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Having the airplane properly chocked helps greatly in this regard. Pull the plane forward into the chocks with the wing ties, and then just stabilize the tail with the tail tie-down. By pulling forward against the chocks, it keeps the angle of attack on the wings low - which helps reduce the wind's effect on the aircraft.

It's a "Fishy" knot.

As someone who has ZERO experience tying down an aircraft, I'm glad this was asked, because I was going to ask something similar in the next week or so.



I've watched a few videos, and this is the one that looked best to me, and the method I'd planned to practice in the coming weeks leading up to the fly-in. I'll be doing several dry-runs with my FlyTies to get acquainted and comfortable with using them as soon as I have the plane back from annual.

I've also noted that the POH recommends that in addition to the tie-down rings, an additional anchored rope is tied around an exposed portion of the engine mount. Does anyone actually do this?

I have... but most pre-planted tie down locations do not have an anchor to use - just the traditional 2 wings and 1 tail anchor. See the note above about chock usage - I've found that quite effective.

I also use this knot and it works excellent! I learned from another video and it took some time to understand how it "locks". This video is much better

I think we'll name it Swordfish-NOT.

Lots of great information here, thanks a lot.

Couple o'thoughts from a guy who has been around a while and learned a few lessons about airplane tie-downs.

Everyone is focused on the knots at the wing tie-down ring, and I use the double locking half hitch described above, minimum of two, three ain't bad ... the other end of the line is tied to the anchor in the earth. The bowline knot is absolutely the best way to secure your line to the tie-down in the ground. No matter how tight the line gets in a wind, the knot is easy to un-tie when the time comes.

Another idea, if you know your airplane will be subjected to a wind event is to zip-tie the tag line to the taut line (the photo below says it all). That way, the wind doesn't toss the tag line around and loosen the last knot. Just be sure to take something with you to cut the zip-tie the next time you go to un-tie your aircraft.

[Linked Image]

Yes, that's water in the background ... mine is a float plane, and it too needs to be tied down.

I have one other tip to add if I can find my photos, or take new ones.

Nice job of terminating the rope end, Terry. You don't see that often, these days.

With this information I think I can tie Abby down properly.
I will pester you with one more question. Abby lives within spitting distance of the Pacific.
Would an application of ACF-50 be a good idea? If so how is that stuff applied?
Thanks, Dalton