Question about tie downs

[Dream to fly]

The plane is ready to pickup but the wife has other plans than for me to fly it home when we pick it up, so I am having to leave the plane outside for a short period of time in North Dakota. The winds are supposed to be 15 to 20 mph and I'll need to tie the plane down.  I was wondering would ratchet straps work or is there a better way?  Ratchet straps just seem easy. 

[Oldguy]

If possible, have it put inside for the time it will be sitting there. The extra $$ will be insurance well spent. I often hear of damage not by the plane moving but by it being in the way of other things driven by the wind. Kind of like this....

 

If that is not possible, three straps would do the trick.

 

p.s. And this F was sold a couple of years ago. NDH in the ad.

[peevee]

I use ratchet straps, they seem to work fine.

The argument could be made that they don't stretch like rope but it's never bothered me for a few days.

Don't forget to lock the controls too. I'm a seatbelt kind of guy.

[201er]

21 minutes ago, Dream to fly said:

The plane is ready to pickup but the wife has other plans than for me to fly it home when we pick it up, so I am having to leave the plane outside for a short period of time in North Dakota. The winds are supposed to be 15 to 20 mph and I'll need to tie the plane down.  I was wondering would ratchet straps work or is there a better way?  Ratchet straps just seem easy. 

While traveling, for up to a few days, I've left my plane parked on the ramp with nothing but chocks with winds as much or greater than that. It's really just thunderstorms and hurricanes you gotta worry about. Under 15mph, I just chock the nose. 15-30, chock the mains. Tie down for when it's more than that.

[Dream to fly]

19 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

If possible, have it put inside for the time it will be sitting there. The extra $$ will be insurance well spent. I often hear of damage not by the plane moving but by it being in the way of other things driven by the wind. Kind of like this....

 

If that is not possible, three straps would do the trick.

 

p.s. And this F was sold a couple of years ago. NDH in the ad.

After what I just went thru to get it airborne again I am asking for a hanger.  LOL   I might even bubble wrap it too.  I forgot that others might not tie theirs down. 

[Oldguy]

27 minutes ago, Dream to fly said:

After what I just went thru to get it airborne again I am asking for a hanger.  LOL   I might even bubble wrap it too.  I forgot that others might not tie theirs down. 

The Mooney is still flying and the Cessna was just deregistered in 2013. This pic is the result of a tropical storm along the Texas coast in the early 1980's.

[gsxrpilot]

Here's an updated picture for you. This is KDTO just north of Dallas, TX this week.

[Dream to fly]

Just now, gsxrpilot said:

Here's an updated picture for you. This is KDTO just north of Dallas, TX this week.

I would just ball up and cry.   Put me in the nut house cause I would be a vegetable.

[chrisk]

Just now, gsxrpilot said:

Here's an updated picture for you. This is KDTO just north of Dallas, TX this week.

Notice N67639 is still tied down.  Sometimes nothing helps. 

My opinion is you should always tie your plane down.  That said, I agree with 201er.   Wheel chocks are enough for normal conditions. Jet blast, thunder storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes are not normal and even a tie down may not be enough.  

 

[gsxrpilot]

You can do a google search for the images from this week's storm in Denton, TX. The weather service reported max winds at 60 mph. The tower posted a picture of 94 knots on their wind meter. It moved some jets around on the ramp and blew out some massive hangar doors.

[xcrmckenna]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

Cables and chains... TX tiedowns.

Ratchets and nylon webbing can work.  They are usually sensitive to UV light, long term.

Getting them long enough to be useful can be a challenge.

watch where the heavy parts land so they don't strike any heat metal...

90kt winds and being stored outdoors.... often comes with ice chunks falling.

Best regards,

-a-

[Mark89114]

I have wondered about the tensile strength of straps....I use them but they have a load number on them and I bought the largest practical size I could, maybe about 1" wide?  I honestly don't think the limit number was that high.  Seems to me like a high power storm would leverage across the airplane and break them....kind of like the pictures we see.  Buyer beware I guess. 

[EricJ]

The usual warning I hear about ratchet straps is that the end hooks can straighten out under load and basically let go, or just fall out if they get shaken too much.    I think Sporty's or someplace sells them with heavy-duty ends with carabiner-style keepers.   

[cliffy]

I once watched a 727 in Las Vegas get blown around in a circle as a T storm passed by 70 KT winds  It was chocked 3 ways!

Sometimes no matter what you do, how strong it is, nothing works.

Many airports have regulations mandating the tie down of airplanes when parked over night. Ours does. 

[RobertGary1]

I'm outside all the time. That wind is 100% no problem what-so-ever. Make sure you lock the controls. Any straps will do, even chains. The biggest concern is how the planes around you are secured. A 30 mph wind isn't close to picking up a Mooney but can toss a Cessna.

