I hope it is Insured. !

Tom-D

Tom-D

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Tom-D
I got this off our local web page, don't know quite what to think about it.

""UPS has managed to lose my airplane's engine, and it's looking to me like it might have been stolen. It was last seen by UPS in Seattle on Feb. 6, and they haven't located it yet. I'd think this would be enough time to find it if it had been put on the wrong truck or sent to a warehouse. They know its approximate value of $23,000 so I presume they've been looking pretty hard for it, and a 3x3x4 foot wooden crate weighing 445 lb. would seemingly be hard to overlook. I'd appreciate if you'd keep an eye out for anything unusual that might fit the description.

The engine is a Continental O-200-A, serial number 66691-7-A. It's nearly new, with only about 450 hours on it. The log book is in the crate with it. It has an old serial number because it was a factory "overhaul" that consisted of building an engine from 100% new parts and putting the old engine's data plate on it. The only parts that aren't new are the data plate, eight Tempest fine wire plugs, and a factory overhauled carburetor I put on it 30 hours ago. It was on its way back after being repaired by Continental so it would be clean.

Please let me know if you see anything for sale that might possibly be the engine or parts from it. The Seattle area is the most likely place for it to have been stolen -- if it was -- but it might have made its way to the Portland area.

I'll post again if UPS finds it.""

Hope he finds it.
 
Man, I have had UPS stuff a forklift tine clean through a multi-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars Cisco router, and still have the balls to deliver it (delivery guy left it in the hall, got the front desk girl to sign for it and RAN away, literally ran)...

But never heard of them losing an entire airplane engine before. LOL... wow.
 
I didn't even know UPS would take a crate that big. 3X3X4 foot @ 445 pounds.
 
Tom-D said:
I didn't even know UPS would take a crate that big. 3X3X4 foot @ 445 pounds.
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Don't know what UPS' limits are, but we crated 7' high data center rack cabinets with all the gear already mounted in them and managed to meet FedEx's rules by about 3/4"... and they had to remain upright during transport. (We put those indicators inside for G-shock and tipping, too... they kept them upright and treated them well...)
 
Extremely unlikely someone would steal an airplane piston engine while UPS is shipping it. Few people know anything about them. And they are heavy.
 
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NoHeat said:
Very unlikely someone would steal an airplane piston engine while UPS is shipping it. Few people know anything about them. And they are heavy.
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Yeah, I don't believe it either. There are better things to steal in the shipments - things that would be a hell of a lot easier to move.
 
Tom-D said:
I didn't even know UPS would take a crate that big. 3X3X4 foot @ 445 pounds.
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UPS has an LTL division just like FedEx does. It may have been shipped by them. Many people just lump all the divisions (express, ground, freight) together as if they were one entity.
 
timwinters said:
UPS has an LTL division just like FedEx does. It may have been shipped by them. Many people just lump all the divisions (express, ground, freight) together as if they were one entity.
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Happens, I had a customers specially made steel bar knife that was 5 feet long and worth about $5,000 or more disappear about 5 years ago. Weighed several hundred pounds and in a wood crate, only worth scrap price to anyone other than my customer. No trace ever found. Fed Ex shipment lost between Kansas City and Norfolk Nebraska.
 
I left a Yaesu aircraft radio with my companies mailroom for a member here a couple weeks ago.. never picked up by Usps. Still haven’t found it... I’d like to know what a random mailroom clerk would do with an aircraft radio.
 
Tried to ship a prop,from the UPS store,they wouldn’t touch it. Had to pay a shipping company to box it,then send it UPS. Have to say they got it to Ohio and back without any damage.
 
NoHeat said:
Extremely unlikely someone would steal an airplane piston engine while UPS is shipping it. Few people know anything about them. And they are heavy.
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Apparently someone did, kinda hard to misplaced something that big and heavy. Sounds to me like the owner had the documentation from UPS when he shipped it.
 
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Having just shipped my engine case, crank shaft, and misc other bits all around the country, I'm relieved I didn't have this problem.

I shipped an O-360 case from a UPS store with no issues, didn't take a crate that large either, but it was disassembled. Still seems like a kinda big box for an O-200, even if not taken apart. I think my box was 2x2x3.
 
This guy is the "receiver" of the engine, so I bet Continental (or whoever) is the shipper is really on the hook.
 
As I recall when we ordered our new engine from Air Power they had boiler plate on the order that if we did not purchase the shipping insurance with the order we were on the hook if something happened to the engine in transit. No issues though and Air Power was great to deal with.
 
I use UPS for my shipping, but my packages are smaller mostly engine parts going to Tulsa OK. for machining, never lost any thing. But I never ship the whole engine. Glad I wasn't the shipper and on the hook for this.
 
That’s a heavy little O-200... probably pumping out 400 hp by the sounds of it! Or else Nate built the crate on which it’s being shipped. ;)
 
Tom-D said:
Glad I wasn't the shipper and on the hook for this.
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If extra insurance wasn't purchased -- at extra cost of course -- the shipping company is liable for $.50 per pound, I think. That's what I found out when a freight company "misplaced" a $26K IBM HDA somewhere between KC and Omaha. Never did turn up.
 
denverpilot said:
Man, I have had UPS stuff a forklift tine clean through a multi-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars Cisco router, and still have the balls to deliver it (delivery guy left it in the hall, got the front desk girl to sign for it and RAN away, literally ran)...

