Tiedown Stakes (Article in SportAv.)

Morgans wrote...

The hardware store, or dog steaks, "will" twist off at OSH.

Mmmmm...dog steaks.

Dave 'Homer' hyde

On 21 Apr 2004 08:26:51 -0700, Brian Southworth
wrote:

In article , Stealth Pilot says...

an eighth aluminium plate
about 6" diameter
8mm rod
about 120 degrees
about 4 1/2" PCD
about a cubit long.

What's that in furlongs?

blame the bloody yanks. all the rest of the world went metric years
ago and so did I.
then I got into aviation and had to regress to an abortionate imperial
system. actually worse than that in australia, aviation here is a mix
of imperial and metric. (footric and metric as one of my mates calls
it) a nightmare tribute to the US dominance in aviation.

a cubit is actually a handy measurement. It is the length of your arm
from elbow to tip of longest finger. use it all the time for
guestimating things. =18"
Stealth Pilot

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 01:12:18 -0400, "Morgans"
wrote:

:
:Right. Just don't think that all corkscrews are created equal. The
:hardware store, or dog steaks, "will" twist off at OSH. They have to be
:spring steel.

Or better. My wife got me a set of these
http://www.airtimemfg.com/

Stealth Pilot wrote:

a cubit is actually a handy measurement. It is the length of your arm
from elbow to tip of longest finger. use it all the time for
guestimating things. =18"
Stealth Pilot

Is that your arm, or mine?

Actually, I'm lucky in the biometric arena. My foot inside a New
Balance 604 shoe is EXACTLY 12". I can step off a room and get within
an inch of a tape measures reading nearly every time.
--
http://www.ernest.isa-geek.org/
"Ignorance is mankinds normal state,
alleviated by information and experience."
Veeduber

"nauga" wrote:

Morgans wrote...

The hardware store, or dog steaks, "will" twist off at OSH.

Mmmmm...dog steaks.

Dave 'Homer' hyde



LOL! OSH catering to the tastes of some international visitors?
--
Alex
Make the obvious change in the return address to reply by email.

On Thu, 22 Apr 2004 21:22:41 +0800, Stealth Pilot
wrote:

:blame the bloody yanks.

Everybody always does, why stop now?

:all the rest of the world went metric years
:ago

For which we should blame the French.

:and so did I.
:then I got into aviation and had to regress to an abortionate imperial
:system. actually worse than that in australia, aviation here is a mix
f imperial and metric. (footric and metric as one of my mates calls
:it) a nightmare tribute to the US dominance in aviation.

We'd prefer cash.

:a cubit is actually a handy measurement. It is the length of your arm
:from elbow to tip of longest finger. use it all the time for
:guestimating things. =18"
:Stealth Pilot

Footric is much more logical than metric. 10 is a completely
irrational number to base a system on, the French only chose it
because we have that many fingers. How do you divide a meter in 3?
In footric it's easy. It's why eggs come in a dozen - it's easy to
split them up evenly.

Fortunately, metric is dying and slowly being replaced by a more
rational system. (ok, pun intended)
http://www.metricsucks.com/metric_land.html

I used 7/16" rod, drilled out 1/2" nuts(to 7/16") & welded the h**l out of 'em--
actually got some 7/16" Spring steel from a spring mfg. co--nearly impossible to
bend!! for a Stinson 108.

Jim Weir wrote:

Sport Aviation (EAA Magazine), April issue, pages 110-112.

The article shows a system of metal rod-stakes and the 3-part chain with the
repair link in the middle. The article goes into some detail on how to make a
3-part chain with a repair link (pretty trivial to figure that out) but says
absolutely nothing about how the hex head (nut?) and locking nut get onto the
rod.

Now, my suspicion is that the top inch or so of the rod is threaded, a nut run
down to the bottom of the thread, a lockwasher, then another nut. That's my
SUSPICION. The article is silent on how this is done.

Anybody wanna confirm my suspicions. If so, tell me how the guy, by his own
admission with a minimal shop, can thread a 5/16 rod. That's a pretty hefty
(and rather unusual) die/thread size. ¼-20 is pretty common, but I'm not a good
enough machinist to say whether or not 5/16 is a garden variety tool.

It is also true that if you pound a lot on that hex nut at the top (if that is
what it is) there is no chance in hell that you will ever be able to separate
the nut from the rod without a torch. I mean, I think it is a great idea, and
I'd like nothing more than to get rid of those stupid corkscrews I've been using
for thirty years, but I'd like some of your comments on how we might make it
better.

