We have had engines - scrap ones - stolen from Strathaven. The hangars etc have cameras, but these were from aircraft left outside to be scrapped.
The reason they were scrapped was potential heat damage due to a hangar fire.
I hope the new owners discovered our engines' full potential!
G-INFO is a red herring. I am the only person at Strathaven who is shown as the owner of an aircraft based here with an address here - the other aircraft based here are registered at their owners' home or work addresses.
The fact that there is an airfield at Strathaven is common knowledge: it is marked on the charts with an "intense microlight activity" notation, it is in Pooleys, has been on Grand Designs and a few other things. The plane spotters produce an annual "bible" of aircraft and their locations too.
The hours on G-INFO are also a red herring: we have two C42s with 2,000+ hours on G-INFO. One has a new engine!
We know the engines stolen at Strathaven were by someone known to the pilots at Strathaven. I do not know exactly which person it was, but I have narrowed it down to about three people. Since there were several visits, it may even have been a couple of people. And at least one person has said they know the specific details.
Like Sutton Meadows, we are at the end of a a narrow road. You would need a lot of balls to spend hours in the middle of the night and have to explain to anyone who turned up why you were there - and we have people who come down in the middle of the night who work shifts! And, of course, I now live here full time.
I suspect the main reasons ours went were for parts and for sale in Asia. But I can see that Eastern Europe would be an attractive market.
Almost impossible to use in the UK - engine serial numbers are checked - of should be - at each Permit inspection.
Although 912s have a great reputation, Rotax part prices are phenomenal. I offered Simon at Eccleston Aviation an old 447 lying in a corner of the hangar for free. He said: you know new pistons are 250 quid each, you'd better keep it. I did, and a few months later needed two new pistons! Thanks Simon!
And have you seen the price of the electric magneto boxes!!!!
Or the £2,500+ for the white props on C42s!!!
Tracking devices work - a Porsche was tracked from England to the scrap yard in Strathaven! - but they need a power supply. Difficult to see how that could be attached to an engine.