I was looking at these: I was looking at these: https://bushliner.com/store/

But the price is eye-popping.

Has anyone 3-d printed something that would do the same thing? Or maybe jammed a dowel in there?

...or just stick your finger in the eye like I’ve been doing for the last 20 years?

Years of horsemanship taught me to be careful about doing anything that binds my fingers or hands — never put your hand inside a looped leadrope, for instance. I do grab the eye, but I worry that sticking a finger through it puts me one slip away from a broken finger and a dislocated shoulder or elbow. We all decide to be cautious in our own particular places, I guess.

Those look like serious overkill to me.
I think maybe I'd just tie a loop of wang leather through the eye to grab ahold of, or a loop of nylon strap.
Or just carry a short piece of broomstick.

I have taken advantage of these handles and found them to be very helpful. As tires get bigger and bigger on many of our bush planes, the potential for injury from falling while going up or down during the fueling process becomes more serious. $275 is really cheap insurance from an injured back, blown out knee, or broken leg or hip. During the summer it may seem easy to climb up as we have always done it for years. But add in some snow, water or mud and the 5-7 feet to the top of the wing (depending on how your airplane is equipped) becomes more of a challenge. If you are wearing gloves, it's even more critical to have a good hand hold. Just my .02 I wish I could install them on my 170.

Jughead

I wonder how much drag these handles produce? They do look sexy.

And as my daughter enjoys telling me I am one broken hip away from the old age home....

hotrod180 wrote:Those look like serious overkill to me.
I think maybe I'd just tie a loop of wang leather through the eye to grab ahold of, or a loop of nylon strap.
Or just carry a short piece of broomstick.

Hey to each his own...

I clip a locking carabiner to mine and Jumar up a short length of 10.5mm climbing rope, daisy chained to my rock harness. Good option for not stressing my legs out standing on that tenuous strut step.

StuBob wrote:Has anyone 3-d printed something that would do the same thing? Or maybe jammed a dowel in there?

I wouldn’t trust my safety to a 3D printed part that has been exposed to a few seasons of weather, UV sunlight and freezing - unless it was a carbon print and those are so expensive you would not be saving much.

duplicate

You guys DO have steps and handles on your boot cowls, I assume????

If not, you need to install those FIRST. I've fueled Cessnas without ladders literally thousands of times, often wearing hip boots or bunny boots. All had steps and handles.

MTV

I’ve found that wrapping my hand * around * the lifting ring (without threading any fingers through it) works reasonably well.

Not perfect but it’s worked over the years on floats.





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That’s what I’m doing now. Those handles would be better, but not $275 worth of better, I don’t guess.