Is anyone using Slidedowns, www.slidedown.com , to tie down their plane?
If so, do they work well?
If so, do they work well?
Is anyone using Slidedowns, www.slidedown.com , to tie down their plane?
If so, do they work well?
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.
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.
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.
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=
Yeah, but everyone can see I'm a cool rock climber too...you know, the Colorado thing.
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.
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.
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.
Is anyone using Slidedowns, www.slidedown.com , to tie down their plane?
If so, do they work 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
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).
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.
I sure hope they weren't issued a patent for those things.
Two thing which work well,
1 Simple three strand line.
2 Ratchet straps with the hooks cut off and replaced with nice petzl carabiners