Fly with tie-down/Jack points removed?

[Jason 1996 MSE]

My plane has the Lasar combo tie-down/jack point bolts.  Does anyone fly with the tie-downs / Jack points removed and just hand tighten them in when you need to tie down?   I’m usually hangared so tie down infrequently.   I haven’t removed them yet as the heads are stripped so it’s going to be a fun job. 

[Slick Nick]

That exactly why Mooney designed them to be removable. I rarely use tie downs, so I just keep them with my pitot cover, cowl plugs, etc. Super quick and easy to screw them in when needed. Most ramp staff is even familiar with this and I’ve had them do it for me after passing them through the storm window. 
 

I should add that this is with the stock tie down loops. If they get stuck thanks to some tight tie downs pulling on them it’s enough to stick a screwdriver through the eye and loosen them. 

Edited Sunday at 03:25 AM by Slick Nick

[MikeOH]

@Slick Nick the OP has the Laser aftermarket combo tiedown/jackpoints.

 I have left mine (Laser) in for the seven years+ that I’ve had the plane. If I end up in Leavenworth because of it I will let you know 

[EricJ]

I have the lasar jack point/tie downs and just leave them in as well.    You need a tool to remove them and I wouldn't tie the aircraft down with them only hand-tight.   That said, if you want to remove them and replace them as needed I think you just need an allen wrench to do that, iirc.

[IvanP]

Is there a reason you want to remove them for flight? I do not think that they affect the flight characteristics of the plane in any appreciable way. As far as I know, the main purpose of the LASAR jack point/tiedown combo design is to eliminate the need for removing the factory tiedowns and replacing them with jack points when you need to jack up the plane. I had the LASAR combo installed on my E model for all 15 years I owned it did not remove them once. Just make sure you have narrow jacks to avoid bending the tiedowns when lifting the plane. Meyer's jacks are too wide on top, Alpha jacks work fine. 

Replacing the factory tiedowns with LASAR combo was one of the first things I did when I bought my current plane. Someone managed to crossthread one of the factory tiedowns and I had to helicoil the hole to corectly install the new combo. I would not be remowing the tiedowns unless absolutely necessary. Hand-tight only without using Allen wrench may not be a good idea. I can see someone forgetting to remove them before take-off and if they are not tight enough they could depart the plane in flight. Probably would not cause any damage, but they are not free to replace. 

[ArtVandelay]

I always remove the factory eyebolts as I rarely tie down outside. I don’t see how you can cross thread them if you use your hands, they turn easily and any resistance would cause me to stop.

[Echo]

Laser combo.  They are never removed.

[Rwsavory]

11 hours ago, Jason 1996 MSE said:

My plane has the Lasar combo tie-down/jack point bolts.  Does anyone fly with the tie-downs / Jack points removed and just hand tighten them in when you need to tie down?   I’m usually hangared so tie down infrequently.   I haven’t removed them yet as the heads are stripped so it’s going to be a fun job. 

I have the LASAR combo as well. Leave them be, especially if removing them will be difficult. 

[Fritz1]

The Lasar jackpoint tiedown combo does not cause any perceivable drag, leave them in, I jack my plane up if it does not fly for more than a week to take the weight off the donuts, Lasar jackpoints are perfect for that

[IvanP]

10 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

I always remove the factory eyebolts as I rarely tie down outside. I don’t see how you can cross thread them if you use your hands, they turn easily and any resistance would cause me to stop.

You would think that anyone working on a plane would avoid such mistake. Well, s&%# happens and some fool managed to do it on my plane. Helicoil was an easy fix, though. 

[N201MKTurbo]

I have never removed the tie downs on either of my Mooneys. I would probably get another 15-20 KTS if I took then off.

The drag has to be way less than mounting a camera on your plane….

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, IvanP said:

You would think that anyone working on a plane would avoid such mistake. Well, s&%# happens and some fool managed to do it on my plane. Helicoil was an easy fix, though. 

One of the tie-downs on my airplane is heli-coiled, so that happened to mine somewhere along the way.    I only noticed it because the helicoil sticks up above the block inside the wing and I saw it during an inspection.

[Hank]

16 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

I have never removed the tie downs on either of my Mooneys. I would probably get another 15-20 KTS if I took then off.

The drag has to be way less than mounting a camera on your plane….

The factory-style tie downs were in both wings when I bought my Mooney in 2007. I know I've taken them out briefly once or twice between annuals (maybe?).

I've not seen my jack points in several years, but found a socket head cap screw works pretty well--the jack goes right into the hex hole.

[N201MKTurbo]

57 minutes ago, Hank said:

The factory-style tie downs were in both wings when I bought my Mooney in 2007. I know I've taken them out briefly once or twice between annuals (maybe?).

I've not seen my jack points in several years, but found a socket head cap screw works pretty well--the jack goes right into the hex hole.

Yes, I do remove them to jack the plane.

[M20F-1968]

There is no need to take them in and out.  A reason not to do that is that the threaded hole extends into the tank and is sealed by PRC and the threaded shaft.  (That may be because I have Monroy extended tanks - that aspect and placement I have forgotten.)

[bcg]

I leave mine in, I think that's kind of the point of them.  They're very sleek, I don't think they account for any appreciable drag.

[Vance Harral]

1 hour ago, M20F-1968 said:

A reason not to do that is that the threaded hole extends into the tank and is sealed by PRC and the threaded shaft.  (That may be because I have Monroy extended tanks - that aspect and placement I have forgotten.)

In our stock M20F, the threaded hole does not extend into the tanks.  This does indeed seem to be specific to the Monroy tanks.