Pet Peeve

Stopped at a N. CA airport tonight for fuel on my way home. The AWOS was advertising the wind as 17G31 (all that I wanted in the spam can that I was flying!
As I approached the fuel island, I noted this poor RV, that had been left in the breeze to fend for itself! As you can see it was chained, but not very securely. The worst offense is (IMHO) NO CHOCKS! How is it that I see planes all the time that are not chocked? It is mind-boggling to me that someone can invest huge amounts of money in a plane, yet cannot see their way to spend $5.00 on some PVC to make a very nice set of chocks!

I've only been ramping planes for 35 years, so I'm new at this, but I NEVER put chocks on a tied airplane. It just adds to the problem. Either tie-down tightly with no slack or chock it. Not both. Same goes for parking brakes on little planes. Big planes, different story.

Huh?

Please explain "aerhed". Why would both be bad? Teach me what you learned in 35 years before I make the same mistake.

+1 for chocks

I've never been able to get three CHAINS tight at the same time. I usually hook up the two wing chains, push the airplane back until they tighten up, chock the wheels in an effort to keep them tight, then just do the best I can with the tail chain. I tied (chained) my 170 down on the ramp at KTSP for a year when I didn't have a hangar. Never had it jump the chocks once. BTW, there's a reason those thousands of wind turbines are here.

Please elaborate about doing one or the other, but not both. Really not quite sure how adding chocks to a tied down aircraft "adds" to the problem.

longranger said:

I've never been able to get three CHAINS tight at the same time. I usually hook up the two wing chains, push the airplane back until they tighten up, chock the wheels in an effort to keep them tight, then just do the best I can with the tail chain. I tied (chained) my 170 down on the ramp at KTSP for a year when I didn't have a hangar. Never had it jump the chocks once. BTW, there's a reason those thousands of wind turbines are here.

Click to expand...

I hear you! Trying to get a plane tightly secured with chains is near to impossible. I have used the same method as you described, and then used a rope to secure the tail.
And, as always...chocks in place!

I think it also helps to route that front tie down for the canopy cover in front of the intake on the bottom of the cowling to keep it from sliding off the canopy.

not RV specific but...

You at least want to tie them down...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHhZwvdRR5c

The most typical thing I've seen is a driver get out and throw a chock before tying down. This pins the airplane instead of letting it move around as you tie. This makes slack and the airplane can jump the chocks. Also any slack in the tie-downs allows more shock to the airframe obviously. The more slack, the greater the planes acceleration before it hits the end. Also chains suck because they have no stretch. Stretch allows mo' gradual deceleration when it hits, also a little preload to compensate for settling. Even if you tie first and then chock, you're denying the plane the ability to roll and settle against the ties. When big wind hits a plane, its mass and configuration make a huge difference, as does wind direction. Big planes just roll. Little planes more often go up, up, and away. Chocks don't hold you down, they just inhibit rolling. Its easy to keep a little plane from rolling, a haystring will do it. Its a lot harder to keep them from flying away. Of course, I could just be making this up to start a "primer" war, I know a lot of guys are real fond of their chocks. Always carry a piece of rope & a knife. If your stuck on chains, you can always use some rope on the ends.

I actually use ratchet tiedowns attached to the base of the chains. and do use chocks.

I've used ratchets too. They seem to be getting pretty common, but they are not as good as a decent piece of rope. The ratchet can fail, especially if its been battered around. I've seen the straps stretch in the rain until the hook is loose and can fall out. I've seen the straps rot and fail from UV & moisture. They're all china straps y'know. This is just me, but I like a nice braided nylon in 5/8 or 3/4. You don't really need that much strength, but they hold a hitch better and are easier to get knots out of. Use bowlines and overlapped half-hitches. If you need to pull tension, throw a running loop in the line and cinch it up before throwing your hitches. Works better than sleeping pills on overnighters.

My contribution - to tie or to chain

In response to some of you who have expressed problems with being able to get chains tight all the way around the plane, thought I would share a process that I learned while instructing in high wind areas for most of my flying life.

If using ropes
1. Tie down both Wings first - tight
2. Run the rope for the tail tie down through the tail tie down hook (if you have one)and pull on that rope until it is tight and secure with a double half hitch or similar slack-prevention knot. This also stretches the two tie down ropes on the wings so that they are nice and tight.
3. Taildraggers should follow the same procedure, but need to determine the best place to secure the tail tie down rope.

If using Chains
1. basically the opposite of the rope method.
2. Tie down (chain) the TAIL first - make it tight by pulling the aircraft foward and use chalks if necessary on the back side of the mains temporarily to keep the plane from rolling backward.
3. if you tie down the wings to a cable - place foot on underside of cable, lift up slightly with your toe to provide a bit of resistance in the cable, then secure the chains to the wing tie downs such that when you release the pressure from your foot under the cable, the chains are taught on both wings
4. If you are tieing down the wings to a cemented rebar loop or some other hard solid surface connector, you just have to do the best you can to get those chains as tight as possible, and may need to revert to the method for the ropes mentioned above (wings first, then roll back and chain the tail.

This procedure has worked well for me for years, and ensures that all three tie down points remain as secure as they can be all things considered.

Aerhed - intersting comments about the chock/tie down combo - I was always taught to do both, but may have to rethink that a bit. Sounds like this may also play into the decision between tying down on a cable vs. tieing down on a "hard point" if given the choice.

I had the FBO here for 11 years and it used to be strictly a tourist place before the boom. During high country season the tie-downs would fill up with about half being strangers. As a result I'd constantly have to prowl the tie-downs and sometimes do some little guy shuffling when we got stuffed with corp jets. I watched a cessna one day on the end that was really well tied with one-piece chocks on the mains (welded alum). The wind kept veering and twisting it every time the tail dipped and it was skidding its chocks around. When the wind backed off it left the plane twisted about 30 degrees with one wing down a couple feet all held in place by the chocks.

stress on the wings?

As I was reading this thread, the wind is gusting to 50+mph at my house. I watched the video of the 747 almost taking off and thought of small planes tied down at our airport GWS). There are not many, but I wondered how much stress is put on the wings as the wind blows them around.

I would give my plane a close look after it was tied down in high winds. As I was writing this, we had a gust to 68mph. wow.

Does anyone carry a wind speed indicator with them in their plane? Here is one I was looking at. http://www.crosse-technology.com/ea3010u.html