Fuel Theft YNWN

[IBob]

Whattttttttttttttttttttt????????????????????????????????????

Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Thruster88]

Sorry to see that Kasper. Their parents need to step up.

[RFguy]

jail the parents

[Garfly]

Wow, very sorry to hear about that kasper.  What a rotten fix-up job ahead of you.

Must be terrible knowing the culprits are neighbours' kids, and thus having to live with the fall-out indefinitely.

[facthunter]

They probably don't know what "causes" children, let alone how to raise them. Nev

[onetrack]

Sorry to hear about your house and property vandalisation, Kasper.

 

If it was 11 yr olds as perpetrators, there's some future serious criminals in breeding next door - unless there's some major intervention in their upbringing, right now.

[jackc]

Sorry Kasper, this is sad on so many angles……..violating your home and it’s contents, not to mention the symbols they painted.

Sadly, they won’t get the punishment they deserve and there will be some bleeding heart story behind it all, no doubt.

I hope your insurance cover it all and with luck the insurance company sues the kids parents, for the delinquents they are.

But that probably won’t/can’t happen……"

[kiwiaviator]

Sorry to hear about this Kasper. I really despair about the indifferent 'parenting' that is the root cause of youth crime. Most of us weren't angelic when young however this sort of thing is next level and shows a complete lack of respect for others and their property.

[Flightrite]

5 hours ago, kasper said:

I wish they did not take interest in aircraft … this was 3 weeks ago at home.  The delightful chaps who did this also went through the entire house and we have a collection of 23 swasrikas with nice SS insignia through the lounge room and kitchen less pleasant words through the bathroom and the bedrooms also have new decorations. The fact that the little shits are the 11yo and his mate from over the road is making it quite uncomfortable … they are not getting off lightly … and it’s not cheap to fix an entire house including furniture. 

Why would they target you? Criminals breed and become as such due their environment. Even at a young age they soon learn that crimes of opportunity is their first target!

Edited September 4, 2021 by Flightrite

[kasper]

Yea it was opportunity. We have two houses on the farm and the one we don’t live it but store everything in is on the other side of the farm and set in 5 acres of gardens with over 200 trees.  Can’t be seen from anywhere.  Parents are not the problem - stupidity of youth is.  They arrived home with paint on them and I found it less than an hour after they did it … I called the parents and they immediately said it was them. They were appalled and immediately have made good for the damage.  I would not like to be the boys as I know their parents and they can do much worse than any court can.  
the house they damaged is being rebuilt by us later this year.  Fortunately.  

Edited September 4, 2021 by kasper

[reggie]

Sorry to see that!

[ClintonB]

On 04/09/2021 at 12:12 PM, kasper said:

I wish they did not take interest in aircraft … this was 3 weeks ago at home.  The delightful chaps who did this also went through the entire house and we have a collection of 23 swasrikas with nice SS insignia through the lounge room and kitchen less pleasant words through the bathroom and the bedrooms also have new decorations. The fact that the little shits are the 11yo and his mate from over the road is making it quite uncomfortable … they are not getting off lightly … and it’s not cheap to fix an entire house including furniture. 

Grab the little sh#ts and flog them. It’s the best way to teach them. This soft nanny state way of dealing with them never works. Little pricks become car thieves and crims next. They might have a little chance of straighten out if they remember what happened when they screwed up last time. You would be doing them a favour.

[planedriver]

On 29/08/2021 at 5:48 PM, Thruster88 said:

I recall an accident that occurred in South Australia?  with a amateur built aircraft heading east for a flyin. They had stopped overnight and re fueled. Next morning took off and did not get far, fuel exhaustion. Cant find the report.

Always visually check fuel even if it was full last night.

I remember that incident. From memory it was a Lancair which had flown in from Perth. On arrival they had filled tanks with fuel ready for the last leg of the journey the following morning. Assuming tanks were full even if the gauge didn't register so, they sadly crashed shortly after takeoff and the occupants died as a result. There was no fire involved due to lack of fuel. It was thought to have been stolen overnight by thieves for their hotted up cars. Very sad!

