Pilot nicknamed 'Biggles' jailed for 19 years
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3wheels The owner voluntarily lost any right to that aircraft, beautiful or otherwise, the day he decided to become a drug runner.
Inconsiderate thoughtless ranting.
Join Date: Jan 2001
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3 wheels
It is ridiculous blaming the aircraft. yes the pilot if found guilty deserves to be put away for a long time and this pilots greed and risk taking means he has got his due reward. Especially profiteering on the misery inflicted on many people who are addicted and ruin their lives through that addiction.
So no sympathy for him whatsoever
But consider another scenario where someone makes a malicious call to the police telling them that you were carrying drugs on a trip from abroad. They make this call just to cause you trouble for whatever reason.
Is it right you should have to pay for any rectification work required after an unlicensed examination of the aircraft?
Normally people are innocent until proven guilty.
In either case the aircraft is innocent and like others I feel its a crying shame that something which is considered a work of art and can give pleasure to so many is destroyed
Pace
It is ridiculous blaming the aircraft. yes the pilot if found guilty deserves to be put away for a long time and this pilots greed and risk taking means he has got his due reward. Especially profiteering on the misery inflicted on many people who are addicted and ruin their lives through that addiction.
So no sympathy for him whatsoever
But consider another scenario where someone makes a malicious call to the police telling them that you were carrying drugs on a trip from abroad. They make this call just to cause you trouble for whatever reason.
Is it right you should have to pay for any rectification work required after an unlicensed examination of the aircraft?
Normally people are innocent until proven guilty.
In either case the aircraft is innocent and like others I feel its a crying shame that something which is considered a work of art and can give pleasure to so many is destroyed
Pace
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Im not blaming any "inanimate object" . Where did that 
come from?!
This man lost a valuable possession because he used it for drug running. It could have been a van, a car, a caravan etc. They would also have been taken apart.
Would we hear the same outcry?
The law is there to act as a deterrent. It does not and cannot differentiate between a nice boat/aeroplane and an old car...aww careful there lads this is a lovely aeroplane...
Get real.
come from?!This man lost a valuable possession because he used it for drug running. It could have been a van, a car, a caravan etc. They would also have been taken apart.
Would we hear the same outcry?
The law is there to act as a deterrent. It does not and cannot differentiate between a nice boat/aeroplane and an old car...aww careful there lads this is a lovely aeroplane...
Get real.
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3wheels
While I agree with you that I am delighted this crook has been put away for a long time as he was convicted of a nasty crime I do not agree with the police having the power to dismantle or examine an aircraft without a licensed engineer present to open areas which by law require a licensed engineer!
You did not answer my question ? Just imagine I had a gripe with you and without foundation when you were on a trip abroad called the police and told them that 3 wheels was on his way back and had drugs conceiled in the wings engine and inaccessible parts of your aircraft!
They would be obliged to act! Other than causing you a lot of hassle if a non licensed person opened up areas of the aircraft that had broken the regulations which could mean some considerable cost making it airworthy again!
Should you pay ???
Pace
While I agree with you that I am delighted this crook has been put away for a long time as he was convicted of a nasty crime I do not agree with the police having the power to dismantle or examine an aircraft without a licensed engineer present to open areas which by law require a licensed engineer!
You did not answer my question ? Just imagine I had a gripe with you and without foundation when you were on a trip abroad called the police and told them that 3 wheels was on his way back and had drugs conceiled in the wings engine and inaccessible parts of your aircraft!
They would be obliged to act! Other than causing you a lot of hassle if a non licensed person opened up areas of the aircraft that had broken the regulations which could mean some considerable cost making it airworthy again!
Should you pay ???
Pace
Join Date: Dec 2015
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HM customs practice
UK Customs operate a similar policy with regards to ships suspected of being used for illegal drug imports. As a shipbroker of 40 years standing, I know of several small ships that were ripped apart in the process of finding drugs. The smugglers are so ingenious in finding places to hide the drugs: eg welding them up in hollow inaccessible spaces of all kinds, that if the customs search respected the historical or aesthetic aspects of an aircraft or ship they would not be doing their job,however sad the outcome. Usually afterwards a ship is sold for scrap, as it cannot be put back together economically but one I know was used by customs as a static example to train operatives for future searches.
If the search finds nothing, in theory the customs have to pay to put it back together, but usually its not practicaltl possible and they just pay SOME compensation (eventually) .
If the search finds nothing, in theory the customs have to pay to put it back together, but usually its not practicaltl possible and they just pay SOME compensation (eventually) .
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Flying mac and pace picked up the same thought as i did from your post. The next owner of an aircraft put up for sale by HMRC Police or bailiffs will not be a bad person for buying it and from past experience unlikely to win a cheap aircraft.
Just had a flashback to John Cleese thrashing his car because it would not start. :-)
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Pace...I think pettinger93 has elloquently given you the answers about innocent ships/aircraft/cars etc being searched.
I doubt these thorough, in depth, searches are conducted without extremely good prior intelligence being available. Not simply someone phoning with a "gripe".
The latter would result in a "meeting", I agree, and suspect they would then take it from there.
I doubt these thorough, in depth, searches are conducted without extremely good prior intelligence being available. Not simply someone phoning with a "gripe".
The latter would result in a "meeting", I agree, and suspect they would then take it from there.
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3Wheels
I think you have a lot of confidence in the police 
Pace
I doubt these thorough, in depth, searches are conducted without extremely good prior intelligence being available. Not simply someone phoning with a "gripe".
Pace
Last edited by Pace; 17th Feb 2016 at 10:43.
The people who pulled the Dakota to bits said it was because it wouldn't fit in its allocated storage space without it being dismantled. Nothing to do with a search for drugs.
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Shame, they ain't building any more Dakotas, the value destroyed pulling it to bits is probably more than 10 years of hangarage charges
