Anyone using Slidedowns?

70 bucks for three ropes....:yikes::hairraise:....

Tying knots are ALOT cheaper.... And safer too...
 
My Scoutmaster taught us how to make those out of a stick and a piece of rope back in 1959. I've been making them for my own use ever since.
Wow! Did I miss an opportunity to make some extra money.
 
N1783M said:
Is anyone using Slidedowns, www.slidedown.com , to tie down their plane?
If so, do they work well?
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It's a straight up friction cleat, which means it needs to maintain tension to work. The only lines that don't stretch when they get wet are either really expensive and so strong that the wing will seperate before the line parts, or are chafe sensitive enough that a few good wind storms will go through them. The expensive line will last a bit longer before it chafes through, or cuts through the cleat if it's plastic. If you use any other line, it will lose tension in the rain, then slip.

I wouldn't use them.
 
Shepherd said:
My Scoutmaster taught us how to make those out of a stick and a piece of rope back in 1959. I've been making them for my own use ever since.
Wow! Did I miss an opportunity to make some extra money.
Click to expand...

Another way to do it I like better is to tie the lug crossways in the stand of the line using a clove hitch in the middle of it. Then take the working end through the eye and back down to the lug using it as a regular cleat to tie a cleat hitch onto the lug over the clove hitch. That way you aren't relying on line tension to maintain holding position.
 
I wouldn't use it. Two problems, and they're both related to tension. First is that it's a friction cleat, as mentioned. Lose tension, lose lock. But also, note the open hook on the end. Lose tension, and you can lose the hook. Aircraft move in the wind. You either tie them down so hard that you compress the gear and potentially damage the aircraft, or you tie reasonably and some bounces may unhitch the hooks or the friction lock.
 
Shepherd said:
My Scoutmaster taught us how to make those out of a stick and a piece of rope back in 1959. I've been making them for my own use ever since.
Wow! Did I miss an opportunity to make some extra money.
Click to expand...

I sure hope they weren't issued a patent for those things.
 
arnoha said:
I wouldn't use it. Two problems, and they're both related to tension. First is that it's a friction cleat, as mentioned. Lose tension, lose lock. But also, note the open hook on the end. Lose tension, and you can lose the hook. Aircraft move in the wind. You either tie them down so hard that you compress the gear and potentially damage the aircraft, or you tie reasonably and some bounces may unhitch the hooks or the friction lock.
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Never concern yourself with damaging the plane pulling on a single purchase. Actually, pulling it as hard as you can could serve as a test. If you can break something by pulling down on the tie down points with no more than your weight on a single purchase, the plane is not safe to fly. You can compress down on the gear, it doesn't mind a bit.
 
I have seen these hanging loosely under planes. And as mentioned above, some of the hooks were laying uselessly on the ground next to the tiedown.

Nope, I'll stick to the standard tiedown.
 
coloradobluesky said:
I use a figure 8 rock climbing knot. Beautiful knot. Fun to tie, beautiful to look at. Easy to undo. Doesnt slide or let go. Slide knots or anything slide related can slide and loosen. A lot of pilots use slide knots, but not me.

I use this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fig...Il0zrohtM:&usg=__mhiZ44gQA_zgIr6wxzdpIo2ZQIo=
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Nothing wrong with using a rolling hitch then securing it with a locking hitch. In fact it's what I typically use in a storm as it allows you to run out and take out the slack as the line gets wet and stretches, without having to unsecure it. It's just untie the lock, 'tug, tug, tug,' with the the bounces then toss the lock back on. You never get your fingers near a loaded pinch.
 
Yeah, but everyone can see I'm a cool rock climber too...you know, the Colorado thing.
 
I had similar tiedowns the first year i was at Oshkosh. I will never use tiedowns with open hooks like that again. First Oshkosh storm and the plane got rocking and rolling enough to allow the hook to bounce out of the tiedown rings. You don't want to tighten down so much that you can prevent that (and the soft ground just made things worse).
 
