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Bill Strahan
Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 145
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 Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:47 pm Post subject: Thoughts on tie downs |
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Just got back from a 2500 mile round trip Dallas-Washington DC and back...the scenic route.
In any case, I'm wanting to address the tie down options on my Lightning. First, I have no tie down rings on the plane. I've used the rudder bearing bracket, and the flap brackets which share the aileron brackets.
I've never really liked that, but Nick indicated it wouldn't be a problem so I have been using it and not worrying about it. I carry short sections of soft nylon rope because the first time I stopped somewhere that only had chains I realized that wasn't a good idea. So the short sections just loop through the areas referenced above, and I then tie the chains to that. If the airport has decent ropes, I'll just use those and not bother with my short sections.
What are other people using/doing?
Here are my thoughts, and unless I get some better ideas this will be the path I go down. I'd like removable tie down rings. I don't usually tie the plane down, and if I have the option of putting it in a hanger, I will, so having tie down rings in there ALL the time seems silly. Plus, I've tapped the tail a few times on landing, and a ring would just increase the frequency of that occurrence.
So, how to do this? My first thought was to embed a large aluminum angle in flock to the spar/skin in the wing ends to make the hard point. I don't like the thought of any tension trying to pull the skin off the rib/spar, but several layers of glass over the angle might alleviate my concern.
Prior to bonding it in place, the angle (probably 1/8" thick) would be drilled and setup to receive the tie down ring. First thought is a 1/4" nutplate and a 1/4" bolt. I'd probably rivet a couple of strips of 1/8" thick aluminum to the angle to build a nice thickness so any bending moments would transfer into the aluminum and not try to bend the nutplate. Hmmm. A picture would do nicely here. Maybe I'll make a prototype and post.
My other thought is similar, but with a modified form of quick release pin. I'd probably fabricate my own since I can't find anyone with a ring on the end, but if done properly a quick release pin can take hundreds of pounds of force without failing.
The pin would go into a very similar setup as described with the nutplate, except the receiver would be steel instead of aluminum. Aluminum is too soft and would distort if under much tensions with the small contact area of the ball bearings on the quick release pin.
Yep, either way is a bit of work. But it would only take 10-15 seconds to screw in the eye bolt or a second to insert the pin.
I'm already carrying the small pieces of rope in case I end up somewhere with chains, so 3 tie down rings wouldn't be any more space taken up in my travel kit.
So, any thoughts out there?
And while I'm at it, I have one more thought: I know Arion has a control lock offered, but I'd like to consider a slightly different design. Picture a lock that goes from the spar (or seatpan) to the stick and locks that, with a portion going forward which is spring loaded and hooks into the top of each brake pedal.
That design would lock all surfaces, and the spring loaded part would be similar to a parking brake. There have been a few times that it would have been very nice to have a parking brake, and it seems doable to address all of it with one small device.
Thoughts on that as well?
I'm thinking it's time to take 7RW on some longer flights now, so this is becoming more important. I'd like to fly her to Mexico before the year is up.
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Bill Strahan
Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 145
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n45bm(at)yahoo.com
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:02 pm Post subject: Thoughts on tie downs |
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Hi Bill,
Here's my solution for the tie-downs. The tail tie-down is
simply a perforated and curved 1/8" aluminum plate with a nut attached
with JB weld. The unit is flocked in place and a closed loop eye bolt
can be threaded from the bottom when needed.
The Tie-downs in the
wings are aluminum blocks that are drilled/tapped for the SS closed loop
eye bolts. They are "T" shaped from 3/4" bar and are bolted to the
brackets that supports the aileron brackets. Only the removable eye
bolts protrude from the bottom of the wings and tail, when needed. I
have a drawing if you need it, Let me know. Tail area pics in another email.
Bernardo
--- On Mon, 10/15/12, Bill Strahan <bill(at)gdsx.com> wrote:
From: Bill Strahan <bill(at)gdsx.com>
Subject: Thoughts on tie downs
To: lightning-list(at)matronics.com
Date: Monday, October 15, 2012, 4:47 PM
Just got back from a 2500 mile round trip Dallas-Washington DC and back...the scenic route.
In any case, I'm wanting to address the tie down options on my Lightning. First, I have no tie down rings on the plane. I've used the rudder bearing bracket, and the flap brackets which share the aileron brackets.
I've never really liked that, but Nick indicated it wouldn't be a problem so I have been using it and not worrying about it. I carry short sections of soft nylon rope because the first time I stopped somewhere that only had chains I realized that wasn't a good idea. So the short sections just loop through the areas referenced above, and I then tie the chains to that. If the airport has decent ropes, I'll just use those and not bother with my short sections.
What are other people using/doing?
Here are my thoughts, and unless I get some better ideas this will be the path I go down. I'd like removable tie down rings. I don't usually tie the plane down, and if I have the option of putting it in a hanger, I will, so having tie down rings in there ALL the time seems silly. Plus, I've tapped the tail a few times on landing, and a ring would just increase the frequency of that occurrence.
So, how to do this? My first thought was to embed a large aluminum angle in flock to the spar/skin in the wing ends to make the hard point. I don't like the thought of any tension trying to pull the skin off the rib/spar, but several layers of glass over the angle might alleviate my concern.
Prior to bonding it in place, the angle (probably 1/8" thick) would be drilled and setup to receive the tie down ring. First thought is a 1/4" nutplate and a 1/4" bolt. I'd probably rivet a couple of strips of 1/8" thick aluminum to the angle to build a nice thickness so any bending moments would transfer into the aluminum and not try to bend the nutplate. Hmmm. A picture would do nicely here. Maybe I'll make a prototype and post
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n5pb(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:25 pm Post subject: Thoughts on tie downs |
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Bill,
During my build I decided to add a tail tie down. Here's a couple of pics of it. I have not done anything to the wings as i pretty much use the technique Nick told us to use.
Bear
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selwyn
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 102
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: Thoughts on tie downs |
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Hi Bill,
I used a similar idea to Bear in the tail except I included some webs to reinforce the angle and flocced the whole thing in place. For the wings I used similar fittings and attached them to the end of the spars before the tips went on. That's probably not much use to you unless you have removable tips.
I use screw in lifting eyes for the attach points with 10mm threads. These are far stronger than needed but the thread is more robust for repeated use. The Kwik Loks look like a really neat solution.
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Cheers, Selwyn
Kit 66 VH-ELZ |
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