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I hope to spend some time flying outside the US, and was wondering about theft
protection measures for when the plane is sitting in less than ideal
surroundings.
What I had in mind was something to make the plane unuseable unless you knew the
"secret" to flying it. Any lock can be picked, including the door and master
switch when the prize is worth enough.
My background forces me to come up with electrical ideas. I was hoping others
would come up with mechanical suggestions to cripple systems that aren't
obvious. i.e. hydraulic gadget to lock the brakes, canopy lock alteration to
prevent closing without a key, gadget to lock the nose wheel off center, etc.
I had one idea which involves a minor electrical modification that is absolutely
safe when I fly the plane, but absolutely unsafe or totally uncooperative
(depending on wiring) when someone else attempts to move it under its own
power.
I took the idea from a "wrap plug" used in the computer industry and the valet
keys that some cars are equipped with.
Wires always go between two points. My idea is to take several wires from
critical systems that go from various points (A to B, C to D, E to F, etc) and
run them with a slight modification as follows: A to y, y to z, z to B; C to w,
w to x, x to D, etc. Electrically this produces the same result as the original
wiring and therefore is absolutely safe.
The "secret" to the scheme however involves the intermediate y, z; w, x; etc
connections. By using a multi pin MIL connector to hold these y,z; w,x; etc
points, one could create various wiring alterations simply by plugging in an
appropriately wired plug. One plug would have the correct wiring diagram. It is
my "key" to the electrical system in the plane. I put it in my pocket when I
leave it.
Another plug would be wired in such a way so that critical electrical systems
either didn't work, or worked to the detriment of the thief. One could easily
make sure that fuel transfer pumps were inoperative, the ELT was tripped when
the gear came up, or any number of other imaginative pranks to make stealing the
plane terribly difficult. Just leaving the MIL plug with no connector in it
would cripple critical systems (open circuit) and make the plane unfriendly to
steal.
In essence, it would be like rewiring the switches on the panel to perform
functions completely different than their markings would suggest. All it takes
is one or more MIL plugs, some wire, and some soldering time. I think it meets
the KISS test, and if someone wanted redundancy, it could be wired with two MIL
connectors in parallel where either would be enough to complete the circuits
under normal conditions.
My arrangement would be however I decided to wire it up, and someone else's
would be completely different. No two systems would be alike, so it would be
impossible (impractical) for someone to try to figure out how to hot wire the
plane.
Can someone come up with some mechanical gizmos?
Bill Gradwohl
IV-P Builder
N858B
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