Stolen "Champ" wings located...from 23,000 feet!!

A nice ending to the story:


Folks:

MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!!



In followup to the search for the missing Aeronca wings which began on
Wednesday before Thanksgiving (see attached story), here's the rest of
the story ..... Be sure to read the "Special Thanks" section at the end
for the details which made this whole event so miraculous!



On Friday night (12/5/03), I received a phone call from Brent
Higginbotham that he had spotted what he thought could be a pair of
wings on the ground 2 1/2 miles north of Minco and 1 mile west of
Highway 81 FROM 23,000 feet with his aerial photography work!



Saturday I overflew that general area, and was unsuccessful in locating
the wings. I decided to fly back to Chickasha (18 miles south where the
rest of the airplane is hangered), when my friend Cory, spotting from
the right side of the airplane, yelled "There they are!" They were in
the back yard of a house in downtown Minco, Oklahoma. We landed and
decided to consult the situation with the Minco police department
(already aware of the search), which confirmed that these were the
missing wings. After knocking on the door to the owner of the backyard,
no response was obtained and so they checked next door neighbor (family
members of homeowner), who authorized police & us to retrieve them, and
even offered the use of their big trailer to transport the wings back to
the airport. Two trailering trips later the wings are safe & secure
back at the Chickasha Airport (home of the Champ)!



SPECIAL THANKS TO:

* Pilot Frank Bice, who amazingly had taken photos of my Aeronca
Champ airplane safely parked on the side of the highway just after the
emergency landing, and initiated an incredible spreading the of the
Wing Search by email and Internet to hundreds of airports & pilots in
this region.
* Editor & Publisher Ralph McCormick of the Fly-Low aviation
magazine, for his remarkable article in such short time, published on
the website prior to the regular printing date. (See attached article)
* Minco, Oklahoma Police Department for their invaluable assistance
in the recovery of the wings in a safe, courteous, legal and non-violent
manner.
* Brent Higginbotham, aerial photography in Oklahoma City, who
reviewed his film of that general area and spotted what turned out to be
the missing wings - and his diligence in tracking me down late at night
to let me know of this finding, inspite of professional obligations at
4AM the following morning.
* My best friend, Cory, whose expertise from youthful experience as
a airplane spotter for the Wildlife Department enabled him to pick out
the two yellow wings amongst a sea of yellow farm equipment from the air.

Final note - In this day & age of skepticism and stories of heartache,
this entire event and all those involved has once again shown the
goodness of people everywhere, especially in Oklahoma. What a wonderful
holiday gift!

Pablo

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 19:13:59 GMT, Tom Pappano
wrote:

A nice ending to the story:


Folks:

MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!!


Final note - In this day & age of skepticism and stories of heartache,
this entire event and all those involved has once again shown the
goodness of people everywhere, especially in Oklahoma. What a wonderful
holiday gift!

Pablo

Wait, why were the wings in the backyard of this person? Was he being
a really nice guy and storing them for you? If so, why did he not
tell the police that he was doing you this huge favor?

Corky Scott

In article , Tom Pappano
writes:

Final note - In this day & age of skepticism and stories of heartache,
this entire event and all those involved has once again shown the
goodness of people everywhere, especially in Oklahoma. What a wonderful
holiday gift!

Have arrests been made?

Don

--
Wm. Donald (Don) Tabor Jr., DDS
PP-ASEL
Chesapeake, VA - CPK, PVG

Do you think the thief has any direct connection to GA?

A person doesn't take wings unless he has a buyer lined up, or unless *he*
is the buyer.

--
Montblack
http://lumma.de/mt/archives/bart.gif


("Tom Pappano" wrote)
A nice ending to the story:

On Friday night (12/5/03), I received a phone call from Brent
Higginbotham that he had spotted what he thought could be a pair of
wings on the ground 2 1/2 miles north of Minco and 1 mile west of
Highway 81 FROM 23,000 feet with his aerial photography work!
snip

In article , Montblack wrote:

Do you think the thief has any direct connection to GA?

A person doesn't take wings unless he has a buyer lined up, or unless *he*
is the buyer.

I've been in people's garages that had stolen traffic signs up. People
will steal anything.

I'd like to hear about an arrest, too. Please keep us posted.

Mike Beede

In a previous article, "Montblack" said:
Do you think the thief has any direct connection to GA?

