"PilotMan" (Pilotman)
03/24/2016 at 13:42 • Filed to: None
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"PilotMan" (Pilotman)
03/24/2016 at 13:42 • Filed to: None | 0
| 29 |
Next month I’ll be flying down to Ibex (Tule Valley UT) for some airplane camping. I’m renting a 172 with a $2,500 damage deductible and I really want to make sure that the airplane is secured with good tie downs.
I’ve been out at Ibex when a Microburst blew through with 65MPH winds and I’ve also danced with the wicked dust devils that can rise up in the desert and eat airplanes for lunch (think Mad Max). I will be parking the airplane with some distance from camp to keep the errant four wheeler or motorcycle far away.
I will need to bring my own tie downs that will work best with the hard pan soil. The hard pan is essentially dried clay and salts, it is tough stuff. It is as harder than asphalt and when it gets wet is doesn’t change much and can still support vehicle tires without much displacement at all.
For those who might know.
Should I secure the airplane with ropes or ratchet straps?
Which design utilizing stakes and anchors would be easy to construct while also being very reliable? Think Home Depot/Lowes supplies. I briefly ordered “The Claw” system on Amazon until I watched some videos of the system failing at 175 Ibs.
Please take note that I don’t want to haul 100 pounds of tie down equipment in a fully loaded Cessna 172.
UPDATE:
I’ll probably make three of the following:
HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 13:50 |
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It sounds like you may have 2 dissimilar goals of high security and low weight. The easiest and safest thing to do would be to bury your anchors and space them far apart. Something like a really heavy rock wrapped with nylon webbing with trenches dug so that you can run a rated line out a ways. like so. Then you can use all lightweight stuff and it should be pretty windproof. This is how we dig in anchors for houseboats at lake powell and its solid in even crazy winds. Keep the angles low
TheRealBicycleBuck
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 13:50 |
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No advice here, but it’s good that you are thinking about it. A friend of mine was hospitalized when the 172 he was tying down was flipped by the winds from an approaching storm front and landed on top of him.
McMike
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 13:51 |
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Just set the parking brake and leave it in gear.
CalzoneGolem
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 14:00 |
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Nylon web is light just gotta dig up your own rocks to use on site.
Master Cylinder
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 14:00 |
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Buried anchors are simple, light, and cheap. It’s more work, but that’s probably what I would do. Otherwise, maybe those auger-style anchors that drill into the soil could provide adequate tie-downs.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> CalzoneGolem
03/24/2016 at 14:02 |
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Aye, if you want a good anchor, its not going to be a light anchor...might as well use some of the heavy ones on site.
Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 14:09 |
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Double check that you’re allowed to land on an unimproved runway as most rentals are specifically not allowed (due to insurance reasons) and you might not actually have any coverage at all. That deductible might only count on a improved/maintained runway. Not trying to be Debbie Downer, but I’ve proposed doing a similar thing myself and that’s the info I was told by the owner of the flight club. Might be cool with your club, in which case I’m jealous and take a lot of pictures.
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CalzoneGolem
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 14:56 |
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Alternately you could dissemble the plane and bury the engine block.
Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 15:01 |
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1/2"x2' rebar sections, a maul and rope. Drive the rebar at an angle and you are set.
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 15:05 |
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As a kid, my friend’s dad would bring a hammer drill and drill into the sandstone. He would drill 1" holes and use cement from stakes. Doing that in Lake Powell today would probably not be encouraged.
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 15:16 |
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I was thinking something more like this. Remember a Cessna 172 only weighs about 1,700 pounds with full fuel.
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PilotMan
> Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief
03/24/2016 at 15:21 |
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Ibex is an FAA-approved landing site and is about as safe as a landing strip can get. It’s a lot of fun, check out this Pilatus ad that was shot out at Ibex.
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PilotMan
> McMike
03/24/2016 at 15:22 |
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ha
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PilotMan
> TheRealBicycleBuck
03/24/2016 at 15:23 |
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That’s no good for either the plane or the pilot.
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PilotMan
> Master Cylinder
03/24/2016 at 15:27 |
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You can’t dig all that well in the hardpan, it’s dried clay with very little sand. It would take three to four hours to dig and bury three anchors. Imaging digging in frozen chocolate.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 15:35 |
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Yeah, those guys suck...no offense but seriously, that’s lame. I can see how people would do that though. We were always charged with anchors as the kids and we dug 4 3x3 foot holes for the big anchors, then we would bury them...then spike them and 2 2x2 foot holes for the fronts. When other people were scrambling to re-anchor because their boats/sails were floating away, we would be watching a movie and relaxing.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 15:36 |
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Well sure, but sails are light and they move a lot of boat when they are full.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 15:40 |
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With regards to the homemade setup, I think if that’s the industry standard for something like this then I would at least suggest you go to kirkhams and get some of their steel nails or standard steel springbar cleats as those aluminum ones are of poor quality and break easy, I’ve broken several on an awning in a mild breeze.
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Master Cylinder
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 15:51 |
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Hmm, good point. I have used buried anchors several times (on a smaller scale for tents and tarp shelters) but that was always in relatively soft soil or snow.
Maybe you could just pound some long stakes in? I’m thinking like a piece of rebar a few feet long. Dunno how tough that would be to do in hardpack, though.
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PilotMan
> Verdog ~ manual Bro, Bro - HellHawk Equipped
03/24/2016 at 15:51 |
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A bit heavy but that would work,
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 16:12 |
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As an adult, we always bury the anchors as well. That is the only way to do it at Powell.
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 16:17 |
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I have some angle iron steel around that I’ll probably drill. Walmart of all places has some heavy duty steel tent stakes that should work. I’ll get some good U bolts from somewhere.
I’ll pound in the stakes at 45 degrees, and use straps set up at 45 degrees, with 120 degree radials from the aircraft.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 16:23 |
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That sounds reasonable, Home depot has some nice strong galvanized U bolts that seem to be up to the task
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 16:28 |
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Even worse - he wasn’t the pilot. He was ground crew. The airport was being buttoned up for the storm when a pilot with some pull landed and demanded a spot in one of the hangers. The 172 was pulled out to make room. He had time to get one wing tied down when the wind hit. The plane rotated around the tied wing, then flipped.
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 16:34 |
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Thanks man. Come out to Ibex (48 miles west of Delta UT) April 15-17. The lake bed has a straight pass of about 2.75 miles which is fun in something fast. Anything motorized is fun on the flats. There’s also lots of rock climbing, fossil hunting, star gazing (darkest spot in the lower 48), gun/canon shooting, fireworks watching, hydrogen/Oxy& Acetyleen bomb making, or whatever else you want to do out there.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 16:39 |
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I used to climb out there with some buddies of mine back when my lift to drag ratio was better, but its been years; Cool place but a bit harsh. I wish I could join you but I am taking the family to Capitol reef that weekend so it will have to wait.
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PilotMan
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/24/2016 at 16:48 |
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I love Capital Reef, have fun.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> PilotMan
03/24/2016 at 16:51 |
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Yeah, this will be out 3rd family trip out there, I love that place.
Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car
> PilotMan
04/15/2016 at 12:25 |
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http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/port…
I’d own these if my flight school allowed you to operate at non paved airports.