem created would deter even the most determined of thieves.
Ultra Secure Direct (Details withheld)
Recent security experts whom I have consulted are shocked that such valuable items are not better protected. Due to the difficulties in hiding tracking devices, and an alert being somewhat after the event anyway, I think pilots should focus on detecting unauthorised hangar entry first. Aircraft hangars are difficult to protect – often they are remote and have no mains power or internet, however, mobile phone coverage in the UK is now good so if you are able to get a decent signal you have solved the latter problem. There are also now a number of good batterypowered alarm systems as well, which will last several weeks and even longer if you are able to connect up a solar panel on the roof for additional power longevity. There are some very good systems at Ultra Secure Direct (ultrasecuredirect.com), I have no connection with this company. Look at some of the systems with reference beginning 007 where they offer a range of solutions. Alternatively look at the system which also incorporates a camera: 014-0550. When installed in the hangar with PIRs and wireless contacts, this system will detect hangar doors being opened or if there is movement in the hangar. You can also put hoods on the PIRs to focus their detection line. The unit will then text and dial you and alert and define what the triggering device is. You can then activate the camera on an app on your mobile phone to view what is happening in the hangar. The device will support up to nine key fobs to disarm and arm remotely, allowing all owners access to the hangar. None of these systems requires mains power, just a mobile signal. Both the control panel and camera will require a SIM card, so there will be a monthly cost, either fixed or pay as you go. The system will text you a weekly status report, so you know it is still active. Depending on how close you are to the hangar, you may elect to set the alarm to ‘covert’ and alert the authorities to attempt to catch thieves red-handed.
Our hangar has double doors at either end in order that the two aircraft that are inside can leave without having to manoeuvre around each other. The first thing we did was to make the hangar doors secure from the inside, padlocked, and the whole hangar only accessible from the outside via one outward opening padlocked door. We made the door outward opening as an extra level of security, it is much easier to kick in an inward opening door than to prise open a door towards you, I also made the door from steel sheeting. We installed a large solar panel on the hangar roof (the size used on house roofs) and through a commercial regulator, charge three high capacity leisure batteries, which are locked away from prying eyes. This reliable source of 12v electricity runs a GSM alarm system which dials up to three different mobile phones with text messages if the system has been triggered, or if the 12v power has been disrupted. I found that Tesco have a non-expiring sim card (most sim cards have a fixed length of time that they are active) and for £20 it has been on standby for the past couple of years. We fixed the first line of defence at the only door accessible from outside using a wireless contact unit, and we have an infra-red unit inside looking directly at the nose of our aeroplane (don’t have an IR device looking at the floor, you would be surprised at the wildlife that frequents our hangars, I once found half a rat bought in by, I presume, a hawk). Further to the alarm, we have installed a ‘Zain’ mobile hotspot WiFi device (about the size of a packet of cigarettes) and linked this to two YI WiFi cameras (available from Amazon at a great price), one fixed outside the hangar and one inside, which I can pan and tilt remotely. The hotspot device needs 12v taken from our batteries and yet another sim card, and for £10 a month I found a sim on the 3 network that gives us 1GB for 30 days, more than enough to run the cameras which, via an app on my phone, alerts me if anything triggers movement. We can never make our hangars totally secure, but we can make it as difficult as possible for the thieves, I hope this gives some ideas to fellow pilots.
Variety of systems (Details withheld)
As you will see, I mention a few things that have helped stop most theft around our farm, and hopefully prevented some larger thefts overall.
■ Putting up security lights in as many places as possible – many thieves do not like being lit up when in the act. Older light fittings can be converted by installing PIR sensors if there are already external lights fitted. ■ Installing CCTV. There are a myriad of systems out there, so specifying one is not the best way forward. It’s ultimately about having cameras and CCTV warning signs visible. See 8-Channel DVR CCTV Kit with 4x 1080p Dome Cameras, 1TB HDD - KIT-1080-8-4 from https:// cpc.farnell.com. With a bit of YouTube research, they are easy enough to install. ■ Fitting an alarm to important buildings, specifically with a very large internal klaxon such as 18-980043, 127dB Master Blaster, from https://uk.farnell.com. We had an attempted break in at 6pm one Friday, with 15 people in a 60m radius. Once they had gained entry and the alarm sounded, we later saw them on CCTV getting back in their van and leaving. If the alarm system can alert people via phone, even better. These are readily available, but from experience, are only really any good (doesn’t require lots of attention) if wired into a landline. ■ From experience with quad bikes, trackers are only good for reducing insurance premiums. ■ Big padlocks only delay the break-in, helpful, but not a hugely useful measure. All the above are able to be installed by someone with experience and confidence in home wiring relatively cheaply. Unfortunately, once you call in professionals, the costs skyrocket. I can easily imagine quotes ranging from £3,000 to 10k for the above in an average three machine hangar. What we have seen at our farm is that if you appear a hard target, thieves will avoid you in favour of others, a bit like not being the slowest in a group running from a bear attack!
High tech solution perhaps (Barry Vickers)
I’m no expert on this but what BMW has done is to make it impossible to swap out a gearbox without going to the trouble of stripping it down to get to the mechatronic module, which has to be put into the replacement gearbox. In other words, it is not an easy task of just plug and play. I think you need to look where the value is. If you can take a Rotax to Eastern Europe and have it flying in two weeks – the thing is of value to steal. If you have loads of codes to match up and such codes are controlled by some authority/whatever – it all gets too much to bother. Perhaps the BMW example is rather complex, but it helps to explain the idea of inbuilt protections. ■
