submikester

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http://www.nbc11.com/news/16108081/detail.html

MORGAN HILL, Calif. When talking to Rick Maida, don't make the mistake of calling his collection of radio-controlled planes a hobby.

"It's not a hobby. It's my life. It has been since I was 8 years old."

SLIDESHOW: South Bay Man's RC Airplanes Stolen

Unfortunately for Maida, his 'life' is now missing stolen from outside his Morgan Hill home Monday night. Maida woke Tuesday morning to find a trailer, holding the most prized pieces of his collection, had been taken during the night. "I'm still numb from the whole thing," he said.

Maida, 51, is a passionate builder, collector, and pilot of large-scale, radio-controlled, or “RC,� airplanes. He is well known throughout California for his collection, including a scale replica of a World War I Fleet Finch biplane. The model plane has a wingspan of 10 feet.

Maida said he had just flown that plane, as well as many others from his collection, at an RC airplane show in Salinas over the weekend. He returned home Monday night and parked the trailer, with his planes, outside his home. He planned on taking the trailer to a secure storage space on Tuesday.

The trailer, which Maida described as "plain, white, nondescript," contained two complete RC planes, and the wings of eight others. He said losing the wings is just as devastating as losing an entire plane, as they make up roughly 60 percent of the aircraft.

Asked the value of what was stolen, Maida said, “The material alone cost $30,000, but the time and effort I put in over years and years makes them priceless.�

Maida speculates that whoever stole the trailer had no idea what was inside when they took it. A friend of Maida’s, Terry Palmer, said the thief might have difficulty selling the planes because, within the RC airplane community, Maida’s collection is very well know.

Here is a partial list of what Maida said was stolen:

- A World War I Fleet Finch Biplane with a wingspan of 120 inches

- A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 with an 86 inch wingspan

- The 102 inch wing to a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.

- The 98 inch wing to a Grumman F6F Hellcat

- The 108 inch wing to a Chance Vought F4U Corsair

aglaser

Man that really sucks... I feel so bad for the guy.. Like the story says, the crooks stole not only his planes but a part of his life.. I hope they find the *******s whole stole his trailer and can return the planes in good shape[&o]

Wild Foamy

dam crooks, shoot the lot of em at birth, no use to society any of them.

i have no idea how much it must suck to have something that close to you be taken away, because i am fortunate enough to have not had that experiance, but i really feel sorry for this guy

lets hope someone spots the planes (no doubt trying to be sold) and reports them

JPGale

Add to that list a 94 inch Black Hots wing.

That is everything that I know that is missing. If any of you guys see any of Ricks stuff then please IM or email me and I will pass it on to him.

James

Live Wire

If who ever took the trailer did not know what was in it you will never see the planes[:@] But I bet the planes are stripped out and sold and the rest trashed. What a bunch of LOW LIFE we have today.

*JCB*

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How 'bout a pic of the trailer?!??

Darkbird

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Here's a tip for anyone who is storing stuff in a trailer for any length of time in an area where a potential thief could back up a tow vehicle and take off with it. Buy a spare hitch ball and have someone weld the nut on it right at the bottom of the threads. You could also grind off or otherwise damage the threads so it won't accept a nut. Stick that into the trailers hitch and use whatever lock you normally use to lock the mechanism. Usually this is much cheaper than a commercially available hitch lock. The spare ball in the hitch keeps the thief from dropping the trailer hitch over a smaller sized ball. I've found that you can often get a 1 7/8" ball into a latched 2" hitch. and I have seen balls down to an 1 1/4". This is just the method I use, it won't stop a determined thief as they will at least attempt to cut the lock, but it is a lot better than what I normally see, which is a trailer backed into a spot, dropped and left. I see this at construction sites, boats and all other manner of trailers in peoples driveways. If you can get to it that easy so can a thief, and it would probably take less than a minute to back up and steal a trailer.
Dude, I feel your pain, and have been in your shoes. Although not for nearly as much money. Hence, I'm a little paranoid about things like this at times. I hope you gat back the contents even if not the trailer, but I also agree that it is not likely. If they knew what was in it they will strip the stuff that can't be identified(motors, radio equip., and such) and trash the rest. If they didn't know what was in it you might be better off as they may try to E-Bay the stuff, not knowing how well known it is. They may also just trash it all, having no idea what the stuff is. When my semi was broken into, the thief only took things they could sell quickly, but they did take the time to destroy my T-Rex. Didn't otherwise touch any of the R/C stuff I had on the truck. I still haven't been able to get replacements for some of those DVD's.
Good luck, I'll be watching this thread and keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Adam G

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That is horrible. A lifetime of work and money put into a hobby/lifestyle gone. I just hope that they can find it.