Tie Down systems...an update needed

[petercoota]

I've read the forums about the choices available when choosing a Tie Down system. However, there doesn’t seem much new added to these forums in the last two years. Anybody found anything that really works? Links to new or improved systems eagerly sought. I’m also interested in opinions of rope type vs ratchet webbing strap types.....Thanks

 

 

[cscotthendry]

I use the Claw tie downs, but I dont use the rope that came with it. I use the luggage type straps that are rated for the job. Note, I don't use the mechanical ratchet type tensioners. The object is to tie the plane down, not bend it in half. My straps have metal buckles and I don't cinch them up super tight, just take the slack out of them. I also tie the free end of the strap around the running part of the strap to help prevent the strap from being pulled out of the buckle.

 

I use carabiners between the strap and the wing strut hard points. The system is very quick to set up once I have the claws nailed to the ground.

 

 

Note that nothing is weatherproof completely and I recently saw a video where the Claws were pulled out of the ground. But that was at a place where the ground was relatively soft and there was a significantly strong storm.

 

 

[skippydiesel]

I use the Claw tie downs, but I dont use the rope that came with it. I use the luggage type straps that are rated for the job. Note, I don't use the mechanical ratchet type tensioners. The object is to tie the plane down, not bend it in half. My straps have metal buckles and I don't cinch them up super tight, just take the slack out of them. I also tie the free end of the strap around the running part of the strap to help prevent the strap from being pulled out of the buckle.

 

I use carabiners between the strap and the wing strut hard points. The system is very quick to set up once I have the claws nailed to the ground.

 

 

Note that nothing is weatherproof completely and I recently saw a video where the Claws were pulled out of the ground. But that was at a place where the ground was relatively soft and there was a significantly strong storm.

 

Couldn't agree more Scott - I use the same strapping technique but have screw in "pegs". I always try to have the pegs off centre ie not a vertical pull and at an angle away from the aircraft. The hope is that the combination of angles increases the hold down effect - This is how I was taught to peg down a tent/marquee.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I can't fault my three plated steel Screw It pegs; simple, light and reliable, but a bluddy lot of work on hard ground.

 

Requires proper rope and proper knots, but you save the weight of carrying a hammer.

 

 

[prwood]

Mister screwits are just too much hard work. I use this

 

 

[petercoota]

Prwood, do you have brand name for your yellow screw?  What’s the diff between your type & the Screw It brand?

 

 

[skippydiesel]

Everyone to their own  - I am sure all the systems work however for me the corkscrew type using a wooden T bar is light , easy, effective. I use 3-4 depending on forecast. Don't carry a hammer (unless I am camping) have no additional power tools/batteries to charge. - KISS!

 

 

[prwood]

Sorry, don't have a brand name. I think these came from Aldi. Just google screw in tent pegs & many options will show up. Bunnings have metal ones & another company seems to have ones with a greater diameter which could be better in sandy soil.

 

 

[Yenn]

What you use will depend on where you are. My home field has very hard, dry soil. Best bet is a short length of star picket.

 

one way to lessen the uplift is to have something on the wing, just ahead of the deepest section, to stall the wings lift. It doesn’t take much, a length of thick rope.

 

 

[petercoota]

Prwood, thanks for that info

 

yenn - the rope’s a good idea I’ve not seen used... thanks

 

 

[onetrack]

Petercoota - prwoods screw in peg is called a Whites Spiral Tent Peg, 200mm long. Made of a "lightweight polymer", reputed to be "strong and easy to carry", they're available from Bunnings, $6.55 each here in the West.

 

https://www.google.com.au/shopping/product/4874596711661481

 

prwood - How do these Whites Spiral Tent Pegs go, in really hard clay soil,  or rocky ground?

 

 

[onetrack]

Kogan do the Supa-Peg, made of polycarbonate. 50% longer than the Whites peg, and nearly 2.5 times the price. I don't reckon the polycarbonate or polymer pegs would be as durable as a metal peg.

 

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/autoelec-1x-300mm-x-15mm-supa-peg-screw-tent-peg-polycarbonate-heavy-duty-annex-yellow-sstppcy300x1/

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

...one way to lessen the uplift is to have something on the wing, just ahead of the deepest section, to stall the wings lift...

 

Good idea. I've seen a length of timber used for the purpose.

 

My next design will allow me to retract the wheels to sit the aeroplane on the ground, greatly reducing lift in storms.

 

 

[facthunter]

Just lift the tail or face it backwards with good gust locks. Nev

 

 

[skippydiesel]

Just lift the tail or face it backwards with good gust locks. Nev

 

"Backwards" ?? surely this is relative to wind direction, which has an unfortunate habit of changing, particularly when you have left the scene 

 

 

[prwood]

Petercoota - prwoods screw in peg is called a Whites Spiral Tent Peg, 200mm long. Made of a "lightweight polymer", reputed to be "strong and easy to carry", they're available from Bunnings, $6.55 each here in the West.

 

https://www.google.com.au/shopping/product/4874596711661481

 

prwood - How do these Whites Spiral Tent Pegs go, in really hard clay soil,  or rocky ground?

 

Hard clay soil, no problem. Not sure about rocky ground but small rocks shouldn't present a problem. Big rocks, just move around until you find clear ground?

 

 

[facthunter]

If it's bad enough you won't leave the scene. People do it and it works. A taildragger is set up to fly at minimum speed, the way it sits.  Weather forecasts will tell of likely wind changes. If the weather is bad enough the only safe place for a "lighty" is in a good hangar. Nev

 

 

[Thruster88]

At Narromine this year I was thankful I had my tail into wind and the cable otherwise I would have been very concerned.   

 

[rgmwa]

I landed at Meekatharra on my way back to Perth last year and stayed there overnight hoping for storms further south to pass. The plane was parked in the open but luckily well tied down with the tail pointed into the prevailing wind. Even tying it down was difficult in the strong westerly because it kept trying to weathervane and turn around. A severe squall lasting twenty minutes came through in the early hours and the wind was howling through the trees. I arrived at the field next morning fully expecting to find a pile of wreckage in the scrub, but although the plane had obviously moved around, the tie downs, brakes and gust locks had held and there was no damage. Had the plane not been tail into wind I’m not sure the tie down ropes would have held the wings against the lift. I knew about the rope along the wings trick to break the lift but of course didn’t have any. I was also lucky that I didn’t have to rely on my own tie downs or I would have lost the plane.  

 

 

[Hargraves]

I overnighted my storch at ycds one time using shortened polycarbonate star type tent pegs that were sharpened and hammered in with my (carried) short lump hammer. I backed it up with intergral one piece fwd and aft timber wheel chocks (carried). On returning the next morning my storchs landing gear was at almost full retraction like when flying and looked like she was on tippy toes. But she was still where i tied her, my club mates that stayed the night said they were not game to try and move her once the squall started as it was a very strong cell that came through.