At Gastons, they now have some of the braided Yellow polypropylene rope for the tie downs.

The trick Greg Bockleman used to twist open the braid and thread the end of the rope through the core was pretty ingenious. Worked great as its own friction lock.
 
AggieMike88 said:
At Gastons, they now have some of the braided Yellow polypropylene rope for the tie downs.

The trick Greg Bockleman used to twist open the braid and thread the end of the rope through the core was pretty ingenious. Worked great as its own friction lock.
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The harder you pull, the tighter it gets. I don't see how it can ever slip.
 
AggieMike88 said:
At Gastons, they now have some of the braided Yellow polypropylene rope for the tie downs.

The trick Greg Bockleman used to twist open the braid and thread the end of the rope through the core was pretty ingenious. Worked great as its own friction lock.
Click to expand...

Yep, what you want to do to make it really secure and not form a pinch that can melt poly pro is to scrunch 9" of it like a Chinese finger cuff, stick the line in one side, down the 9" middle, and out the other side, then pull the skrunch up while pulling down on the tail of the line to make a nice eye splice that won't slip.
 
When you use a figure 8, you tighten it down by pushing the plane back.
 
Shepherd said:
My Scoutmaster taught us how to make those out of a stick and a piece of rope back in 1959. I've been making them for my own use ever since.
Wow! Did I miss an opportunity to make some extra money.
Click to expand...

Taught Line or Hurricane hitch. Don't even need the stick.
 
YGBSM!! The tornado at SnF taught me about tie downs. Stopped me from using my Boy Scout taughtline hitch anymore. My plane didn't roll any, but the hitch slid some on one side. Planes tied down the "normal" way (loop around and through twice, pull tight) held very well.
 
Two thing which work well,

1 Simple three strand line.

2 Ratchet straps with the hooks cut off and replaced with nice petzl carabiners
 
flyingron said:
I had similar tiedowns the first year i was at Oshkosh. I will never use tiedowns with open hooks like that again. First Oshkosh storm and the plane got rocking and rolling enough to allow the hook to bounce out of the tiedown rings. You don't want to tighten down so much that you can prevent that (and the soft ground just made things worse).
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Never use an open hook. Plane bounce in wind, hook pops out of ring, plane goes cartwheeling across the ramp. Watched it happen.

Open hooks can also get pulled straight enough to be worthless.

Nothing better than a good rope and proper hitches. Taught line hitch, or truckers hitch with a locking hitch. Go find a good Boy Scout handbook for knot tying, or marine nautical knots.
 
BillTIZ said:
Never use an open hook. Plane bounce in wind, hook pops out of ring, plane goes cartwheeling across the ramp. Watched it happen.

Open hooks can also get pulled straight enough to be worthless.

Nothing better than a good rope and proper hitches. Taught line hitch, or truckers hitch with a locking hitch. Go find a good Boy Scout handbook for knot tying, or marine nautical knots.
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A rigger's manual is good too.
 
I couldn't imagine using anything else

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James331 said:
Two thing which work well,

1 Simple three strand line.

2 Ratchet straps with the hooks cut off and replaced with nice petzl carabiners
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Thanks, 'Biners, why didn't I think of that. I like the rachets but have been looking for ones with a safety clip (had one come loose in high winds).
 
Huh. I've always used an inverted bowline. I'll have to try some of these other knots.
 
Cam or ratchet straps typically use nylon straps. Nylon suffers UV damage very quickly and turns to dust. It can lose something like a quarter of its strength in 12 months and it just keeps declining. I often see faded ratchet straps "holding" down airplanes and wonder just how much wind they would tolerate when it finally came. Many of those straps are only rated at 500 or 600 pounds, so two of them are theoretically good to resist 1200 pounds of lifting force, considerably less than many lightplanes are quite willing to generate at 60 MPH. Wings are designed to do that, after all.

And imported nylon straps might be even quicker to decay.
 
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