If you have never needed a helping hand in moving your airplane around in an off airport situation, stop reading now.

If you have, like me, from time to time wished you had a lightweight simple mechanical means of giving a good heave ho, this may be of interest. I bought a rope camalong, ($60.00/3/4 ton) the type that passes the rope through itself in operation, so any length of line can be used. It is designed for 1/2" rope, and you need to use that size for it to work properly, but 1/2" is much stronger then I need, so as of now I plan to pack about a 20' length of 1/2" that will pass through the mechanism, and a much longer, maybe 150', of smaller dia. (and lighter) rope. That way I can save some weight (none of this does any good if left in the hangar, I want to pack it along whenever I think it may, just may, be needed) and make continuous snatchs of 20' or so. Also, having plenty of rope along is a good thing in most salvage rescue type operations, for additional tiedown techniques if forced to leave the plane unattended on a mountain ridge in Wyoming for instance None of this will be for my own use of course, but more so I can offer assistance to others

I'll add to this post when I make my final rope selection, right now (it's snowing today...) I am drilling lightening holes and otherwise getting rid of dead weight in the comalong, there goes my factory warranty! I got on some mountain climbing equipment sites, and was quickly overwhelmed by too much info on ropes, so I'll think I just head on down to the local farm and ranch supply and buy local. In between drilling and deburring and snow flurries I also managed to get in a quick .3 local cruise

I look forward to hearing what you come up with...I was thinking about this same thing the other day, but stopped when I began to think about how much weight the typical system might add, namely the come-a-along.

Buy three strand rope, 1/2" heat shrink, and a cassette torch. Threading the end of the rope into pulley can be a female dog if the end is frayed.

Buy mountaineering ropes. 1/2" is way too big. 30m(100ft) of dynamic climbing cord is VERY strong, and super light weight. Mountaineering ropes stretch - which is not desirable - but are far lighter weight than static (non stretchy) cord if you want to carry it in your plane. REI also sells static cord (1/2") by the foot - it is very stiff and very heavy - okay for the hangar if that's all you want.

http://www.rei.com/product/737306/edelw ... -twin-rope

You can also improvise mechanical advantage with a little technique and some carabiners. a 3:1 mechanical advantage is easy to rig w/ 2 carabiners - pulleys decrease friction and improve. Daisy chaining more carabiners will double the advantage and can be done pretty easily to mulitply the force of your pull. A decent kit would be maybe 5-6 pounds at the most.

rope, 3-5 carabiners, 10 feet of 5-6mm perlon cord cut into 2 prussiks, and some webbing to attach to random things (trees, rocks, iron beams, plane).

Have a look in your local library, or go into the local REI or outdoor shop and sit down and browse the section of this book on self rescue for mountaineering or whitewater kayaking:

http://www.rei.com/product/811865/mount ... th-edition

Or google online the following topics:

Z-drag
prussik
water knot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-drag

'Greg

Yea, I was going to say that one little pulley an some 1/4" poly rope can double your pull. Ya beat me to it..

Get yourself an old fence stretcher and a long length of rope. I picked one up at a farm sale for a buck. Also works great for hoisting deer for guttin'. Nice thing about a fence stretcher is you can lock it in position.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Block-T ... 5ae7049d8a

Not cheap - but again - for "lock-off" look for "ascenders" or "jumars" - basically a mechanical equivalent of a prussik knot:

If you want to fly with it - these things weigh nothing (1/2 oz) probably less than the cord to make a prussik:

http://www.rei.com/search?query=tibloc

You can spend a lot or a little - depends on whether you want to fly with it. But $60 seems like too much for standard block and tackle rigging gear.:

http://www.rei.com/category/4500697

http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500089&c ... nd+Webbing^cat%2C40006009%3AAccessory+Cord

http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500089&c ... nd+Webbing^cat%2C4500700%3AWebbing

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Hauling-D ... aul-Hauler

'Greg

Around here the snowmobilers carry 100 feet of mule tape and 3 caribeaners to make a comealong on the spot to unstick their machines. Some of those snow machines weigh as much as a kitfox or more.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MULE-TAPE-6000- ... 27c70e8fe8

If this is a Masden rope ratchet, you'll need three braid 1/2" rope. I've used 14mm static line and it slips at about 500#s.

Those come in real handy...

aktahoe1 wrote:Those come in real handy...

Hahaha. Don't make me link to the thread.

Understand that even a simple rope comealong has the power to seriously bend parts of your airplane, and/or turn it into a pretzel.

Used carefully, however, they can be a Godsend.

MTV

Nosedragger wrote:If this is a Masden rope ratchet, you'll need three braid 1/2" rope. I've used 14mm static line and it slips at about 500#s.

