In the sailboat world dyneema has been adopted as a light weight line that is stronger than steel cable, some large sail boats have replaced their steel rigging with this stuff, weighs nothing and even floats, much easier to splice or re reg in the field, has anyone used this for rudder cables on a float plane?


https://www.knotandrope.com/products/am ... ue-dyneema

We just put all new cables on our floats this year. Pretty quick and straight forward process . Field repairs can be done with some spare cable and U clamps if needed. I think you wll run into UV issues down the road, the major issue might be stretch or elongation needing frequent adjustment in the beginning. Trying to make a double eye splice length to exact length taking into account the stretch factor would be another issue. I think it would be strong enough but not sure if the fiddle factor would be worth it. DENNY

Maybe a better application is tie downs....this product looks a lot stronger than nylon or hardware store ratchet straps.....

Dyneema has very poor abrasion resistance. It would have to be perfectly aligned with the pulleys and not drag anywhere. Even the ferrules on the belly could be a problem.

Pinecone wrote:Dyneema has very poor abrasion resistance. It would have to be perfectly aligned with the pulleys and not drag anywhere. Even the ferrules on the belly could be a problem.

Funny you mention this, I was debating re rigging a boat of mine in the stuff, decided a good proof of concept would be making a leash for my dog, it’s going to get dragged on pavement, go through bushes, get sun, maybe get a little chewed, overall over about 2yrs it’s gotten a little fuzzy, it’s lighter in color, but that’s about it.

I wonder how that would compare to the blocks on the plane





After 2yrs of dog duty

I'm building a Kitfox and brought this up on the build forum when I got to the step for installing rudder cables. The steel ones are very heavy and immediately thought of Dyneema or Spectra. Dyneema stretch is extremely low and strength is WAY more than nylon line can take

The opinions brought forward were:

UV protection: Except for a very short segment the cables are entirely within the fuselage, and you can buy sheathed Dyneema line

Lower strength than steel "wire rope": The line I was looking at was 900 lb instead of 1200. I don't know what kind of thigh muscles you folks have but the max tension in the cable is what ever you can put out and I can't put out 900 per leg.

Abrasion: So they need inspection like steel does.

I installed the stock cables but at some point after it's flying I may switch and just monitor them closely. It's about a 3lb weight savings (a half gallon of gas I get to bring every time I fly).

aftCG wrote:I'm building a Kitfox and brought this up on the build forum when I got to the step for installing rudder cables. The steel ones are very heavy and immediately thought of Dyneema or Spectra. Dyneema stretch is extremely low and strength is WAY more than nylon line can take

The opinions brought forward were:

UV protection: Except for a very short segment the cables are entirely within the fuselage, and you can buy sheathed Dyneema line

Lower strength than steel "wire rope": The line I was looking at was 900 lb instead of 1200. I don't know what kind of thigh muscles you folks have but the max tension in the cable is what ever you can put out and I can't put out 900 per leg.

Abrasion: So they need inspection like steel does.

I installed the stock cables but at some point after it's flying I may switch and just monitor them closely. It's about a 3lb weight savings (a half gallon of gas I get to bring every time I fly).

Lots of blue water boats are going this route

Skip through towards the last 1/4, he goes into chafe guarding it