[KRviator]

Here's the ATSB report, reproduced below:

 

The pilot of the Lancair had built the aircraft as an owner-builder. He and his passenger had intended to fly from Perth, Western Australia to an airshow at Mangalore, Victoria. On the day prior to the accident, the aircraft arrived early in the afternoon at Aldinga, South Australia, where it was refuelled in preparation for the next leg of the flight. The pilot and passenger then stayed overnight with a friend. The following morning, the aircraft departed for Murray Bridge, South Australia in order to meet up with another aircraft for the remaining flight to Mangalore.
 

When the aircraft was 3 km to the north-east of Aldinga aerodrome, witnesses heard the engine surge and lose power. The aircraft was then seen to enter a spin and crash into a dry creek bed. Both occupants were fatally injured. The accident was not considered to be survivable.

Traces of aviation fuel were found on the ground at the accident site under the wing fuel tanks. There was no evidence that a significant quantity of fuel had been released during the impact. There had been no post-impact fire.
 

The investigation established that the aircraft had been refuelled the previous day at Aldinga to a capacity of approximately 80L. It was operating within weight and balance limitations, close to its maximum weight, and close to the aft limit of its centre of gravity. There was no evidence to suggest that the aircraft was not airworthy prior to the accident, nor was there any indication that either the pilot or the passenger had been incapacitated immediately before the accident.

The aircraft utilised three fuel tanks: one was located in each wing below the level of the engine, while the third fuel tank was located in the fuselage, above the level of the engine. The engine could be fed with fuel directly from any one of these.
 

It was the pilot's normal policy to use fuel from the fuselage tank when priming the carburettor prior to starting the engine, and then to select a wing fuel tank once the engine had been started. During the flight from Western Australia, only the wing fuel tanks had been filled at all refuelling ports except for Ceduna, where it was not possible to ascertain how the aircraft had been refuelled. Investigation revealed that at the time of the accident, the low-fuel warning light for the fuselage tank was illuminated, indicating that only a small quantity of fuel remained in that tank.

 

The investigation found that aviation fuel had been spilled on the ground, chemically burning the grass, at the aircraft's overnight parking location at Aldinga aerodrome. The shape of the burnt grass area was consistent with fuel having been spilled over the sides of a 20 L fuel drum. Police reported that fuel had been stolen on other occasions from aircraft at Aldinga aerodrome. A road near the aerodrome was regularly used for car racing, and it is possible that fuel was siphoned overnight from the aircraft's fuel tanks.
 

Damage to the aircraft systems precluded a determination of the fuel tank that was selected at the time of the accident. A lack of both fire damage and evidence of fuel spillage at the accident site indicated that there was only a small quantity of fuel in the aircraft at the time of the accident, despite the aircraft having been refuelled the previous day. It was not possible to ascertain if the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion from a wing fuel tank, or if the fuselage tank had been selected prior to takeoff and that that tank had become exhausted.
 

The reason for the aircraft entering a spin after the engine lost power could not be determined.

[Flightrite]

I did read about that totally avoidable accident, one has to wonder how the pilot got a drivers license never lone a plane ticket!:-(

One avoidable problem turned into another avoidable problem, tragic & so unnecessary:-(

Edited September 22, 2021 by Flightrite

[Jabiru7252]

On 04/09/2021 at 2:41 PM, RFguy said:

jail the parents

Can't blame the parents because dickheads took away the rights of parents to discipline their kids. I do remember a story where some folks tried to steal fuel from a campervan, had the hose in the wrong hole and sucked in a mouthful of poo. And at my local boozer, a guy tried to nick a car, got caught, and the owner was 6 foot and at least 120kg. Gave the thief a pretty good flogging.

[onetrack]

It doesn't always work that way, unfortunately. Quite a number of years ago, a mate who was 6' 4" in the old measurements, and a solidly built rugby player, caught two hoods breaking into his wifes BMW in the driveway, in the wee small hours. 

He leapt out of bed, grabbed the pair by their long hair, and was all set to bang their heads together, when everything went black. A third hood was hiding in the bushes behind him, and laid him out with a solid length of wood laid across his skull.

He spent a couple of days in hospital recovering, and the thieves still took the BMW. He got very wary of confronting thugs after that episode.

[Flightrite]

Unfortunately that old saying applies..."the law's an ass"! When we have snivel libertarians & a weak corrupt judicial system the criminals out there enjoy protected benefits in their chosen profession!

