Tie down knots and ideas

[TomD]

Just back from Moab where the winds were gusting in the 40mph range on several afternoons and got thinking about my tie down method.

I secured the control surfaces per Jeremy's pedal-yoke-yoke-pedal technique along w/ sandwich clamps between flaps and ailerons and am pretty happy w/ that part.

Had the plane tied into the wind as much as possible.

My rope tying was a bowline to ground anchor and locking half hitches around anchored line. I was using very strong lines, but was wondering if anyone had a better idea on tie down knots. Plane did not seem to move with this but am always on the look out for better ideas.

TD

[pilot]

Tom, this is what I use, sounds like you do the same.

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=616323497001

I like to put an additional half-hitch or slipknot right under the last one.

[Mountain Doctor]

I like motorcycle tie downs.

[TomD]

Tom, this is what I use, sounds like you do the same.

Yep, locking half hitch.

Anyone from the windy Alaska contingent want to chime in here?

[UP-M5]

if the shore is soft, get 2 people and pull the tails of the floats up onto shore as far as humanly possible. install gust locks and tie off bow lines in each direction to prevent weathervaning.
if the shore is rocky, plan ahead to bring old tires or logs to put between the sharp rocks and the float bottoms. get the weight of the plane firmly on those tires so that the whitecaps don't raise the plane and allow the tires to move, causing the floats to be pounded into the rocks all night long. then tie it off to every twig of blueberry bush, alder, and shore rock that you can reach. plan on getting very little sleep.

[UP-M5]

truckers hitch works much better than the old standard locking half hitch that we were all taught. especially when the wind gets blowing.



also there is some thought up here that the factory wing tie down loops are a weak link. i think there was an occasion where one broke off in a storm. i think they are fine in most circumstances, but this one was badly corroded causing it to fail. and unless you pull yours out every annual to check for that, yours might be corroded too. lots of guys tie directly to the top of the wing strut up here.

[Undaunted]

truckers hitch works much better than the old standard locking half hitch that we were all taught. especially when the wind gets blowing.



I completely agree. A trucker's hitch is a much more secure knot. I have seen halfhitches work loose, especially with the cheap yellow poly line that many seem to like to use. Yellow polly does not hold a knot well.