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\nLast month’s ram raid at Kaikohe Aerodrome inflicted huge damage on the local gliding club’s aircraft.
\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n
A Far North man has been arrested after a ram raid at an aerodrome wrecked a flying club’s gliders and left members with a $250,000 repair bill.<\/p>\n
A vehicle was used to smash into a hangar at Kaikohe Aerodrome, leaving the aircraft parked inside severely damaged.<\/p>\n
Senior Sergeant Clem Armstrong, of Mid Far North police, said two vehicles and an $80,000 tractor mower were taken in the raid, which was reported on 27 March.<\/p>\n
Adding insult to injury, about 100 litres of diesel and petrol were stolen, along with batteries from the club’s solar power system.<\/p>\n
Armstrong said Kaikohe Aerodrome was built in 1942 as a United States Marine Corps bomber base.<\/p>\n
He said it had the largest grass airstrip in the Southern Hemisphere, with the Kaikohe Gliding Club responsible for mowing and maintaining it.<\/p>\n
“This is a volunteer group who rely entirely on goodwill. This has been a massive blow and has really hurt them.”<\/p>\n
Armstrong said the club was “over the moon” to hear police had arrested someone.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old man had been charged in relation to the raid and was due back the Kaikohe District Court on 21 April.<\/p>\n
He faced 21 charges relating to a series of rural thefts in the Mangakahia and Awarua areas, south of Kaikohe.<\/p>\n
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\nLast month’s ram raid at Kaikohe Aerodrome inflicted huge damage on the local gliding club’s aircraft.
\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n
The charges included burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, intentional damage, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, receiving and theft.<\/p>\n
In a social media post shortly after the raid, a Kaikohe Gliding Club spokesman said it was a huge blow that would be difficult to recover from.<\/p>\n
He said the club, which was one of the cheapest and most accessible gliding clubs in New Zealand, would not be operating for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
The club had always operated without insurance to keep membership costs low.<\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, this has left us extremely vulnerable, and this loss is something we simply cannot absorb.”<\/p>\n
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\nLast month’s ram raid at Kaikohe Aerodrome inflicted huge damage on the local gliding club’s aircraft.
\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n
Even if the club had the money, there was a shortage of certified gliding engineers in New Zealand, so repairs could take many months or even years.<\/p>\n
He said the club was entirely volunteer-run and supported local youth, including by hosting cadets from Kaikohe to Kait\u0101ia.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Armstrong said police investigating the aerodrome raid had also located stolen industrial drill parts valued at $40,000.<\/p>\n
The equipment, imported from the United States by a local company, was returned last week.<\/p>\n
“It’s great to be able to recover these expensive and crucial pieces of equipment and return them to their rightful owners.”<\/p>\n
Armstrong said the aerodrome investigation was ongoing with police looking for others who may have been involved.<\/p>\n
The damage to each aircraft was expected to cost around $60,000 to repair. The vehicles had since been recovered.<\/p>\n
Armstrong urged people to report thefts in rural areas, no matter how minor they seemed, saying it helped police build up a picture of what was happening in an area.<\/p>\n
* Kaikohe Gliding Club has set up a Givealittle page<\/a> to help pay for repairs.<\/p>\n