"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
Do restored warbirds have some sort of security system added to
keep unscrupulous members of the public such as me, from taking
one up for an unauthorized flight? Some sort of starting "key"?

But figure an aircraft worth $1 million plus, and airport security that
could not be more competent than a Nazi LW base during wartime! Seems
the opportunity for lifting one of these aircraft wouldn't be too
challenging.
As you point out, flying it, might be a bit different.

Generally, the feeling in the warbird community when I was active was
that
with normal security, you really didn't spend all that much time
worrying
about someone stealing the airplane.

Of course, you don't necessarily have to fly the aircraft away to steal it;
I recall an article in a UK aviation magazine a couple of years ago
interviewing a warbird owner (IIRC a Spitfire).
He had arranged to go away on business for a couple of days, but cancelled
at the last minute. On visiting the hangar where his aircraft was stored, he
was rather concerned to find it being loaded onto a lorry (I think the
aircraft had the wings removed at the time). A timely call to the local
police soon saw the thieves quickly under arrest, but I believe the owner
was a bit worried over the relative ease at which the aircraft could have
been stolen.I think the article mentioned that it was an inside job, with
one of the employees on the airfield tipping off the would-be thieves when a
suitable opportunity arose.

Jon.