After the disaster at Sun-N-Fun where the planes flipped all over the place, I paid attention to the stuff going on when the discussion turned to tiedowns. At the time, Aviation Consumer decided to test them after the big blow and get feedback too, from sun-n-fun attenders. So they did a tie-down comparison and basically the thrust of it was that The Claw was probably just slightly on top as the best. But, then came info about the Storm Force tie down, which purported to be better yet.
So I watched with interest because I really care about my plane and care not to have it thrashed at OSH, and every year... and I mean EVERY year, we get at least one storm going through that scares the heck out of me. (Remember that bozo with the stuck horn in camp scholler that sounded like a tornado horn that one year?) So I wanted to make sure that whatever I had, it was very very good, if not the best I could practically do.
Well, after Aviation Consumer did that review, a couple others that they hadn't heard about were made known to them. One of them was Abe's Tiedowns...one that I had never heard of. As it turns out, Abe's tiedowns were vastly stronger than the other offerings when they tested them.
You can go to Abe's Aviation site here, and see the Aviation Consumer review and test. http://www.abesaviation.com/ (actually, it looks like the link on their site has gotten mixed up but either google it or go to youtube here)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuYK_eEQ9c
Google: "Aviation Consumer's Tiedown Shootout"
The way the test turned out, they used an engine hoist to test them, and the Abe's were so strong that the engine hoist wouldn't do it without tipping over so they
hooked up a truck, and pulled to 1000lbs and the tires on the truck spun without pulling the tiedown anchors out. I was pretty impressed, and I'd never even heard of them before.
The Abe's set aren't cheap...I bought the deluxe-5 set that costs $305, but there are cheaper options if you wish. I got them last week and opened them up and
saw that they were really nice, made of stainless. They're going to be a little heavier in the 5-set that I got, than my claw set, but the anchoring hold is much much stronger. My thought is that if I were going somewhere for a simple overnight, perhaps I'd take the claw for weight savings if it were an issue (it's only about 3 lbs less). But sometimes you're traveling to a place like OSH. At OSH, you can't really just LEAVE if a storm is imminent. The rules don't allow it, and you can't just get up at
9pm and decide to bug out before a huge line of storms is coming. So for a show like OSH, I don't want my plane flying around into someone else's, or flipping over, and I'd gladly haul the best tiedown anchors I could get for such a show. I know, it's paranoid, but it did just happen at OSH.
So anyway, I thought I'd pass on the note, since I wasn't aware of them. I was impressed enough that I asked Abe's guy to send me some flyers that I can set down by the plane next to the tiedowns, to have something for people to grab if they are interested in such a thing. I know it might not be something you could get in time for OSH, unless you scramble, but for builders who don't have them, you may want to stop over and take a peek.
Just thought I'd pass that along.
Tim
--
Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD
So I watched with interest because I really care about my plane and care not to have it thrashed at OSH, and every year... and I mean EVERY year, we get at least one storm going through that scares the heck out of me. (Remember that bozo with the stuck horn in camp scholler that sounded like a tornado horn that one year?) So I wanted to make sure that whatever I had, it was very very good, if not the best I could practically do.
Well, after Aviation Consumer did that review, a couple others that they hadn't heard about were made known to them. One of them was Abe's Tiedowns...one that I had never heard of. As it turns out, Abe's tiedowns were vastly stronger than the other offerings when they tested them.
You can go to Abe's Aviation site here, and see the Aviation Consumer review and test. http://www.abesaviation.com/ (actually, it looks like the link on their site has gotten mixed up but either google it or go to youtube here)
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuYK_eEQ9c
Google: "Aviation Consumer's Tiedown Shootout"
The way the test turned out, they used an engine hoist to test them, and the Abe's were so strong that the engine hoist wouldn't do it without tipping over so they
hooked up a truck, and pulled to 1000lbs and the tires on the truck spun without pulling the tiedown anchors out. I was pretty impressed, and I'd never even heard of them before.
The Abe's set aren't cheap...I bought the deluxe-5 set that costs $305, but there are cheaper options if you wish. I got them last week and opened them up and
saw that they were really nice, made of stainless. They're going to be a little heavier in the 5-set that I got, than my claw set, but the anchoring hold is much much stronger. My thought is that if I were going somewhere for a simple overnight, perhaps I'd take the claw for weight savings if it were an issue (it's only about 3 lbs less). But sometimes you're traveling to a place like OSH. At OSH, you can't really just LEAVE if a storm is imminent. The rules don't allow it, and you can't just get up at
9pm and decide to bug out before a huge line of storms is coming. So for a show like OSH, I don't want my plane flying around into someone else's, or flipping over, and I'd gladly haul the best tiedown anchors I could get for such a show. I know, it's paranoid, but it did just happen at OSH.
So anyway, I thought I'd pass on the note, since I wasn't aware of them. I was impressed enough that I asked Abe's guy to send me some flyers that I can set down by the plane next to the tiedowns, to have something for people to grab if they are interested in such a thing. I know it might not be something you could get in time for OSH, unless you scramble, but for builders who don't have them, you may want to stop over and take a peek.
Just thought I'd pass that along.
Tim
--
Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD
