Best tie down straps?

[ronschreck]

Originally Posted by ExtraKatana

For Ramp use......Polyester Rope as mentioned.
For field Use.......I use a tie-down the Cessna 150 club taught me about 15 years back.
Per Tie-Down outlet: Use (3) 1-foot lengths of chain hooked to a "Threaded Quick Link." Nail 1' tent stakes at the end of ea. chain outward on a 45 degree pointing away from each other. Tie a nylon rope to the Quick Link and attach to Tie-Down eyelet. The whole setup will cost less than $30.

It was good enough to hold my plane plus a cub that was mating with my 6A at Rain-N-Pain in 2011. The tornado broke both the wings on the cub and pulled loose every puck-style tie down the cub was attached to. Said Cub blew approx. 50 ft. backwards into my plane and subsequently ended up on my leading edge. The tie-down method I described held us both without pulling loose. After walking the grounds after the tornado, I noticed the Claw seemed to hold in almost every situation also.

Use that Orange Screw and chances are you will be renting tie-downs at OSH (if that is where you are going). The AirVenture web-site pertaining to Aircraft Camping Guidelines says "Dog Leash tie-downs are Prohibited."

I made several similar kits for our Team after the Sun-n-Fun tornado. I had a personal set which I used during the tornado and my plane only sustained a bit of damage from pieces of other airplanes blowing into it. Doggie screw-in tie downs failed miserably and a few Claw tie downs broke. The Claw dealer replaced broken tie downs free of charge. I don't make these any more but feel free to copy the design if you like. Ditto the comments about using good rope and knots and no slack in the tethers.

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by ronschreck

....

Neat...

How long are the nails? And what does the PVC tube do?

[ronschreck]

Originally Posted by az_gila

Neat...

How long are the nails? And what does the PVC tube do?

The spikes are Coleman tent stakes from Walmart. About 10-inches long. The tube is a container for the stakes so they won't puncture the canvas travel bag.

By the way, I found a picture I took of one of the Claws that broke during the SnF tornado:

[Kyle Boatright]

EAA vintage has plans for a nice set of tie-downs. They spec 18" stakes, and offer a lot of hold-down force. Plans are in the middle of this article:

http://eaavintage.org/wp-content/upl...s-Aug-1993.pdf

[ExtraKatana]

The EAA article very much resembles the Puck design I saw fail in several instances at R-N-P. It uses metal as opposed to the Delrin puck. The spacing and insertion of the stakes looks almost identical however. Did not work in FL. ground in 2011 is all I know.

I think I will replace my chains with the cables. Thanks for the idea Ron! What about the Scotch Brite Pad???

[RV6_flyer]

There are a number of videos of tests on different aircraft tie downs.

I will let you watch the videos to determine what you think is best.

Aviation Consumer Tiedown Test

Aviation Consumer Tiedown Shootout

Storm Force Aircraft Tie Downs

[TCONROY]

We use The Claw for serious overnight tie-down of our RV-7 and haven't had any issues in moderate wind conditions. Be sure to look at control locks too - I got the Ultimate Gust Lock from an advertiser here and while its kind of a pain to install, it works extremely well and folds nicely.

For day trips at airports with no chains/ropes, I always carry these Slidedowns in the airplane. They are quick to install, lightweight, and strong.

[ERushing]

Ron, What's the purpose of the scotchbrite? Cleaning the nails before putting them in the bag?

[ronschreck]

Originally Posted by ERushing

Ron, What's the purpose of the scotchbrite? Cleaning the nails before putting them in the bag?

Exactly!

[Bluelabel]

Originally Posted by TCONROY

For day trips at airports with no chains/ropes, I always carry these Slidedowns in the airplane. They are quick to install, lightweight, and strong.

Bought a set at KOSH last year. Love them. I use them everywhere we go.