Mailing List lml@lancaironline.net Message #20279
From: Robert Overmars <robert.overmars@tiscali.it>
Sender: Marvin Kaye <marv@lancaironline.net>
Subject: tie downs...
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 13:28:31 -0400
To: <lml@lancaironline.net>
Greetings all,

Thanks to those who have replied with suggestions but I still haven't found
what I'm looking for and am still on the case.

The wing I'm rebuilding is from ten years ago and came supplied with
Lancair's push in pin type tie downs which as Bob Smiley has pointed out are
light in weight but subject to bending under stress. But I disagree with you
Bob that using the screw in type as now supplied by Lancair is the way to
go, for starters they are heavy, horrible and agricultural. In parts of the
world with mud building insects the screw in hole is just the right size for
a mud builder to make it's home if the hole is left uncovered even for a
short period, (once had a fuel hose being constructed blocked by a mud
builder in a half hour lunch break and on final assembly couldn't get fuel
from the stbd tank....interesting), the agricultural screw in rings have to
be carried in the aircraft and invariably one will be lost at the most
inconvenient time, the receptable screw threads get nice and rusty, if not
screwed in hard the ring can conceivably back out if the tie down rope is
twisted so for these reasons and the fact that I just don't like such
horrible hardware on a modern swish state of the art high tech Lancair I
don't want to use them.

So I'm still on the case looking for nice neat pop up tie down which when
not in use pops up and locks in place filling it's own hole. Found a Putco
pop up tie down as used on pick up trucks but it looks too big and is also
made from die cast zinc so it's not a candidate, also from McMaster Carr are
stainless steel d-rings which can rotate through 150 degrees to possibly lie
flat in a pocket on the under surface of the wing, Jim Scales ES solution is
I think a nice improvement on the Lancair product but it's still a screw in
tie down....!! Have yet to look at marine products but most certainly will
be.

Can't help but think that some bright enterprising engineering type couldn't
design such a product for Lancairs on CAD, then flick the switch to CAM and
make 'em and sell 'em by the bucket load....

Ciao,  Roberto d'Italia.


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