I just read the AOPA ePilot Flight Training Edition -- Vol. 4, Issue 4 from

We just returned from the emergency room. They said that my eye should open
back up in 3-5 days and the x-rays of her fist showed that it is just
sprained, not broken...

Just wanted to so thanks a helluva lot for your bright idea of an
experiment...


;-) I'll bet he was mean to his brothers too. Getting them to do all
sorts of stupid stuff.

Greg

No, don't leave any slack. I can't imagine how the author of the article can
possibly justify this.

As far as using chains, no. Don't ever use them. Carry your own tiedown
ropes if necessary. You can't get chains taut enough. A high wind will cause
the plane to yank on the chain until it runs out of slack and breaks.

I would bet that any Cessna (or any other plane) that has had a tiedown ring
break in a high wind was tied down improperly in the first place.

The plane should be tied down securely whether you expect high winds or not.
You could get an unexpected thunderstorm.

"Roger Bartholomee" wrote:
The author says "It's important to leave a little slack in each
line, especially if you are expecting gusty wind conditions.
Slack will allow the airplane to move a little. Without any
slack, a strong gust could damage the airframe."

Utter bulls---.

AOPA should fix this.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM
(remove pants to reply by email)

In article , Dan Luke
wrote:

"Roger Bartholomee" wrote:
The author says "It's important to leave a little slack in each
line, especially if you are expecting gusty wind conditions.
Slack will allow the airplane to move a little. Without any
slack, a strong gust could damage the airframe."

Utter bulls---.

AOPA should fix this.

There is, however, an exception.

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.

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
Remove SHIRT to reply directly.

"Tom Fleischman" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
In article , Dan Luke
wrote:

"Roger Bartholomee" wrote:
The author says "It's important to leave a little slack in each
line, especially if you are expecting gusty wind conditions.
Slack will allow the airplane to move a little. Without any
slack, a strong gust could damage the airframe."

Utter bulls---.

AOPA should fix this.

There is, however, an exception.

In some airplanes, like a Bonanza or Debonair, the CG moves aft as fuel
is burned.

So what? Even Cessnas do that.

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.

Only if the nose is not already resting on its gear. If you are worried
about that, then you sure don't want to see what happens in the maintenance
hangar when they are working on your nose gear.

Pulling on a tail tiedown should not damage it. If it does, the tiedown is
too weak to be useful in a windstorm anyway. The thing that damages tail
tiedowns is smacking them on the runway during poorly executed takeoff and
landing operations. That can strip the threads on the tiedown and buckle the
bulkhead that the tiedown is attached to.