Louis L. Perley III wrote:
So I guess the moral is to not leave anything at all in the
airplane. I take my headset with me because I fly various aircraft
and
only have one headset. I left the GPS in the 152 because it's the
only
airplane without one, and it's one less thing to remember to bring
when
heading to the airport. I figured that by burying it beneath the maps
and what not, it would be out of sight, out of mind. Looks like it
didn't work out that way.
snip

I made the same mistake many years ago. Used to leave my headset
and yoke mounted GPS in the (covered) airplane for convenience. One
day I went out to the airplane and they were gone, along with the Narco
MK12D from the panel.

Consider yourself lucky that you only lost the GPS. Slide out
panel-mounted avionics generally can be removed in seconds by someone
who knows what they're doing. The fact that you only lost the GPS
would indicate that the thief was probably an amateur.

It's best not to leave anything valuable in the plane. Aircraft door
locks are notoriously easy to defeat. They are equivalent to the locks
used on file cabinets and desk drawers. With a sample of 5 or 6
airplane keys, you can open just about any door on the ramp. A few
weeks ago I help a guy who was locked out of his plane. None of my
plane keys worked, but my home's garage door key opened it right up.

The only defense against this is to do what you can to beef up
security around the airport. Better locks aren't usually a solution
because a thief can simply pry the door open (causing even more
expense) to get inside.

When my avionics were pinched, I went to the city council and
requested that they set up a police reporting station at the airport.
It's basically a desk and computer in the pilots lounge that the cops
can use to do their paperwork. There are signs at the airport
entrances that tell the theives that there is a police reporting
station on the field. The cops actually use the station, so there are
police cars parked on the ramp quite often. I don't think we've had a
theft on the ramp since they started doing this about 6 yrs. ago.

Good Luck,

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)