A person doesn't take wings unless he has a buyer lined up, or unless *he*
is the buyer.

Or unless he's an opportunist who thinks "Dang, I bet I can get some money
for them air-e-o-plane thingmies".


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
In any business, the customer is always right, except when he calls
technical support.

"Mike Beede" wrote in message
...

I've been in people's garages that had stolen traffic signs up. People
will steal anything.


My brother had, in his gargae, a "SPEED LIMIT 80" sign that he stole from
I-70 back before the institued the national double nickel.

Tom

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message


Or unless he's an opportunist who thinks "Dang, I bet I can get some
money for them air-e-o-plane thingmies".

....after getting a spam email about "How to make money on eBay".

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/tknoFlyer
__________

how can they be "stolen" wings.. when they were left by the side of a road
with no airplane attached.. did you leave a note on them?

isn't there something about salvage rights?

I know.. complete cars left by the side of the road and then "taken" are
considered stolen.... but what if I only find one fender?

BT

"Tom Pappano" wrote in message
. ..
A nice ending to the story:


Folks:

MIRACLES HAPPEN!!!!



In followup to the search for the missing Aeronca wings which began on
Wednesday before Thanksgiving (see attached story), here's the rest of
the story ..... Be sure to read the "Special Thanks" section at the end
for the details which made this whole event so miraculous!



On Friday night (12/5/03), I received a phone call from Brent
Higginbotham that he had spotted what he thought could be a pair of
wings on the ground 2 1/2 miles north of Minco and 1 mile west of
Highway 81 FROM 23,000 feet with his aerial photography work!



Saturday I overflew that general area, and was unsuccessful in locating
the wings. I decided to fly back to Chickasha (18 miles south where the
rest of the airplane is hangered), when my friend Cory, spotting from
the right side of the airplane, yelled "There they are!" They were in
the back yard of a house in downtown Minco, Oklahoma. We landed and
decided to consult the situation with the Minco police department
(already aware of the search), which confirmed that these were the
missing wings. After knocking on the door to the owner of the backyard,
no response was obtained and so they checked next door neighbor (family
members of homeowner), who authorized police & us to retrieve them, and
even offered the use of their big trailer to transport the wings back to
the airport. Two trailering trips later the wings are safe & secure
back at the Chickasha Airport (home of the Champ)!



SPECIAL THANKS TO:

* Pilot Frank Bice, who amazingly had taken photos of my Aeronca
Champ airplane safely parked on the side of the highway just after the
emergency landing, and initiated an incredible spreading the of the
Wing Search by email and Internet to hundreds of airports & pilots in
this region.
* Editor & Publisher Ralph McCormick of the Fly-Low aviation
magazine, for his remarkable article in such short time, published on
the website prior to the regular printing date. (See attached article)
* Minco, Oklahoma Police Department for their invaluable assistance
in the recovery of the wings in a safe, courteous, legal and non-violent
manner.
* Brent Higginbotham, aerial photography in Oklahoma City, who
reviewed his film of that general area and spotted what turned out to be
the missing wings - and his diligence in tracking me down late at night
to let me know of this finding, inspite of professional obligations at
4AM the following morning.
* My best friend, Cory, whose expertise from youthful experience as
a airplane spotter for the Wildlife Department enabled him to pick out
the two yellow wings amongst a sea of yellow farm equipment from the air.

Final note - In this day & age of skepticism and stories of heartache,
this entire event and all those involved has once again shown the
goodness of people everywhere, especially in Oklahoma. What a wonderful
holiday gift!

Pablo

I know.. complete cars left by the side of the road and then "taken" are
considered stolen.... but what if I only find one fender?

In the area where I live, it is standard procedure to put unwanted
stuff at the end of the drive. Sometimes the householder adds a sign:
FREE, but I don't bother. The thang is almost always gone by the time
of the next weekly trash pickup.

Indeed, I think the town counts on this behavior. We have a
bulky-trash pickup every June, and without fail the town tells us to
have the stuff by the side of the road two weeks in advance of the
actual pickup. They claim this is so they can allocate trucks, but I
think it's just so scanvangers will carry away most of it. They come
from several towns around to cherry-pick the leavings.

Perhaps in that part of the country, airplane wings are considered
trash to be put by the side of the road.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

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