Tie Down Pins

[jrenwick]

A Pull Off is a good ideal! I've got a new used 50 hp tractor (with a bucket that can reach over the plane) and 2 horses that we can use to pull them planes in every direction at Petit Jean this spring. jrenwick - hope you can fly down with Kyle to the Petit Jean 170.

Wow! I hadn't thought of pulling an actual plane. Anybody have a friend with an old 170 they're not using, that they'd let us have for that???? Wouldn't need a whole tractor if we had enough guys to push up on the wing struts! Or if you have a bunch of big guys sit on the end of one wing and bounce up and down....

Thanks for the invitation! Have you set a date for it? I don't think I've met Kyle yet. I'll keep an eye open for him at the local fly-ins for the remainder of our short season.

Cheers!

[mvivion]

I've used the three pin tiedowns, and, when soil conditions permit their use, they work fine. As noted, soil types, and the number of rocks really dictates what type tiedowns work.

One type of tiedown that I use regularly for permanent tiedowns and carry as emergency tiedowns are Duckbill Earth Anchors. With an axe and a drive rod (piece of rebar), I can drive Duckbills in and toggle them over, and they'll hold a lot. Again, if you are parked over a rockpile, forget it. The Duckbills are my standard everyday tiedown for floats and wheels, and have held up well. They are available at most big electrical contractor outlets. They are used to guy poles. Most electric companies really don't want their guy wires pulling out, so you can guess that these things have been tested at least some. To get them out after use, you have to do some digging, though, so I use them on the road only if I really need to.

Mike Vivion

[N1478D]

A Pull Off is a good ideal! I've got a new used 50 hp tractor (with a bucket that can reach over the plane) and 2 horses that we can use to pull them planes in every direction at Petit Jean this spring. jrenwick - hope you can fly down with Kyle to the Petit Jean 170.

On a side note, something neat that I saw at Petit Jean 04, was Ole Pokey's PVC Chalks. I took a picture of them, but maybe I'd better check to see if Pokey's got a patent pending. They weigh little more than a snickers bar and basically lock around the tire. Real clever!

Here it is - Steel Fence Post (eye bolt welded on) cut the width of fuselage or custom length. Comes complete with a T post driver. Just PM me and I can send you one for $50+ shipping and handling.

Just a word of caution! Wouldn't be surprised if the words "Pull Off" have different meaning in San Fransisco and Austin than they do in Arkansas and North Texas. You don't want to get those boys all excited, and then have em show up at Petit Jean with their toys(equipment).