[jackc]

9 minutes ago, Flightrite said:

Unfortunately that old saying applies..."the law's an ass"! When we have snivel libertarians & a weak corrupt judicial system the criminals out there enjoy protected benefits in their chosen profession!

AND if unlucky enough to get caught, they get to go to gaol and get MORE training:-)

[BrendAn]

On 31/08/2021 at 9:56 PM, marshallarts said:

Yes, I've read about this one, it was in 1999.  The aircraft was VH-LWA, a Glasair 235 built by one of the Serpentine community I believe.  They refuelled and overnighted at Aldinga, and the crash occurred shortly after their departure from there the following morning.  Here's a link to the CASA report: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/1999/aair/aair199901340/

There was fairly clear evidence that the tanks had been almost drained by thieves overnight.  An absolute tragedy - two guys lost.  It's not stated in the report, but I'd bet nobody was ever brought to account for it.
Yes, pre-flight checks must ALWAYS include verification of fuel levels.

One of those pilots was john bird from albany.  He was the worlds highest hour commercial pilot. Used to fly super connys on the sydney to london route. I maybe wrong but that is what i was told by a friend of his.

Edited September 24, 2021 by BrendAn

[KRviator]

2 hours ago, Flightrite said:

Unfortunately that old saying applies..."the law's an ass"! When we have snivel libertarians & a weak corrupt judicial system the criminals out there enjoy protected benefits in their chosen profession!

Couldn't agree more, @Flightrite.👍 The legal system in the country is broken, and not just the criminal system either.

Around 10 years ago, a QR Suburban train hit and killed 3 kids, 8, 9 and 10yr old that were piling rocks on the track in an attempt to derail one. The Driver was told the kids were in the rail corridor (that is, inside the fenceline) throwing rocks at passing trains, no one told him they were, or went, on track.

 

The Driver was running at 80kph in a 100 zone, and had turned his headlight off in accordance with the extant network rules to prevent blinding motorists on the adjacent Ipswich Motorway, and had pulled the cab blinds down to prevent any injuries from broken glass, all completely normal and permitted actions that any other Driver in QR could have done.

The Qld Coroner who investigated these kids deaths laid the blame squarely at the Driver's feet, because running at 80k's, turning your headlight off and pulling your blinds down constituted operating his train in a "dangerous manner". No criticism of the Police officer who accosted the kids at a train station earlier (not that I'd agree with that either, mind you), nor the parents who had NFI where their kids were and let them roam around unsupervised all afternoon, and no criticism of the kids themselves one of whom had cannabis in his system. It was all the Driver's fault.

That bloke never worked a train again. Lost his career, livelihood and was so psychologically hurt he couldn't even give evidence at the inquest.

The law really is an ass.

[Bruce Tuncks]

That's really sad KRviator. It sounds like he didn't have a lawyer representing him, is that correct?

 

[KRviator]

No, he did, Bruce, as well as a Union submission, he was fully defended, just that the Coroner wanted someone to blame other than the parents or kids themselves. To be honest, even though I've only ever worked freight trains, I don't think I would have done anything differently and that's the galling bit - besides the kids mother trying to sue QR for a quarter-million-dollars for "Psychological harm" 'they' caused her, that is despite deflecting blame for the occurrence in the first place!

To her credit though, the then Qld Transport Minister basically said the Coroner is full of shyte, and it was unfair to blame the Driver who was a victim of circumstance, and despite the Coroner's recommendation, QR has not, and has no intention of, pursuing disciplinary action against the Driver.

The actual Coroner's report if anyone wants to read it...

Edited September 24, 2021 by KRviator

[Bruce Tuncks]

Thanks for that...  gosh that coroner was bad huh.

I tell people to stay away from litigation if you possibly can, because you may get a stupid judge.

But he had no way of avoiding it I know.

 

[facthunter]

The Coronial system has many worrying aspects to it. Sometimes the individual is ignorant of the particular technical circumstances and  with a single person (judge or Coroner)  bias cannot entirely be ruled out.

  Perhaps" Unauthorised Interference with an AIRCRAFT" could be subject to a special Law.  since they can drop in on you and that aspect is used to make strict rules on pilot's health. Nev

Edited September 24, 2021 by facthunter