Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

[ClipWing_T]

Went down to the barn the other day and my nice L-2 top & bottom cowling
were gone!! the bottom cowl was almost perfect. I tried to buy this cowling for many years from an old friend he never would sell it to me though,after he passed away his son GAVE it to me because he knew I asked about it so many times. the ONLY consolation is I hope it winds up on a flying L-2!! This
old friend bought his L-2 military surplus and flew it home took it apart and made a fastback out of it and made a full enclosd pressure cowl and stuck the stock cowl in a storage shed. The mans son told me after is father passed away that his dad just didn't awant anyone messing with HIS stuff and I can appreciate it even more now. What bugs the SHI% !! out of me is
that very few people know about where I keep my collection of aircraft parts.I have move some of them closer to the house .I also have a friend with 5 or 6 t-crafts and he's been ripped off too (parts). He keeps it in storage away from his home.Maybe I NEVER would use it BUT that's not the point. One of my relatives once had a 35 Ford pickup that his father bought new that was eventually left on the family farm ,you guessed it he came home one weekend and someone had helped themselves!! (he didn't want to sell it).I need to get me a BAD ASS dog but that would probably cost me a lawsuit (it would bite some innocent kid or something like). Oh well, You can't take it with you . By the way I have no idea when the cowlng was taken. I feel a little better now anyway! sorry for whining. The guy is lucky I didn't see him too.

[ROllerton]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

That just sucks.

Its probably on a hot rod, or a bicycle somewhere.

[crispy critter]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

Where I'm from we don't tolerate 5 finger discounts.If a thief is caught in the act we simple try him on the spot........Oh,and we don't worry about the crook suing because we don't aim for the knee caps! I hate a thief!!!! I don't care how petty the items might be weather it's a dollar on the night stand or a million dollars worth of stuff. If they took off one of the thieves fingers everytime they got caught then I would bet we would have a lot less of them to worry about.

[M Towsley]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

As this is in my line of business, not taking things but investigating the crime, I would check around with your small list of people who knew you had them. Obviously these items are not high on the list of your typical crack addict, as he really can't get a thing for a Taylorcraft cowl at the local drug house. However, one of your flying acquaintances could make a buck off of these items. It usually takes someone knowledgeable about the missing property to know its true value. Or, as Bob suggested, some kids have it on a bicycle. Check with your local P.D. or Sheriff's office and see if they have any active thiefs in your area. Right now we are having a terrible time with people salvaging things for the metal and making a couple of bucks on it. Large buidling air conditioners are being stripped for copper and other parts for money. Ground wires are being taken and sold. You can look at a house and all the aluminum siding up to about the height of upstretched arms is gone. It has become somewhat of an epidemic. I hope your cowl wasn't recycled. Please check with the local law enforcement, they may have recovered it and don't know what it is. Good luck

[fearofpavement]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

I doubt the cowl met this fate but a few months ago I was talking to a friend in Missouri and someone came and cut up five Cessna wings at his private airstrip and sold them for aluminum scrap. (drug related). At any rate, they got about $300 or so dollars for the metal, and the value of the wings? A bit more I think. (some were on an aircraft some off) They were caught. Probably got a real good wrist slap too!
Someone that steals aircraft parts is a lowlife and I certainly hope they aren't reading this!
People have the same problem at fly ins and car shows where it is easier to take your widget than to scan the country and find their own restoration parts.
Let's all keep an eye out for these parts on the market. Perhaps you could post a photo. Oh, yeah, I guess if you don't already have a photo that'd be tough...

[fearofpavement]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

One added thought, sometimes thieves come back for seconds. A word to the wise.

[crispy critter]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

I heard of a guy who stole some radios,cowling,mags,and a couple other things from a neglected airplane and he was caught(while trying to sell them). They feds were called in and he was given 15 years! No prior offenses either. I think he served 7 or 8 years of it. That is what I call justice and all crooks should have to pay this way.The only rights they should be allowed to dispute should be over soap on a rope and toilet paper,NOTHING ELSE!!! I also this it is a good idea for the prisons to offer higher learning but only to those with a release date. I think prison should be prison...not a country club.Maybe then once they are release they will fear the thought of going back in and try harder to make a better life for themself and make up for the wrong they had commited in the past.

[48fordnut]

Re: Someone stole MY L-2A cowling !!

C/C you are right on about the prison system. About the cowling, look at your supposed friends, one of them owns the same plane ,or knows some one that does.