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How to tie the tail down
Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 2:30 pm
by bill_e
Hey everyone, with fly-in season upon us, I'm looking for some advice on tying the airplane down if I'm parked away from the hangar for a day or two. I've got a set of "The Claw" tie downs that I've used with my old nosedragger flying club airplanes with great success. However, I'm at a loss for how to attach a rope to the tail since I don't have an obvious ring back there on my 140. Instructions with The Claw say to "tie to the frame of the aircraft or attach point of tail wheel arm at the frame" and not directly to the tailwheel. That said, the POH seems to imply a tie direct to the tailwheel head. Do any fly-in wind storm survivors out there have some tips or tricks?
Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 6:32 pm
by 6643
I tie to the tail spring just above the tailwheel.
Be sure to secure your rudder so the wind cannot bang it against the stops. It will damage the rudder bellcrank. I lock the ailerons to the flaps with those foam covered disks, or, you can secure the yokes and leave the flaps all the way down. They'll bang around, but it shouldn't damage anything. Tie the yokes all the way back to secure the elevator.
Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 9:23 pm
by meloosifah
What are you using for rudder? I usually use my seatbelt for ailerons and elevators and deploy full flaps but struggling to find a good rudder lock.
Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 9:50 pm
by 6597
My 170 buddy taught me this, pic from his plane, but I run the bungee under the elevator, attaching to under the outermost hinge. Not much tension on the bungee, make your own to length, just enough to keep the rudder from flopping around. You can make a little t-shaped gizmo to fit in one of the corrugation holes to attach the bungees. Running it under the elevators helps take a little tension off the elevator horn.
Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Wed May 17, 2023 7:47 am
by 6643
meloosifah wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 9:23 pmWhat are you using for rudder?
When I had it tied down outside all the time I had a padded wooden thing that went around the vertical stabilizer and rudder, sort of like a giant cloths pin that fastened on the aft end. Now that it's inside most of the time, I have a piece of 3/4" (I think) braided nylon rope that I loop around both sides of the rudder bell crank between it and the stops so the rudder has no room to move.
Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2023 8:59 pm
by ghorn
I made my rudder gustlock using woven poly rope, two bungee-cord hooks (one on each end) and a “loop” installed using a mariners’ “FID”. (Inserts rope into itself.) On one end, using the FID, I returned the end of the rope thru its’ center, which allows me to adjust the total length like a chineese finger-puzzle…. but that’s actually unnecessary because once the proper length is achieved, I hook the ends into the openings at the outside ribs of the horiz-stab, pass under the elevator, to the other hook and do the same…then lift the middle into position around the nav light. Just enough “stretch” in the rope …so no need to often make any adjustments.
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Re: How to tie the tail down
Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2023 6:22 am
by ghorn
bill_e wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 2:30 pm
Hey everyone, with fly-in season upon us, I'm looking for some advice on tying the airplane down if I'm parked away from the hangar for a day or two. I've got a set of "The Claw" tie downs that I've used with my old nosedragger flying club airplanes with great success. However, I'm at a loss for how to attach a rope to the tail since I don't have an obvious ring back there on my 140. Instructions with The Claw say to "tie to the frame of the aircraft or attach point of tail wheel arm at the frame" and not directly to the tailwheel. That said, the POH seems to imply a tie direct to the tailwheel head. Do any fly-in wind storm survivors out there have some tips or tricks?
I adapted a PN: 0642105 “eyebolt” (used on L-19s) to attach my Scott 3200 to my C-170-B tailwheel mainspring.
- Cessna L19 PN:0642105
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I didn’t install it “eye” down… I installed it reversed, with the “eye” UP, and use it for tying down the tail.
Here’s the illustration catalog figure from the L-19:
- From L-19 IPC
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The PN 0642105 is used on the L19 ….which also uses a thicker tailwheel mainspring than most other Cessnas, so a washer (or maybe more) will need to be added to assure the self-locking nut doesn’t torque up onto the grip / shank of the eyebolt. I’ve used this method for over 20 years now.
Air Repair, Inc in Cleveland, MS is the source I used for the bolt. 622-846-0228