Thoughts?

Jim
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

At OSH last year, I used 3/4" iron water pipe. I bought 4' sections
(threaded at each end) and sawed them in half at an angle (to make
ground penetration easier). Screwed a "T" connector on the end (for the
rope), and that was it. You need a hatchet or small ax to put it in
(carried anyway as part of my survival kit), but, when pounded in at an
angle, they do not come out. I probably spent a total of $15 on
everything. A bit heavy, but I don't use them much, so that's not a big
problem for me. You could probably use a smaller diameter, but I tend
to over-engineer things. (This was for a C172.)

jerry Wass wrote:
I used 7/16" rod, drilled out 1/2" nuts(to 7/16") & welded the h**l out of 'em--
actually got some 7/16" Spring steel from a spring mfg. co--nearly impossible to
bend!! for a Stinson 108.

Jim Weir wrote:


Sport Aviation (EAA Magazine), April issue, pages 110-112.

The article shows a system of metal rod-stakes and the 3-part chain with the
repair link in the middle. The article goes into some detail on how to make a
3-part chain with a repair link (pretty trivial to figure that out) but says
absolutely nothing about how the hex head (nut?) and locking nut get onto the
rod.

Now, my suspicion is that the top inch or so of the rod is threaded, a nut run
down to the bottom of the thread, a lockwasher, then another nut. That's my
SUSPICION. The article is silent on how this is done.

Anybody wanna confirm my suspicions. If so, tell me how the guy, by his own
admission with a minimal shop, can thread a 5/16 rod. That's a pretty hefty
(and rather unusual) die/thread size. ¼-20 is pretty common, but I'm not a good
enough machinist to say whether or not 5/16 is a garden variety tool.

It is also true that if you pound a lot on that hex nut at the top (if that is
what it is) there is no chance in hell that you will ever be able to separate
the nut from the rod without a torch. I mean, I think it is a great idea, and
I'd like nothing more than to get rid of those stupid corkscrews I've been using
for thirty years, but I'd like some of your comments on how we might make it
better.

Thoughts?

Jim
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com




--
Remove "2PLANES" to reply.

Suggestion for tieing down in loose sand:

Start with a 24" x24" x 3/4" chunk of pressure-treated plywood. Drill a hole
in the center just large enough to pass through a 24" - 36" length of rope.
Pass the rope through the hole, and tie it off to a 3/8" x 6" bolt. Tie the
other end of the rope to a good (steel) caribeiner (sp?). Dig a hole in the
sand using a camp shovel, sand shovel stolen from that kid in the beach, ice
bucket from Holiday Inn, BigGulp cup, tablespoon, or whatever else ya have
handy. Plant your anchor. Cover with sand. For very winds conditions,
increase the size of your plywood to 36" sq.

Suggestion for tieing down inside a large hangar with frequently open doors:
(ok, so my plane only has a wing loading of 6oz. per sq. foot)

8 bags of cement, one Rubbermaid plastic tote bin, 4 24" sections of 3/8"
rebar, and 8 6" sections of 2" pvc pipe.

Dump 1 bag of cement into tote bin. Add water and mix. Tape over one end of a
pvc section using duct tape. Insert into center of wet cement. Wait one day.
Remove cement from tote bin and knock out tape. The result will be a nice neat
80lb weight block. Repeat 7 more times. While you're waiting, bend a loop
into one end of each rebar, small enough to fit into the pvc pipe. Bend the
other end 90 degrees. Stack your weight blocks on top of your rebar and tie
down. Oh yea, this method works best when you trailer your aircraft to your
flying site with dually pickup truck.

Harry

(Wright1902Glider) wrote in message ...

Suggestion for tieing down inside a large hangar with frequently open doors:
(ok, so my plane only has a wing loading of 6oz. per sq. foot)

8 bags of cement, one Rubbermaid plastic tote bin, 4 24" sections of 3/8"
rebar, and 8 6" sections of 2" pvc pipe.

Big chunks of concrete! I haven't seen that one in a while. I
recall an FBO along the Alaska Highway (Ft. Nelson I think) that had a
similar system. The guy rolls out a couple of tires filled with
concrete (about 100 lbs. each), with an anchor and rope attached. He
asked if I needed tiedowns. I mentioned that a couple of tires filled
with concrete were not likely to keep my plane from flying away in a
stiff wind. His response : "Yeah, I know that, but it seems to make
the pilots feel better when we use them".

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)