Oh dear!

[Tomo]

I see someone's pride and joy has been blown over from it's tie downs and on it's roof at Toowoomba airfield... never a nice sight to see!

 

Has been very windy today.

 

 

[Tomo]

[flyerme]

that sucks.looks like some wing damage?poor buggers

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hopefully most of the damage will buff out.

 

 

[sfGnome]

Wind speed is supposed to peak here tonight.

 

I'm sure I tied it down well.

 

I mean, I think I tied it down ok.

 

Please - I hope I tied it down well enough...

 

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Not good....one thing I noticed on recent insurance policies I had, is that if the aircraft is not stored in a hangar with doors, then it must be suitably tied-down when left unattended. Key word being 'suitably' I suppose. I've seen storms even flip a new Robinson R44 on it's back, and they don't even have real wings !!............................................Maj...

 

 

[motzartmerv]

I've seen storms even flip a new Robinson R44 on it's back, !!............................................Maj...

Thats good...One less...:peepwall:

 

 

[facthunter]

Cruel ....Be they so ever misguided they are entitled to their opinion .Nev

 

 

[Neville75]

Now he's got one of those nice low wings:roflmao:

 

Seriously though sad as it is, there's worse things happening as a result of this terrible weather.

 

Nev

 

 

[camo645]

Ouch! not a nice sight to wake up to, i bet!

 

Agree with Nev whole heartedly. Insurance can fix this bird but it can't bring back the lives lost and greater devastation caused.

 

Such a shame for it to happen again!

 

Cheers,

 

Camo

 

 

[farri]

As the System moved down the coast and it became obvious that SE QLD was going to cop it, Fran said to me " What are they going to do with all those lite aircraft on the ground at the aerodromes"?

 

Why is it I`m not surprised?

 

Frank.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

It's a sorry state of affairs I know,. . . but we get at least ONE blown over every year in the winter months. . . . . you can advise new pilots / owners all you like . . .but some just Won't heed the advice. If you can't afford hangarage, you really ought to make certain it won't blow away. . . . . a lot of these people pay many thousands of pounds to buy their pride and joy, and then tie them down with those supid little pig's dicks screw in camping tie downs, and they just have NOT got the security to prevent the aircraft breaking loose. . . . I realise that not everyone can afford £5,000 for a hangar, but you'd think that they would take advice, and they just don't. How much would it cost for some really good tie down stakes knocked three feet into the ground and some strong tie down ropes, / straps / belts. . . . some of which are good in wet weather also. . . .

 

Got to be honest, If my aircraft were not inside, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. . . . . .

 

 

[Sapphire]

Anything that buries itself into the ground is only as strong as the ground. Think you need to go down about two meters which means carying around a bore driller.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Yes Phil. It makes you laugh when you see people dutyfully screwing a 30 cm tie down into the ground.

 

I have to admit, I had no idea either, until we had to madly hold, and tie down 2 aircraft in a 50 kts westerly wind. We ended up hammering star stakes into the ground almost all the way, and tripple roping them at all four points.. It was a hell of a job in the wind, and the aeroplanes were flying on the slack in the ropes. A 30 cm plastic tue down may make you feel better, but is tottaly uselss. If the wind is strong enough to tip a wing, then it will walk through all but the most secure tie downs.

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

If wind can make a 747 jump the chocks, then lighter aircraft don't stand a chance without proper tie downs!

 

 

[dazza 38]

I like the steel cable way. eg-Archerfield. Of course it doesnt help when on a fly away. I also like the idea of using chain & a rubber strap. Not a Ocky strap but the heavy duty rubber ones. I bought mine at Reece or Trade link.Used them for years to tie plumbing pipes onto my ute. Anyway if GA and using a chain from the tie down all the way to the tie point on the aircraft (Via) a U shackle, to the tie point on the ground. You can use the rubber strap as well.Give the chain some slack say 200 mm .Then hook the strap through one chain link close to the ground and pull tight then hook the other end to the closest chain link. It will work like a shock absorber.

 

Hard to explain what I mean. with out piccys.

