Tie Down Knots

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Wingsofglass

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Wingsofglass
I can't find it in the AIM. I was never a boy scout. I haven't spent much time on a boat. No where was it covered in my PPL or IR training. So can someone point me to a good video or diagram of how to tie those cool knots that everyone uses to tie down planes with? You know, the ones that you can undo quickly and have a foot or two of double rope between the wing and the knot? Due to a mistaken past career choice, I can tie a half windsor better than Gorden Gekko but that's about it for me and knots. Thanks.
 
I kind of like the timber hitch I learned in Boy Scouts.
 
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The problem is people so dependent upon our high tech society that they cannot tie a simple knot...

When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
 
Dr. O said:
The problem is people so dependent upon our high tech society that they cannot tie a simple knot...

When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
Click to expand...

i'll have to actually call for pizza delivery instead of order online
 
Bowline at the pavement end, taut line hitch at the aircraft end, and I usually do a half hitch further down with the tail of the taut line hitch.
 
> When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME ...
> what are you folks going to do?

Defending family & sanctuary from the unprepared. Probably not sweating
how the plane is tied down.
 
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bowline at pavement end, locking double half hitch on the airplane, secured with another locking double half hitch a few inches down the line


NineThreeKilo said:
Best knot is a bowline, it does not slip, yet it can be easily undone even if there was a huge amount of load placed upon it.

Good article on securing aircraft

http://www.caa.govt.nz/Publications/Vector/Vector_2001_Issue-5_Sept-Oct.pdf
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I've done a lot of sailing and the bowline is definitely the 'go to' knot - you can tie it on the genoa of a 65 foot sailboat, use it a whole season and untie it in 10 seconds - the knot does not jam and does not come untied. I used to use the bowline at both ends for tie down of an aircraft until an airport manager showed me the above knot. Trouble with the bowline is that its difficult to get the line you are tying to look nice and tight.. not really a functional problem but the locking double hitch will do this and is very easy to tie
 
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NineThreeKilo said:
Best knot is a bowline, it does not slip, yet it can be easily undone even if there was a huge amount of load placed upon it.
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Bowline is best for the end of rope attaching to the ground, but on the other end won't work because you can't tie it with the line tight. I invented my own 'hitch', which combines the locking nature of the bowline, but can be tightened. Your typical tie down hitch, no matter how many of them you do, are still slip knots.
 
Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me. Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold
 
The knot I use is a "stopper hitch". It is used on old timey boat davits when transferring the load from the winch to the cleat. Holds like a champ under tension but can be released with one hand.
 
Right now I am tying my Cherokee down on the grass with an old 150ft climbing rope. I just hate to cut it!

Modified bowline on a bight and a truckers hitch. I should make a movie. This airplane will be found as a pile of scrap still tied to the ground.

Best part, if I land in a tree there is the climbing rope to rappel to the ground.
 
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go to lowes or home depot and get a package of 1' tie down straps. don't get the ratchet type, get the self holding pull type that way you cant over tighten.
 
dell30rb said:
I use a rolling half hitch to secure a line to a piling - not sure it would work so well to tie to a tie down ring, maybe you are thinking of a different knot?

EAA has the scoop on knots http://bcove.me/wbfaz1s0
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I do the one mentioned in the EAA video. It's very simple, fast, and seems to be secure (never saw a plane move unless it was from a tornado).
 
patmike said:
go to lowes or home depot and get a package of 1' tie down straps. don't get the ratchet type, get the self holding pull type that way you cant over tighten.
Click to expand...

The problem with those is that they generally don't fully clamp onto the tie down ring. They're usually just S hooks on each end. So if the airplane rolls or any slack gets into the system it's easy for the hook to come off.

I've done this in fair weather, but I'm not sure that I'd trust it in every situation.
 
Dr. O said:
The problem is people so dependent upon our high tech society that they cannot tie a simple knot...

When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
Click to expand...

hop on the sailboat and take a vacation until the chaos is over
 
If a bowline is good enough for me to self evac from a chair lift, it's good enough for me as a tiedown. :lol:

A bowline on the anchor plus a couple of half hitches of the tiedown point on the airplane does the job.

