how necessary is tie-down?

[prkaye]

When you travel to another airport and have to leave the plane parked outside for a night with good forecasted weather, how critical do you guys think it is to be able to tie the airplane down? I was recently at an airport where the available tie-down rings at the FOB were frozen into the ground. The sun melted them and freed them for me pretty quickly, but it got me wondering in general. I would assume it would take a pretty strong gust of wind before tie-down are really necessary, but perhaps this is naive.
Do you consider tie-down an absolute requirement whenever parking the plane outside overnight, regardless of expected weather?

[datsclark]

My concern isn't entirely with weather conditions but with other airplanes taxing around. The prop wash from another plane can be enough to move a small plane pretty far.

[prkaye]

The prop wash from another plane can be enough to move a small plane pretty far.

You mean causing it to roll on its wheels, or picking it up and throwing it? I have some small lightweight wheelchocks which I made out of alum angle which should address the rolling concern.

[roee]

Originally Posted by prkaye

[snip]I would assume it would take a pretty strong gust of wind before tie-down are really necessary[snip]

A pretty strong gust can be created by the prop wash or rotor wash of nearby aircraft not observing good taxi procedures.

[roee]

Originally Posted by prkaye

You mean causing it to roll on its wheels, or picking it up and throwing it? I have some small lightweight wheelchocks which I made out of alum angle which should address the rolling concern.

If it comes from a cross wind direction, pick up a wing and flip you over.

[Sig600]

I worked as a ramp rat in high school. There are some serious clowns out there with airplanes, and it only takes one to do some serious damage to your airplane. Some notable reasons I remember to tie down your airplane...

Jet exhaust that tossed a full size dumpster a good 50' into a row of light singles, as well as pushed several back agaisnt their tie downs
G-IV that clipped two light twins (would've pushed them into their neighbors without tie downs)
Piper Malibu that came up on the power, spun a 195 (wings only tied down) into it's neighbor
Bonanza that spun a Citabria in it's tie down, but it WAS tied down
Freak thunderstorm that flipped a Cherokee (not tied down) over on top of a Mooney. Gust of wind basically aileron rolled it over.
Same thunderstorm flipped an Globe Swift that only had it's wings tied down. Flipped it up on it's nose, and the stress broke a tie down on one side allowing it to go all the way over onto the tail.


There are some others I can't think of. In several cases the owners (or their insurance) tried to sue the FBO, in every case they lost, citing the owners responsibility to ensure the security of their own airplane. IIRC the airplanes that WERN'T tied down were held liable for the damage to their neighbors.


It 2 minutes of your time... tie it down.

[John Clark]

Phil,
Here is a good read on the subject of tie downs. At this shindig, it is manditory and they know quite a bit about parking airplanes, propwash, and thunderstorms.

http://www.airventure.org/planning/tying_down.html

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

[Bavafa]

Plus, is there any forecast weather that guaranteed to be as forecasted?

[L.Adamson]

I've seen an RV do a near 180 degree reversal. I wouldn't feel good at all, without tie downs overnight.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[erich weaver]

on a related topic, it's not always enough to just tie down. After a wind event at my airport, I noticed that every tricycle geared RV on the ramp (Cirrus too) had their nose wheel cocked over at maximum deflection, even though they were still tied down and most had chocks under their main gear wheels. Thats got to be tough on them rocking back and forth with the nose wheel at 90 degrees. A third chock on the nose wheel takes care of the problem.

Erich