But never heard of them losing an entire airplane engine before. LOL... wow.
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Had that happen with a server I shipped UPS.. Got a call from the IT guy on the other end who said " ummm should this have come out of the box in pieces" It looked like it had been thrown off of a building. backplane ripped out, case shattered in a couple spots..
 
I’ve “heard” that UPS will not honor insurance purchased through a UPS Store and what is sold there may/may not be honored by the franchise owner. May also be location dependent (or not true at all), so I highly recommend confirming that and their terms/conditions with them before shipping something expensive. Pretty sure I wouldn’t completely rely on the clerk at the counters word either.
 
ifly4fun said:
I left a Yaesu aircraft radio with my companies mailroom for a member here a couple weeks ago.. never picked up by Usps. Still haven’t found it... I’d like to know what a random mailroom clerk would do with an aircraft radio.
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Pawn it. Check the local pawn shops.
 
I just don't use UPS. If I buy something that has to be shipped to me, and that company uses UPS, I'll cancel the order.
 
DaleB said:
If extra insurance wasn't purchased -- at extra cost of course -- the shipping company is liable for $.50 per pound, I think. That's what I found out when a freight company "misplaced" a $26K IBM HDA somewhere between KC and Omaha. Never did turn up.
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I think that's for something that's considered "freight". UPS has something like a default $100 insurance for "packages". I'm not sure how they define the two.
 
That is hilarious. I've had UPS steal $2500 injectors, drop and crack a car engine block but not steal a whole freaking aircraft engine. Awesome. I wonder if it will show up in the US or elsewhere. Who will want to put a stolen serial # in their log book?
 
BigBadLou said:
That is hilarious. I've had UPS steal $2500 injectors, drop and crack a car engine block but not steal a whole freaking aircraft engine. Awesome. I wonder if it will show up in the US or elsewhere. Who will want to put a stolen serial # in their log book?
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How would the end-purchaser know it was a stolen serial #? It's like buying anything second-hand, you are taking their word for it unless there's an easily-accessible database of stolen engine serial numbers.
 
Badger said:
This guy is the "receiver" of the engine, so I bet Continental (or whoever) is the shipper is really on the hook.
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Depends on FOB Shipping Point or FOB Destination. The terms in the contract will determine who holds the shipping liability.
 
A o-200 with 450hrs which somehow weighs in at nearly 500lbs, that's "worth" $23,000?!
Sounds like someone made out like a bandit from UPS' incompetence.


Maybe when it comes time for overhaul, I'll ship my io-520 UPS to...wherever, insure it as if it's worth as much as a new io-550, hmmm, I see what he did there!
 
SoonerAviator said:
How would the end-purchaser know it was a stolen serial #? It's like buying anything second-hand, you are taking their word for it unless there's an easily-accessible database of stolen engine serial numbers.
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If I were to purchase a rebuilt engine, I'd want to talk to the shop that did it. They'd let me know if I bought an engine that "disappeared" some time ago. But again, that's me, I like to know what I'm buying.
But you're right, not really a good DB of stolen merchandise out there.
 
Matthew said:
I think that's for something that's considered "freight". UPS has something like a default $100 insurance for "packages". I'm not sure how they define the two.
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I just shipped a watch back to Citizen using UPS. $100 is their default insurance level. I paid extra to raise it.
 
BigBadLou said:
If I were to purchase a rebuilt engine, I'd want to talk to the shop that did it. They'd let me know if I bought an engine that "disappeared" some time ago. But again, that's me, I like to know what I'm buying.
But you're right, not really a good DB of stolen merchandise out there.
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You ever buy a girl a diamond?
 
When I had the Citation engines overhauled in 2001, we shipped them by truck freight and I had my insurance company send me a letter that they were covered during transport! Nothing happened to them of course, but you never know and better make sure your covered!!
My worst UPS story was last year right before the eclipse, our package containing the "Eclipse glasses" made it to Atlanta, but was "destroyed" at UPS, meaning they were sold for $10 a pair!!! Luckily a friend had ordered double in case that happened and we had glasses!! :D
 
BigBadLou said:
If I were to purchase a rebuilt engine, I'd want to talk to the shop that did it. They'd let me know if I bought an engine that "disappeared" some time ago. But again, that's me, I like to know what I'm buying.
But you're right, not really a good DB of stolen merchandise out there.
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This engine (I think) was a used engine, with a few hours on it.
 
Well it is an 0-200-A in Seattle, guess who does these regularly.

If I see it what action to take?
 
BigBadLou said:
Yeah. 1,000,000-carat from a guy's trunk in a back alley at 4am for $500. He kept looking over his shoulder but explained that it's such a great deal, he's afraid more customers will show up and buy out all his stock. :D
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Yeah, again, that’s you- you like to know what you’re buying. Just like you said.
 
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