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APRIL '20,1977 'sad story | from terrace bay TERRACE BAY NEWS Hebd TAKEN FROM DEC. 76 ISSUE OF CANADIAN FLIGHT MAGAZINE "I learned about flying from that . . . " + The following experience may be hard to believe but it did happen to 'me and some friends as we returned from a very pleasant trp to Ottawa and Halifax. Tom Conroy and his family were flying a Cessna 210 and | was flying a- Cessna 72. We had flown east together as far as "Sault Ste. Marie. Tom went on to Ottawa and I went south to visit my sister in Windsor. On- the way back we met again at The Soo and were told that bad weather would prevent us from going through Duluth and Faro; we therefore decided to take the Canadian route north around Lake Superior. = We left early and had good weather until about ten miles out of Thunder Bay; because of a low ceiling we were forced to turn back to a small isolated private stip at lerracg Bay. On landing, we noticed a new hangar on the left and in- side was a new helicopter and a new Aztec. | mentioned to Tom that it must be a safe place to put up for the night since the hangar doors were closed but not locked. Because of this, and as we fully expected to leave early the next morning, we decided to leave our per- sonal belongings in the two aircraft which were docked up and tied down next to the hangar. By this time a security man then ap- peared on the scene. He assured us that everything would be' fine and kindly drove us 10 town where we booked into a motel. Terrace Bay is a company town and the landing strip is also owned by - Kimberly Clarke Pulp and Paper. The next morning, Sunday, brought heavy rain and fog so we stayed in town. The weather cleared later in the day so it seemed certain that we could get away early Monday morning, = Next morning we phoned a cab and went to the airport. On approaching the aircraft we noticed two things; there were carpenters working outside; and the door to Tom's airplane was open. We sensed. right away that something was wrong and our fears were confirmed as we got closer. The inside of the 210 had been ran- sacked. Paper and maps were all over Note: To discourage the type of van- daiism described above, COPA sells "Warning Cards" at 50¢ each which are imprinted as follows: WARNING DO NOT TAMPER WITH THIS AIRCRAFT. IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE TO CAUSE HARM TO ANY, AIRCRAFT SECTION NO. 220 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE STATES -- "Interfering with transportation facilities. -- Every one who, with intent to endanger the safety of any person, places anything upon . or does anything to any property that is used for or in connection with the transport- ation of persons or goods by land, water or air that is likely to cause death or bodily harm to persons Is gullty of an indictable offence and Is liable to imprisonment for life. $2821". PAGE 11 A never-to-be forgotten visit to a "beautiful little town" on the north shore of Lake Superior . . . the place and sand was scattered on the floor. The window had been smashed, the mike and fire extinguisher were gone, and the family's personal belongings were missing. The aerial, VOR antenna and windshield were broken, the ele- .vators had been stepped on, and the oil dipstick was removed and thrown about 20 ft. away. Then | checked my aircraft and found a similar situation. The window was smashed and the throttle was: bent straight down. Missing was the compass, - telex headset, flight bag -and maps, binoculars and stopwatch. Tom also lost two expensive stopwatches. The next thing we knew, the car- penters were all gone and they didn't return. Oh yes -- my landing light had been kicked in as well. We phoned the police, and since tampering with an aircraft is a federal offence, we tried to get the RCMP in on it but they said it was not. their concern. We then contacted the Ontario Pro- vincial Police and MoT. After about two hours the GPP arrived, along with an engirieer and other MoT personnel from Thunder Bay. The police looked and dusted for nearly 1% hours for fingerprints but found none. Alt this time, none of the officials of Kimberley Clarke came out to see: us although their helicopter pilot loaned us his car. He also went up and checked the area but found nothing to report. After much patching up, and assurance from the engineer that our aircraft were fly- able, we left. The MoT men from Thunder Bay kindly loaned us a mike for the flight home. To say that we were shocked is an un- derstatement, especially as a very en- joyable holiday was completely ruined. To steal personal belongings is one thing but to have someone deliberately vanda- lize two aircraft is something else. What surprised us was that no damage was done to either panel, our radios or instruments. They had walked over the elevators and bent them, but not to the extent that we couldn't fly the aircraft. We couldn't understand why the officials of Kimberley Clarke showed no interest, why their carpenters suddenly disap- peared or why the RCMP refused to take over. : Terrace Bay is a beautiful little town on the north side of Lake Superior but 'all | can say to other pilots is: keep away from Terrace Bay, even if you are turned away from Thunder Bay or if you run out of gasoline. You will be better off if you land on the highway and stay with the aircraft. Tom's 210 is insured but his personal property loss was just over $3000, of which $1500 was covered by insurance. In my case the aircraft was not insured so | have had to pay for "the damage. However, the loss of my personal effects was almost completely covered by in- surance. -- Thomas E. Robbins