What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Best knots for tie down ropes

I like a bow line on one side and a truckers hitch on the other. YouTube is your friend (if you can get over all the tracking and other **** they do)
 
Rolling Hitch

A year or two ago, Budd Davisson wrote in his Sport Flying magazine column about the rolling hitch. I tried it and found it to be a reliable, adjustable knot for tying down my airplane. I believe the Boy Scouts call this the Taut Line hitch. (In his typical fashion he expressed his disgust at the hodge-podge of knots on tie down ropes at a fly-in he attended.)
 
Last edited:
Rolling hitch wins! Especially if the ropes get icy — it’s easy to break the ice loose. Sometimes I’ll use a rolling hitch and use the excess for a half hitch or another rolling hitch.

A taut line hitch is different and not as good.

The Navy uses three half hitches.
 
Last edited:
Tie down knots

My father, an old sailor from the Navy, taught me you could bet your life on a rolling hitch. He also braided rope matts and did some unbelievable splicing of ropes on themselves. I glazed over when he started unraveling ropes and braiding them into circles. Those old sailors really WERE wizards with a rope and knots! The short story is the rolling hitch has been a wonderful knot whenever I have used it to tie down my plane.
 
Rolling hitch is great for tying up your horse, but a Bowline on the eye and a Taut Line hitch on the working end is the deal!

Makes for an easy adjustable tie down in 60 seconds. :cool:
 
Rolling hitch is great for tying up your horse, but a Bowline on the eye and a Taut Line hitch on the working end is the deal!

Makes for an easy adjustable tie down in 60 seconds. :cool:

But it looks like it’ll allow the knot to move if the plane pulls on it, no? What keeps the hitch from moving? I’ll admit, I’ll have to try it. I prefer the standard airplane knot, two or three times to back themselves up..
 
But it looks like it’ll allow the knot to move if the plane pulls on it, no? What keeps the hitch from moving? I’ll admit, I’ll have to try it. I prefer the standard airplane knot, two or three times to back themselves up..
Here's good explanation.

https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tautline-hitch

Or you could "cheat" and buy some of these.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/cambuckle-6.php

13-18501.jpg
 
Rolling hitch is great for tying up your horse, but a Bowline on the eye and a Taut Line hitch on the working end is the deal!

Makes for an easy adjustable tie down in 60 seconds. :cool:
The bowline is the king of knots. Load it to thousands of pounds and it releases like magic.
The taut line hitch should be called the airplane hitch, it works like magic. :eek:
 
Old sailors lore

If you can’t tie knot, tie a lot…

Just make sure to keep tying till you run out of rope. That’s the trick.
 
I was taught the midshipman hitch when I first learned to fly. If you have enough rope to do two of them about a foot apart and then terminate the second one with a loop instead of pulling the end of the rope through it will be there forever, but you can untie it by just grabbing the end and pulling.

I've use this for over 30 years but had no idea what it was called until today-Thanks internet!
 
Consider your choice of rope as well. I use a double braid polyester (samson) 3/8 inch diameter which has a breaking strength of 5600#. I put an eye splice in one end and a back splice on the other, then you can thread it through the ring and the tie down point and do a trucker's hitch.

==dave==
N102FM
 
Don't Even Consider That!


Oh dear God.

Please - NEVER use an open hook for tie downs. The hooks can jump out of the tiedown ring and they can open up. I've seen it.

As for knots, the knot needs to be snug to the tiedown ring so that there's zero possibility of it slipping. Zero as in none.

When conditions get severe, airplanes start bouncing around and that's when things fail. Keep your ropes tight, my friends.

Dave
 
Oh dear God.

When conditions get severe, airplanes start bouncing around and that's when things fail. Keep your ropes tight, my friends.

Dave
No need to get God involved here. However you make a good point in severe conditions, if your sky scooter moves or develops slack the hook could slip off. The biggest issue I see are cheap inadequate tiedown stakes or anchors. Another down side of these tiedown straps is weight. If you and your Pax are flying around with camping gear, you need to save weight. Rope is way lighter, will weigh less.

Truth is a really strong wind, thunderstorm, frontal system or other severe weather, you risk you plane out on soft ground with tiedown stakes in dirt. I find marine grade nylon rope to be best, and don't go too crazy with diameter. The weak link is likely the stake in the ground not the rope or strap.
 
Stretchy rope leads to bouncing. Bouncing leads to bent airplanes. Skinny ropes by themselves make great springs.

Nylon is too stretchy a material for tiedown ropes. A good polyester double-braid rope is considerably better, and a high-tech double braid marine rope like Endura Braid is an excellent alternative.

Dave
 
Back
Top