 

-Robert

[N201MKTurbo]

I was parked in SD once and the wind was really blowing. The Cessna next to me on the ramp was flying off the ground on the tie down chains. My Mooney wasn't even wiggling.

On the flip side, a thunderstorm came through Tucson and tore my Mooney loose from the chains. It broke the chains! The plane traveled about 200 yards and was stopped by a King Air. I couldn't find any damage to the Mooney. The Mooney scratched the prop of the King Air with its elevator.

[M20F]

Former Montpelier ND representing.  I use straps, chocks, and control lock and have never had an issue.  

[201er]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

The usual warning I hear about ratchet straps is that the end hooks can straighten out under load and basically let go, or just fall out if they get shaken too much.    I think Sporty's or someplace sells them with heavy-duty ends with carabiner-style keepers.   

For my normal tie down I use ratchet straps cause I'm lazy. I left the original hooks but I slipped stainless steel carabiners through the loop side of the hook and thus bypass the S hook part. I also put a thick cushion of duct tape on the inside top of the carabiner hook not to cause too much wear against my tie down rings. It only takes me a few seconds to get these on and off and I can adjust the length easily. They are about 1" wide and rated to something like 800lbs each. They've been outside in the sun for about 5 years now and only starting to show signs of wear/fading. I'll probably need to change them in a year or two. If I know there is a tropical storm coming, I might add a set of regular ropes in addition to them. I certainly do recommend them for the long run.

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I was parked in SD once and the wind was really blowing. The Cessna next to me on the ramp was flying off the ground on the tie down chains. My Mooney wasn't even wiggling.

On the flip side, a thunderstorm came through Tucson and tore my Mooney loose from the chains. It broke the chains! The plane traveled about 200 yards and was stopped by a King Air. I couldn't find any damage to the Mooney. The Mooney scratched the prop of the King Air with its elevator.

It seems like everybody around here uses chains, including the place I rent from, and I just wince tying down with them, and I double-wince when I see airplanes chained loosely.   Straps or ropes will stretch a bit and absorb some of the energy if the airplane gets blown around a bit, but a loosely chained airplane just gets all of the energy in an impulse to the tiedown when it hits the end of the chain slack.   I'm glad the chain broke in your case (rather than damaging the airplane), but I shudder a bit every time I think of an airplane hitting the end of the chain slack in a storm.  I suspect that sort of thing is what can make wing tank sealant crack in a Mooney.

Edited May 24, 2017 by EricJ

[N201MKTurbo]

39 minutes ago, EricJ said:

It seems like everybody around here uses chains, including the place I rent from, and I just wince tying down with them, and I double-wince when I see airplanes chained loosely.   Straps or ropes will stretch a bit and absorb some of the energy if the airplane gets blown around a bit, but a loosely chained airplane just gets all of the energy in an impulse to the tiedown when it hits the end of the chain slack.   I'm glad the chain broke in your case (rather than damaging the airplane), but I shudder a bit every time I think of an airplane hitting the end of the chain slack in a storm.  I suspect that sort of thing is what can make wing tank sealant crack in a Mooney.

I think everybody would like to use chains. We are lucky here in AZ because we don't have rust. There are plenty of airports in the world with chines that are so rusty that you must wash your hands every time you touch them. That is why they use ropes.

I wouldn't worry too much about the plane slamming against the chains. When they get enough wind under the wings to lift the plane it most likely lifts the plane with just enough force to straighten the chain. In the case of the thunderstorm, all bets are off and just be glad the plane survives.

[M20F]

Chains dont flex and can pull the anchors out or wreck your jack points.  I like ropes or straps that will have some give.  

[Hank]

I keep a set of ropes in the plane with eye splices on one end, to put in the ground loop. Then I tie the loose ends to the plane. When  needed, I put bungees around the yokes, holding the center arms to each other (guaranteed not to attempt takeoff that way!). I've put bungees from the lower seat rail to the right yoke to hold the elevator once, when Sun n Fun turned into Tornado n Fun.

Out west, many airports have chains, and some have pierced metal tie down areas with chains. 

[bradp]

I went to REI and bought nylon webbing that is rated to something like 3000#.  Three of them have sufficient give and sufficient strength to keep the plane tied down.

 

[L. Trotter]

Last month I tied down with the standard ratchet straps you would get at any automotive/box store  plus wheel chocks in Salt Lake City (South Valley Regional, U42). The lineman came out and replaced my straps with rather thick industrial type straps (with large ratchets) that they provided. I was told that they have had to many ("multiple") failures (and damaged planes) using the "cheep straps". They were not aware of any straps failing on a Mooney, but they did not care. Airport policy....No standard straps.

Although i did not have them with me at the time, I made a nice set of tie downs using 5/8-8 strand nylon rope with climbing quality carabiners. I did some back-braiding to make loops around the carabiner. They work well and far exceed the strength required. I will post some pictures. total cost <100 for all 3 tie downs.