I've read some things on here before and did a search but did not find exactly what I'm looking for. I am starting to assemble an overnight kit for my airplane. Planning on lots of off airport and grass. I am looking for opinions on small lightweight tie down equipment. I'm VERY limted on space in my airplane....My cargo area is a nylon bag that velcros in behind my seat..about the size of a large school backpack. This has to hold my tools, mix oil, extra headset, ect. My airplane is 535lbs empty and has a 30ft wing. It's pretty small compared to anything certified and every pound counts. Kits like the CLAW and all the others similiar ones are way overkill. I'm thinking of going to hardware store and getting three of those corkscrew dog run stakes and some good nylon roap. Any other ideas? Spruce sells about 12 different systems that I'm sure are all WAY overpriced.

Also for those of you that have been doing this forever what else have you found as essential equipment for THE PLANE staying overnight in the brush? I'm an avid camper so got that part covered but traveling in plane is all new for me. I already built a small compact toolkit that I can dissemble my entire airplane with. I'm thinking I need a way to patch and inflate a tire too. Would suck to get stuck someplace because of a flat tire.

When I had a Taylorcraft with similar limitations I used to remove the seat cushions and sit on my folded-up sleeping pad instead. Freed up a lot of room.

I paid about $100 for the Flyties but after watching this I whish i would have stayed with the cork screw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loq1olceSIE

Was doing some reading on airplane camping and found this... look at all this crap..
http://www.skychickadventures.com/Displ ... .asp?ID=12

You would have to have a 206 just to carry all of that. Pretty funny when I realized it was a woman....sorry ladies

Flat strap nylon from the army surplus store, rolls up really small. The Stakes or rods are the heavy and bulky part, and ya gotta carry a hatchet to drive em in with. I've found wood stakes and drove em in with rocks before, but do they hold in a big blow?? Who knows, probably as good as a twist in... My son has some high dollar titanium stakes he scared up someplace, that are really cool, and light, and a hatchet ain't a bad idea anyway..

I have some custom made titanium corkscrews (long story, they were free though) that work ok in soft soil. Other times I beat in a 16" long piece of rebar with a ring welded on the end/side.

The consistency of the surface you're anchoring to is the big variable. You plane is lighter and has less wing, but the force that can be generated is still substantial. Parking orientation to the wind and the pull vector of the tie down ropes is just as important as the anchor you use. You want to achieve a side-load on the stake as opposed to a vertical load, so make sure you drive them in outboard several feet from your wing tie down.

Coyote Ugly had a post on here a few years back about getting caught in a big blow with only some surface cables to tie down to. He had photos of him hanging onto to his cub as the wind was picking it up.

I constructed these, as per the instructions. The only diferencce is the length of the pins is greater than the flyties. They have worked well for me at 10-15 different sites, and soil types. Rocky soil such as in central Texas poses issues for all of these. I don't know how to attach a .pdf to this post. EAA airveture site has these as a solution. with detailed instructions to make them. They are light enough, and pack so thinly, I leave them in the plane at all times, just so I have them if I need them. Try this link;

http://www.vintageaircraft.org/magazine ... iedown.pdf


KB

Yea, here's one of the photos Zane was referring to..


This plane just sat through the rest big blow, not even tied down, after it did a complete backflip, because it's wheels were in a kind of ditch spoiling the lift.



This one sat untied too through the rest of the blow....

I wouldn't draw too many conclusions based on the results of the AvWeb test. As others have mentioned, the load shouldn't be straight up from the anchor. I would guess that the greater the angle of the load vector, the better the multi-stake systems (claw, fly-ties) would fair.

Just as a data point, I used the Fly Ties (original version) as a permanent tie down setup for my old Citabria for two years. We had some pretty good wind storms during that time, and I never had any issues with the tie downs. Happy to be in a hangar now though!

Plus the test was done in soft Florida sand (I know the gentleman in the video had stressed that fact). I'm assuming they moved the test to fresh ground each tie down test??

I haven't done this, but I like the idea. Depends on the places you camp, but three good size (well made) nylon bags with good grommet holes, or straps. After you arrive, fill the bags with local rocks, gravel, or sand.

...another thing that helps more then you think, when in sandy areas (beaches), is to kick out holes for your main wheels to sink into and fill back around tires. Part of that is that your plane is more of a flat angle to the wind, and less lift.

AvidFlyer wrote:Was doing some reading on airplane camping and found this... look at all this crap..
http://www.skychickadventures.com/Displ ... .asp?ID=12

You would have to have a 206 just to carry all of that. Pretty funny when I realized it was a woman....sorry ladies

You are wrong!!!! You would have to have someone else that was real skinny and light following you in a turbo 206 carrying all that stuff while you led the way in your own bird.

How many of you guys go flying and camping for 3-4 months at a time? You'd need all that stuff too, and probably more. She's not asking you to carry it for her - she takes care of herself.

ASW.

And, much of the information given on tiedowns in that "chick's" web site is inaccurate.

The fellow who owned that Husky that jumped on the Bonanza is a friend of mine. The SUSTAINED wind may have been 35 knots, but everyone there (it happened at Appleton, NOT at OSH) at the time (and yes, he watched it happen) said there was a tornado associated with that thunderstorm. NOTHING is going to protect your airplane from a direct hit by even a "wimpy" tornado. And, by the way, he stated that, while the Claw did break, he didn't blame the Claw for this incident. He was pretty convinced that even had the airplane been tied down with other devices it would have resulted in the same damage.

I've used both the Claw and Fly Ties, and I think they're both pretty good. There are a couple of factors here that folks haven't considered:

1) Most of us want to take our tiedowns WITH us when we leave. There are GREAT tiedowns available (Duck Bill Earth Anchors come to mind), but it's a bitch to get them OUT of there, once theyre installed. I've used them and abandoned them. I carry a set as a backup for emergencies.

2) A very small, light airplane is just as apt to fly away in a wind as a larger heavier airplane. That Avid is light as a feather and still has a lot of wing. I'd put just as much tiedown on that as I'd put on my Cessna.

MTV

When you make it up my way, I can show you what I use. It's basically nylon rope about 1/8 size, rolls up real small. I have three pieces for wings and tail. Than I used presently .040 safety wire wound up into a figure 8 for 3 tent stakes, the steel ones that look like a nail, you can buy them real cheap with a plastic end on them, feed them throught the figure 8 and angle the stakes and than tie the rope to one of the figure eights and one end takes all three stakes held in place with the plastic ends. Something like that anyway. For the RV I took some scap aluminum and made a diamond out of it, about 1/8 thick and put 3 holes in it and did the same thing with a u bolt attatched to the plate in the middle. The rope would tie to the u bolt. I've had the kitfox in some real big winds and it held up real nice.\
I bought a hammer from REI that is plastic and light, works real nice for setting stakes.

If you can find a bucket and get it under the tail wheel helps some
I used 2 set of the claws with the 195 last summer and had one blow of about 70 mph
They held just fine, I think the main trick is to get it tied down tight and keep it there!!
Just a few jerks in a gusty blow will pull temp tiedown out real quick.
The duckbills are great if you have the space for the bar and hammer.
GT

I used a set of the auger style dog tie downs for 20 years (got them at Kmart), I welded the tops shut so the rope couldn't get out, and kept the points sharp. Rock and sand presented a problem. I've also not been shy about parking behind hangers or where ever if its more out of the wind then the designated tie down area. Last year I broke down and got some Fly Ties, and a light (composite handle) super sharp axe that makes an OK hammer, I like the Ties just fine, NOTHING is going to do it all, all the time. I've wanted to carry an axe for a while, they gave me the excuse, I also carry it when back country snowboarding in case I have to overnight

find out what your inshurance requires , use that , and when the wind wrecks your plane , rebuild more badass than before.

patrol guy wrote:I haven't done this, but I like the idea. Depends on the places you camp, but three good size (well made) nylon bags with good grommet holes, or straps. After you arrive, fill the bags with local rocks, gravel, or sand.

How many tons of rocks will those sacks hold?

How many tons will your wings lift with 60 MPH blowing over them?

That math doesn't work.

Gump