Cheers
 
Dr. O said:
The problem is people so dependent upon our high tech society that they cannot tie a simple knot...

When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
Click to expand...

Good point. I'm ordering a solar powered knot-tying machine.
 
Rex Kramer said:
I do the one mentioned in the EAA video. It's very simple, fast, and seems to be secure (never saw a plane move unless it was from a tornado).
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+1

I do as many of them as the rope length will allow. Often three or four of 'em.
 
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Dr. O said:
When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
Click to expand...

What would I do? Turn off the Discovery Channel and the "History" Channel and recycle my tinfoil hat.

Really big CMEs happen a couple of times per decade, generally in clusters. Not one of them has done anything close to what you suggest. The worst was a cascading brownout in an already poorly controlled and overloaded power grid (which has also eaten itself without any external input), and some pretty aurorae much further south than usual.
 
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Dr. O said:
The problem is people so dependent upon our high tech society that they cannot tie a simple knot...

When the real deal solar burp happens and the Earth takes a head on CME wiping out the satellites, blowing out the magnetosphere like a child blowing out a candle and sending the power grid up in flames, what are you folks going to do?
Click to expand...

Go back to making my own 100LL. I mean you do know how to make that right? Or do you rely on the modern world to make that for you?

I mean if you don't know how, why care if your useless aircraft is tied down?
 
I was actually really happy to see that eaa video since this is how I was taught. So many people do it so many other ways. I suspect that allowing the rope to flex a little makes it less likely to break etc.
 
patmike said:
go to lowes or home depot and get a package of 1' tie down straps. don't get the ratchet type, get the self holding pull type that way you cant over tighten.
Click to expand...

Some of those rot in the sun in an amazingly short time. And some of them will snap under load; the cam's teeth can bite through the strap. The old aircraft seat belt buckles used that same idea and they were outlawed because they'd either slip at a bad time or rip the belt.

Dan
 
tonycondon said:
i'll have to actually call for pizza delivery instead of order online
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Call? With what? The telephone system uses electricity. And since the delivery guy's car uses gas that comes from electrically-driven pumps at the station, he won't be making deliveries for too long. The pizza ovens likely wouldn't even run without the electronic temp controls found in almost everything these days. The cash register and the debit/credit card machines would be dead.

The long-term loss of electrical supply would be disastrous to society as we know it.

You'd have to make your pizza over a campfire in the back yard. And quick, too, before the meat rots in the inoperative freezer or fridge.

Dan
 
kgruber said:
Modified bowline on a bight and a truckers hitch. I should make a movie. This airplane will be found as a pile of scrap still tied to the ground.
Click to expand...

Last year, some airport had one of these straight-line wind microburst events that tumbled a couple of aircraft around. There were pictures of a whole row of planes from a paved tiedown field that had just pulled the blocks right through the asphalt.

And then there are pics of a Cessna that remained dutyfully tied down but had the outboard wings bent upwards:hairraise:.
 
It's the EAA locking knot I was thinking of... Always thought of it as a rolling half hitch... But, whatever you call it is good.
 
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Dan Thomas said:
The long-term loss of electrical supply would be disastrous to society as we know it.

You'd have to make your pizza over a campfire in the back yard. And quick, too, before the meat rots in the inoperative freezer or fridge.

Dan
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It wouldn't be that bad. My brother routinely bakes his pizzas on his Big Green Egg over real charcoal. Bacon, ham and sausage is cured so it would keep pretty good. Fresh vegetables would be seasonal but I don't like green peppers and onions anyway. Mushrooms, beef or venison, and tomato paste could be canned, to store. Cheese wheels don't need to be in a fridge and that little bit of mold is probably not unhealthy. Not so disastrous at all. :idea::D

Barb
 
You can most certainly get a bowline tight, tie the whole knot and tighten it like you would adjust a tie (if that makes sense).
 
NineThreeKilo said:
You can most certainly get a bowline tight, tie the whole knot and tighten it like you would adjust a tie (if that makes sense).
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If you can adjust it like a tie, it's not a bowline. If you mean adjusting through the knot itself, what a PITA, way better ways to deal with tension.
 
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