Don, Those titanium tie-downs look like a kind of tie-down I would like to get. Better, I would guess than the heavy duty steel ones I have. I'd probably spring for the heavy duty ones, even in titanium. ( http://www.airtimemfg.com/ )
------ Ed in Oshkosh Vintage Security, When it comes to tying down tail draggers, the situation gets even worse than with tri-gears. The on-the-ground position of tail draggers is the ideal TAKE OFF position. They'll be getting the maximum lift when the tail is held down. In an emergency like you describe, I'd let the tail fly as high as it wants while trying to set trim to high speed till the wings are VERY securely tied down. Once the wings are secure, you could try to force the tail down and secure it. If the wind is from the plane's tail quadrant, then holding down the tail WOULD be a good choice. Those triangular foam spoilers tied to the upper surface of the wings would kill the lift. Attaching those to someone else's plane would probably make you liable for damage to the fabric. Thought for emergencies: Plan 1: two 15' 2x4 boards for spoilers -- one guy holds each end of each board just above (but not touching) the wing, on edge -- the fifth guy runs around putting in tie-downs. If you couldn't reach back to the spar or the high point, doing it just above the leading edge would probably kill the lift. Plan 2: two 8' 2x4 boards for spoilers -- one guy for each board holds it in position as a spoiler while a third buy does tie-downs. With the tail NOT held down till the wings are secured, this might keep the plane from departing precipitously from the ground. Plan 3: One guy holds the tail --> UP <--! With the tail up on his shoulder, higher if he's strong, pointing the nose of the plane into the wind, the wings would dump lift at low or negative angle of attack. KEEP the nose into the wind. A second guy could work on tie-downs. I'm liking plan three best. ------ Worst case for any plane: poor tie-downs and trim set to landing, lowest flying speed. The plane is trimmed to maintain 60 mph and the wind is now 70, 80 or higher. The trim forces the tail down, slackening the tail tie-down rope and allowing the wings to a higher angle of attack and higher lift force. One or both wing tie-downs fail with the wings at high angle of attack and the plane is now at 20+ mph OVER it's trimmed speed -- it takes off and, oh yes, the tail is still tied down. This is the situation in the windstorm at my home airport I told you about. The Cessna 172 took off and flew up and over the 152 parked next to it, only mashing one of the 152's wing tips. But the 172 landed upside down on the plane tied past the 152. The inadequately tied down taildragger Cessna Ag plane pulled loose on its own and rolled up into its own ball. The Coupe also pulled loose from its tie downs. But the trim was set to high speed and it just jiggled and weathercocked into the wind, riding out the storm without moving more than a few feet from its tie down location. Apparently the wind never got over the 120 mph or so the trim was set for and the Coupe never got enough airspeed for the tail to be forced down. Tail high means no high lift to the wings and no flight. Good design, I'd say. ------ Thoughts of airplanes rolling by were in my mind at Sun-N-Fun in '93. I was airplane camping there and was by my plane when a big thunderstorm came by. My plane was secured well with controls locked together and forward, trim set to high, and I wasn't a bit worried about it. But my 6-man dome tent had only the Ercoupe baggage compartment worth of weight to hold it down, plus little tent stakes. I got in the tent myself, counting on my 250 lb.. to keep the tent from blowing away. The tent did flatten completely and fill with four inches of water in the next 20 minutes. I didn't even dare leave the leading edge of the tent's "airfoil" to rescue my Nikon camera set from the flood. I survived with moderate tent damage and the planes near me stayed put. Even the Nikon and my handheld aircraft radio survived. A few other planes were totaled when they came loose from their tie-downs. Ed Burkhead Peoria, Ill. Ercoupe N3802H, 415-D ------- Don Mack wrote: > > Take a look at http://www.airtimemfg.com/ for a set of tie downs. > > The tie downs are very light and strong, made from titanium. Comes with a > self containing bag. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "g w" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, April 23, 2000 2:07 AM > Subject: [COUPERS] EOC Fly-In/Tiedown/ > > > Hi all, I was just wondering if anybody knows how many planes are > expected, > > and what kind of tiedown would be neccesary. If they don't have the > number > > of tiedowns, I guess it would be neccessary to get a set of those spikes > and > > ropes they sell in the catalogs. I wonder what is the best kind? Maybe > > some nylon ratcheting tiedowns from Walmart would do the trick. Also, > what > > is the best day to come to see the most planes? I am going to fly out and > > back in one day as it is only 1.5 hour. Considering that I have never > flown > > my plane out of the traffic pattern, it should be quite a trip. PS It > tooks > > the feds only 3 weeks to replace my lost certificates. Glen Ward > > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________________________________ __ > ____ > > To unsubscribe from this list please send > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > Start an Email List For Free at Topica. http://www.topica.com/register > > > > __________________________________________________________________________ ______ > To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > _________________________________________________________ > Enlighten your in-box. http://www.topica.com/t/15 __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________ Enlighten your in-box. http://www.topica.com/t/15
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