Tying down the bird

david whitley wrote:

I need some basic instruction.... I've been noticing tie down ropes. The
knots folks use are all over the map. Is there a basic "best" knot for tying
down the bird? We're looking at windy weather here in the NE this weekend.
The ropes here on the Vineyard are poly-something.

I usually use a canoe hitch. Before the storm hits, I will head out to the
airport and change the knots to as many half hitches as I have rope for. I may
have to cut them loose later, but I'm not leaving slack in the ropes or using
a knot that might slip and produce slack. Some posters recommend a knot called
a "hurricane hitch", and links to photos have been posted in the past. You might
run a Google search for that.

My usual tiedown ropes are 5/8" nylon. They were sold as boat hawsers and came
with loops braided into the ends. I have run those ends through the tiedown
anchors. This week, I will also be running doubled 1/2" nylon ropes from the
anchors to my wing struts as backups.

If your ropes are polypropylene, I would replace them with nylon. Poly will not
stand up to sunlight very well and deteriorates in only a few years.

George Patterson
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that cannot
be learned any other way. Samuel Clemens