Exactly...and I just happened to have some 3 braid 1/2" laying around, perfect! Here's what I came up with:

I weighed the comalong as it came, 5 lb. 14 oz. After drilling lightening holes, cutting off un-needed structure, and otherwise applying aircraft style techniques in weight saving, it comes in at 4 lbs. 7 oz. With 30' of the 1/2" main rope the total is 6 lbs. Pictured, you can see the plastic handle and the snatch hook swivel I took off, and the lightening holes. I already carry about 30' of good tie down rope, which I can rig as needed to the 30' of 1/2". I really like the mule tape idea, (first time I heard it called that, learn something every day) that webbing stuff is super strong and light, as of now that is what I am going with for the additional 75' or so.....here's the deal: applying Murpheys Law, no matter how much length I have to reach a hard point, it will probably be 5' short, so at some point weight will determine how long of extra I choose to pack, a bit over 100' is about right I hope. Also pictured is another piece of equipment I have put to good use for some time now, my 1 lb. 3 oz hatchet I keep razor sharp, it makes quick work of any sage brush and is good for all kinds of other work. It's so sharp I am extremely careful when using it in a remote area.....and now use the 4 oz transport safety cover for it, but I will now bind it to the comalong with tape, and zip tie both to a fuselage member or get a light carry bag for both. The idea is not to have them in the hangar at home, but with me at all times except for perhaps very local flights with very fat people. I recently had occasion to wish I had had this setup, thankfully I had the hatchet, it saved the day There will be no pictures concerning that little adventure, use your imagination, but all is well, now! BTW: I weighed my fence stretcher, 7 lbs 10z., but yeah that could be handy too, didn't even think of it, as less then 100 bucks was in the budget. All the mountaineering ideas are great also, thanks.

Being a certified rigger for the crane business, I savvy the mechanical advantages of 2,3 or 4 part lines via a pulley block, but I also like the simplicity of the single part line, especially working in brush etc. just less stuff to foul and tangle.

courierguy, get yourself some polyethylene "silver line" from a marine supplier. It is used to tie boats (big ones) to the dock and together with chain for anchoring vessels.

I got 100' of 3/4" mule tape on it's way, 18 bucks so total cost 78.00.

I did a test pull using the one ton Dodge (it has a few lbs. on the S-7), as a load. The 3 strand rope. locks up on the spool perfect. I reached max pull and now have some real confidence in it. Way more pull then I'd likely ever need! I'll have it at JC if needed....

Have none of you guys ever heard of a "Mexican windlass"? No metal, no moving parts, creates lots of pull for a short distance.

Back in the days...! when I was involved with climbing in Yosemite and other areas, there was available a small lightweight plastic piece that slipped onto a standard oval carabiner. It instantly turned the carabiner into a pulley. Two or three of theses would haul quite a bit. Most of us do have old oval carbiners lying around don't we?

Have used braided climbing rope as small at 7mm for rappels and "thin" friction climbing.
7mm can be a bit thin without a glove, but 9mm is comfortable either way; unless you see your partner is taking a real clean vertical screamer, then ya best have your gloves on.

Now before I get an online lesson of all the new harnesses and devices I will just say that this was "way back when," even before Chouinard and the N.F. Like in the days of Raffey Bedayan carabiners, black ringed pitons and when three strand rope was the only option.

Anyway a few carbiners alone should get you the leverage you need.

Mule tape is what is used to pull very long heavy electrical wire through conduit. It is very strong for its size, is slick like those very strong small diameter fishing lines and pulls over and around objects without abrading or burning like regular nylon rope would do. That makes it good to pull through three caribeaners for mechanical advantage. You will want to goole up "Mule tape knot". You will find videos and instruction sheets on how to tie the knots needed. A boline will hold...sometimes...but reduces the strength compared to the official mule tape knots.

I have heard that if you wash it a couple times it will take the slickness out of it then you can tie regular knots and they will hold.

Use one of these.
http://snobunje.com/public/store.php?crn=69

Get the Snobunji Cobra. I have used it along with a length of rope to get my Snowmobile up a steep hill in deep snow by myself. I'm pretty sure you could yank an airplane around on soft ground with no damage.
It's really crazy how well these work. The group I ride with all has them and they get used dozens of times a day when it's its really deep. Make sure and watch the video, it really is that easy to move a 500lb machine stuck in the snow.

A few $20 3-pulley block n tackles from Wal Mart with Spectra rope let me raise and align my 3000#+ CNC mill. They are light, too. Capacity 2000# each, ~180# pull force on each rope. I think a single unit could move a 2800 lb 180 just about anywhere with the right tie down anchor. They might be nice for hauling a couple of backpacks up into the trees too...haven't tried that yet.

Another option is a strap winch like many use to tie down with. 1200# unit with 20' of webbing will set you back $12, and you could probably winch a foot of length at a time before running out of spool.