 

Another way of explaining it is- If the distance between the tie point on the ground & the tie point under the wing is 1000mm . Chain her up using 1200mm of chain, (Your chain can be 2000mm long, doesnt matter, just put the u shackle through the chain link close to where ever 1200mm comes to. )

 

Then take out the slack of the chain using the rubber strap by hooking at one end, pulling tight & hooking the other end to the closest chain link.When the aircraft moves around in the wind, the rubber strap will stretch and take up the movement.

 

The straps have to be the Plumbers ones which are about $30 from memory each.But they are very strong and dont perish much.I used the same ones for about 5 years on the racks of my ute.

 

PS- I wouldnt used this method with most ultralights unless using very small chain.Like the chain used for dogs. The tie points may pull out of the a/c.They are not as strong as most GA aircraft tie down points.

 

What you will see is - if the aircraft lifts 200mm at the tie down point (in this example above), the chain will go to its full lenght of 1200mm & the rubber would have stretched 200mm . And that is as far as it will go unless the tie down point pulls out of the point in the ground pulls out.We used to chain our Piper Archer down at Archerfield. Using chain & she went through some very strong storms no problems.

 

I hope this helps peeps.

 

 

[Exadios]

If wind can make a 747 jump the chocks, then lighter aircraft don't stand a chance without proper tie downs!

Actually its not the size of the aircraft that's important but its wing loading!

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Gravity plays a big role too ;).. An objects mass is directly proportional to the force needed to change its state of motion (or rest).. Who was that guy with the apple??

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Gravity plays a big role too ;).. An objects mass is directly proportional to the force needed to change its state of motion (or rest).. Who was that guy with the apple??

Steve Jobs?

 

Actually its not the size of the aircraft that's important but its wing loading!

Fairly sure that a 747 has a greater wing loading than any RAA aircraft!

 

 

[crashley]

Hi I cut a star picket into 3 and tapered the end 150mm down to a point on each one belt them in with a small hatchet ( also doubles as a canopy breaker ) they hold real well and are fairly easy to get back out but if they get stuck not too much of a loss

 

 

[metalman]

A guy lost a plane down here a while back, had it tied down real nice,,,,,wind ripped the lift strut clean off ,and blew the aircraft away.

 

sad for Queensland, twice in two years just ain't fair :-(

 

so what's the best tie downs for a night away with the plane left outside( tie the plane down only)

 

 

[Guest aussieragntube]

does that mean a new wing?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Anything that buries itself into the ground is only as strong as the ground. Think you need to go down about two meters which means carying around a bore driller.

We have used star spikes ( 1800 mm long ) banged into the deck and then welded some nice solid tie down rings onto the top. . . . they usually stay put, and the rings drop flat on the grass when not being used, so as not to be a trip hazard. ( For use back at BASE I should add, not really practical for flying stopovers, unless you've got a Dak. . . . .

 

 

[Sapphire]

We have used star spikes ( 1800 mm long ) banged into the deck and then welded some nice solid tie down rings onto the top. . . . they usually stay put, and the rings drop flat on the grass when not being used, so as not to be a trip hazard. ( For use back at BASE I should add, not really practical for flying stopovers, unless you've got a Dak. . . . .

 

A lot depends on what type of "soil" you are going into. If it is solid granite, then a 50mm dynabolt would do; if it is wind blown sand then get a miners hat.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

A lot depends on what type of "soil" you are going into. If it is solid granite, then a 50mm dynabolt would do; if it is wind blown sand then get a miners hat.

Too right. . . . . we're luckyish with our home airfield, in that the ground is nice and firm, and being situated on a very gentle "Dome" of high ground, it drains very quicly in the wet stuff. It's had plenty of time to stabilise, as it used to be a WW2 Basic flight training field surrounded by good land drains. . . .

 

I saw an interesting US vid on youtube recently, which discussed aircraft tiedown products in some detail, showing destructive testing etc. . . although most of these were of the portable type.

 

I've just watched one on youtube from a mob in the States called STORM FORCE AIRCRAFT TIE DOWNS, but all their examples showed the " Nails" set in a bit of metal angle, banged into cracks in a bitumen road, and surviving an angular pull force of around 4,000 Lbs . . . the thing is that most airfields I visit would take a dim view of me banging stakes into their taxiways, . . . I reckon that these things would be about as much use as a chocolate barbecue can if used on Grass . . .

 

It's a continuing problem in the UK with our permanently rubbish weather and loads of aircraft owners with no access to indoor storage.