Can you Tow using the Tiedown?

n2230b said:
Did it once, i’m not going to do it again. Now i don’t know what to do with the stupid winch.
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Put a eye bolt in floor under the tail tie-down and use it to pull down the tail to service the nose wheel and strut.

If you don't like it and want to donate it to me I woyld use it on our 182. The previous owner pulled his in that way across gravel and grass for 20yrs.
 
Sinistar said:
Put a eye bolt in floor under the tail tie-down and use it to pull down the tail to service the nose wheel and strut.

If you don't like it and want to donate it to me I woyld use it on our 182. The previous owner pulled his in that way across gravel and grass for 20yrs.
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That pulling-the-tail-down thing is regularly done all the time. A vertical pull is no problem. It's the other directions that can cause the damage. It all depends on how hard you pull on it.

This is what it looks like. It has a 5/16" shank and is made of nickel steel so it will bend a lot before it cracks. Same as AN hardware. You can see that bending it will drive that tiny head into the skin and bulkhead if someone pulls hard enough on it.

upload_2022-7-15_19-3-7.jpeg

If you wanted something stouter, this might do the trick:

https://generalaviationnews.com/2018/05/17/ever-seen-a-cessna-tail-slide/
 
Pulling a plane into a hangar via wench is one of those things that is brilliant on paper and miss in execution. There's all kinds of problems like plane wonder off track, steering it straight for corse correction, that extra little nudge on the wench motor button needed to make it fit but not hangar rash a wing, etc.

I've known probably a dozen guys who each had the idea to buy a Harbor Freight bumper wench and use it to pull their A/C into the hangar. All them in broke down and bought tugs pretty quickly.
 
If you’re going to winch a plane tail-first into a hangar, a safer method would be to attach the tow line to the nose gear, then also affix a tow bar and use it to steer the plane. The forces will be similar to pushing it back with the tow bar.
 
Half Fast said:
If you’re going to winch a plane tail-first into a hangar, a safer method would be to attach the tow line to the nose gear, then also affix a tow bar and use it to steer the plane. The forces will be similar to pushing it back with the tow bar.
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Absolutely. But it'll jack-knife pretty quickly if you let it, so be careful.
 
Pull on the nosegear. Run the cable aft under the tail, and use a carabiner clip around the cable and into the tiedown ring. That will keep the airplane lined up. The tiedown can easily handle those small lateral loads.
 
A buddy was partner in a Cherokee 180. T-hangar was uphill into it. Fairly steep, as in you could NOT push it in.

They towed it in, up the slope, hundreds of times. No issues.
 
Cherokee tail tie down is different than the Cessna tie down.
 
Racerx said:
Cherokee tail tie down is different than the Cessna tie down.
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Yup. More than a little, too:

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