Intentionally disabling the plane

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nworthin
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Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by nworthin »

I'm looking forward to flying my DA62 to the Bahamas come 2022 like I used to (years ago!).

In the most recent past, I took the PC-12 over and had my manager/pilot fly it back home so never had to worry about leaving the plane at the airport. Now, I'm remembering all the things I once did to disable my other planes. Things like prop locks, special door locks and a way to disconnect the magnetos.

Those old Aztecs were/are pretty popular in the Bahamas for carrying around illicit goods. The DA62 fits the same niche unfortunately.

Does anyone have any clever ideas on how to make it very difficult for someone of less than stellar integrity to swipe my new shiny plane?
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Don
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by Don »

First, after shut down, pull all of the circuit breakers so they are all lined up even and still appear to be engaged. Not my idea, but a pilot friend does that when leaving his aircraft at airfields in Mexico.
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CFIDave
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by CFIDave »

If you really want to disable the plane, just remove the avionics bay access cover on the right side of the nose fuselage (12 screws). Then you can reach inside and disconnect the main battery, or disconnect the starter relay.

But all I ever do when leaving my plane at one of the Bahamas out island airports for up to a week is lock it up and put a travel cover over the cabin/canopy. I've not heard of aircraft thefts there in recent years -- for drug smuggling or other reasons. It's not the 1980s anymore.
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I have parked my DA62 at Norman's Cay that was formerly the base of drug smuggling operations for the Medellin Cartel, and has a sunken drug plane wreck nearby. Maybe that explains why the runway there is so nice. ;)
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wolfvoador
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by wolfvoador »

Hi, I concur with Dave. I am based in Bahamas, and have landed at all 50 public airports over last 13 years, many times over night. No prop lock, never had an issue. And never heard any talk about that in pilot circles here. In Brazil I was told, they are interested in very standard planes (Cessnas, Pipers) to take them apart, and sell the parts. Diamonds are (not yet!) in that category ;-).
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DaveS1900
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by DaveS1900 »

Ten years ago, another pilot and I flew a vintage Cessna 441 turboprop to a lonesome airport with no services and no one around. We were gone for a couple of days and came back and the left engine would not start. Since there was no maintenance of any sort we called various people and got their suggestions. We took the airplane apart spreading the pieces all around the ramp area. We took out seats and floor boards to get to wiring and relays in the bottom of the airplane. We took cowls off and followed fuel lines. We spent hours working on the "issue". We tracked it down to a start relay not engaging. After 5 hours and the end of our ropes we followed some wires back to the panel. It appears a previous owner had installed a start sequence kill switch. The pilot I was with had turned it off after we had landed, thinking it was a light switch.
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by nworthin »

DaveS1900 wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:07 pm Ten years ago, another pilot and I flew a vintage Cessna 441 turboprop to a lonesome airport with no services and no one around. We were gone for a couple of days and came back and the left engine would not start. Since there was no maintenance of any sort we called various people and got their suggestions. We took the airplane apart spreading the pieces all around the ramp area. We took out seats and floor boards to get to wiring and relays in the bottom of the airplane. We took cowls off and followed fuel lines. We spent hours working on the "issue". We tracked it down to a start relay not engaging. After 5 hours and the end of our ropes we followed some wires back to the panel. It appears a previous owner had installed a start sequence kill switch. The pilot I was with had turned it off after we had landed, thinking it was a light switch.
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Well, it worked! :mrgreen:
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ultraturtle
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by ultraturtle »

Perhaps it goes without saying, but make absolutely sure that all 3 cabin doors are locked when you leave the aircraft. No key required for anyone who can get inside to start it up and fly it away.
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da50speed
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by da50speed »

DaveS1900 wrote: Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:07 pm Ten years ago, another pilot and I flew a vintage Cessna 441 turboprop to a lonesome airport with no services and no one around. We were gone for a couple of days and came back and the left engine would not start. Since there was no maintenance of any sort we called various people and got their suggestions. We took the airplane apart spreading the pieces all around the ramp area. We took out seats and floor boards to get to wiring and relays in the bottom of the airplane. We took cowls off and followed fuel lines. We spent hours working on the "issue". We tracked it down to a start relay not engaging. After 5 hours and the end of our ropes we followed some wires back to the panel. It appears a previous owner had installed a start sequence kill switch. The pilot I was with had turned it off after we had landed, thinking it was a light switch.
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Sounds pretty brilliant actually to have an avionics shop add an engine kill switch to the panel in the form of a beacon light switch or some other light switch the aircraft doesn't normally have. An incognito kill switch!
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da50speed
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Re: Intentionally disabling the plane

Post by da50speed »

ultraturtle wrote: Sat Mar 13, 2021 10:48 pm Perhaps it goes without saying, but make absolutely sure that all 3 cabin doors are locked when you leave the aircraft. No key required for anyone who can get inside to start it up and fly it away.
So then I guess the DA62 doesn't have an electronic immobilizer like cars with key fobs do? I just naturally assumed that's what prevented any unauthorized startup of a plane without a keyed ignition. Anyone who can get inside a DA62 could just start it up? Wow. Well, I guess as long as it's fully insured and the insurance company is going to buy you a new one if that ever happens! I think if I owned a push button start Diamond I might want to spend $500 to have an avionics shop install an incognito kill switch on the panel like a switch that looks like a light switch but only you know it's actually a kill switch.
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