Tom Fleischman wrote:

In some airplanes, like a Bonanza or Debonair, the CG moves aft as fuel
is burned. If you tie down such an airplane when you return with empty
tanks and make the tail tiedown very tight, then when the FBO comes
along and fills the tanks the CG will move forward putting a lot of
stress on the tail tiedown. This cannot be good for the airframe. And
if someone still happens to be sitting in the back seat while you are
tying the tail down tightly it will make this problem even worse.

I either wait for the fuel truck before tying down or leave a little
slack in the tail tiedown when I tie down the Bo or the Deb with tanks
not full.

That seems a little far-fetched to me. The tanks are what, a few inches ahead of
the CG? and the tail tie-down is what, 6 feet (at least) behind the CG? and the
weight of the added fuel is what, maybe 100 lbs? Doesn't seem like that should
produce "a lot of stress". But then you're there and I'm not, and it's your
airplane.

Dave
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