Wire across bow on floats?

Ok folks I'll just throw this one into the room for opinions; curious to know the pros and cons of having a wire stretched across the bow on floats. In the early days of my childhood we had a cub with the wire but since then we've had a number of seaplanes without. All cubs with only one door. I've just bought a j-3 with out one but entertaining the thought. Will ramp mostly but dock occasionally. Thoughts?.

just consider how you will get to the other side of the plane quickly without.

Also, consider the advantage of having the ability to move between bows when trying to catch and tie off to mooring bouys, or tie to a dock on the left side...

Very awkward without wire. My vote is YES.

I have operated my baumann 1500's for seven years on my J-3 and consider the front bow wire one of the most essential pieces of equipment on the aircraft. I am always in need of a quick access to the opposite side. As a side note, I noticed the attach hole has become elongated this year to where I need to address it's possible failure!(falling in the water is not only embarrassing but cold!) You will consider that wire your good friend.

The only time a wire sucks is when you walk into it when the floats are stored on the floor in a dark hangar

Glenn

flylowslow said:

As a side note, I noticed the attach hole has become elongated this year to where I need to address it's possible failure!(falling in the water is not only embarrassing but cold!) You will consider that wire your good friend.

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Failing and lassoing the prop wouldn't be much fun either. A daily inspection item for sure, but not something I could live without on my bird... although I use to pull myself across the front spreader bar when a tad more flexible.

It also comes in handy when you go for a swim in the middle of the lake and turn around after diving in and the wind is high tailing it backwards. And about the only thing you can grab while swimming like hell to catch up.

Glenn

Put it on. Makes simple chores simple. Wash you windows or refuel without having to spin the airplane around at the dock. There are always situations where you may have to dock on that side as well. A quick way to shimmy across with very little weight/drag penalty. All win win in my opinion

I have two doors just so I do not have to do the tight wire walk in my advancing years. So far the door has sufficed. If it proves to be inadequate, a cable will go on immediately.

side benefit, keeps the prop from wrapping around a dock post or buoy should one miss inbound...

The cable is a "must have" but keep the following in mind when using.

A cable spanning 8 ft with a 200 lb person in the middle with a 4 inch deflection in the cable will apply 1337 lbs of tension into the cable.
A 300 lb person will apply 2005 lbs of tension.

If you set it up to deflect 6 inches the tension drops to 806 lbs.
1209 lbs of tension for a 300 lber.

A new 1/8 inch 7 x 19 galvanized cable that is assembled correctly should have a breaking strength of about 2000 lbs
3/16 cable is good for about 4200 lbs.
Stainless 1/8 inch is 1760 and 3700 lbs for 3/16

I wouldn't advise jumping up and down when out in the middle. And rig it to allow some sag.
Remember that the force on the cable is also being applied into the cleat that they attach to.

If you happen to be on the upper end of the "Body Mass" index you may want to wear your life jacket...

Flying around AK in the cub on Edo 2000's since 1981 and never had a cable.
I don't think it's a "must have" at all.

I guess I should have said that it is a "must have" for me. Kind of like a lot of the other stuff that I don't leave home without that others see little need for.....like hip boots.

With a wire, it sure would make getting loads on and off the spreader bars a pain too. Not everything fits well against the struts.

I vote yes too....even with 2 doors. Had to jump into the water after the plane once when the other person tied the ropes wrong and the plane was heading down river toward the pilings. It was easier to grab the wire than the cleat on top of the float and swim it back to the dock.

And yes...it was cold and I was fully clothed. Took one for the team that day!

cafi

It depends on your mooring situation. I never needed a walk wire so I never added one. Watch a lodge Beaver load and unload clients from a dock that favors the right side. Easy call to add one. Use one or don't depending on your needs. No big deal.

I use mine to pull and push the plane into the hanger and it is a must for me as docking at camp the wind always favors the left side to dock. What? you don't have wheels in your floats to put the plane in the hanger? now I feel bad for you guys. except Glenn he has too much fun and toooooo much time to fly ;-). No actually Glenn and Tom Ford live the life we all want.

Douten said:

I use mine to pull and push the plane into the hanger and it is a must for me as docking at camp the wind always favors the left side to dock. What? you don't have wheels in your floats to put the plane in the hanger? now I feel bad for you guys. except Glenn he has too much fun and toooooo much time to fly ;-). No actually Glenn and Tom Ford live the life we all want.

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Some guys have a wire and forget to use it :roll:
You need to tell the story of you jumping from one float to the other just before almost ( inches ) trading paint with Mary Builds C180 at Greenville

Glenn

Yes, the need for a walk wire is totally environment dictated. If you do a lot of docking, you probably want one, if you beach almost exclusively, maybe not.

That said, if you need one, you generally REALLY need one. They don't cost much.

And, Cubpilot2 hit the nail on the head.....not only ensure they're not going to rip something out, but check their integrity occasionally. I went for a swim off the one on a Beaver at a dock in winter.......damn! Was wide awake the rest of the day, though.

MTV

MTV

All
Thanks for all the input and varying opinions on the subject. As usual there is no shortage of wisdom through experiences in SC.org! I think a wire has many potential benefits with very little drawbacks. I'm going for it!

Just one more question (I don't think you Alaska guys can answer this) but have any of you with the wire tried to walk across it with bare feet??? I just realized that with the exception of some really cold months we operate sans footwear around these parts (NC)

3/16 cable.. not an issue unless you have sensitive feet! ;-)

stang43 said:

Just one more question (I don't think you Alaska guys can answer this) but have any of you with the wire tried to walk across it with bare feet??? I just realized that with the exception of some really cold months we operate sans footwear around these parts (NC)

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Yes, I side step. Not something I enjoy but gets the job done. Put a thicker cable on if you have tender tootsies. But if your barefoot most of the time your soles should be fairly tough

Glenn

Thread hijack----stang43. Is it legal to land a floatplane on Kerr Lake up on the VA/NC border? I used to live close by and think it would be an awesome place for floats.

Bob Timm at Seaplane Services made one up for me with a turnbuckle arrangement on one end; makes for easy removal/adjustment if needed.

Looks like Kerr is open but with some restrictions check out the Seaplane association directory for the details.

A word of CAUTION...

Never, ever hold on to the prop for balance, especially when the engine's hot - as it usually is just after shut down.

From Fly-Low magazine a few months back

The Misunderstood CROSS -OVER -CABLE:
Alex Clark , Alaskan CFI

Most non-floatplane pilots { Seaplane to the lower 48 folks } and even some SES rated pilots have questions about the various parts and pieces that convert a landplane into a seaplane.

One such bit of gear is the Cross-Over cable. This is usually a tight strand of control cable stretched between the noses (maybe bows while on the water) of the two floats.

As the name implies, the main purpose is to let a pilot tight-rope walk from one side of the aircraft to the other. Something that is very handy when flying a Super Cub, Husky or Citabria with a door on only one side. On larger aircraft with doors on both sides it still helps old pilots like myself who might have accidentally exceeded our original gross weight at the buffet table. I have seen videos of myself trying to cross over two interior seats in a big hurry. It is not a pretty sight.

However, I have had occasion to run into floatplane pilots who intentionally do not install cross over cables because they think they are unsightly. My answer to that remark is that the cable does much more than allow the pilot to practice a circus act above deep water. So I made up a short list of attributes.

1. The tight cable acts like a bumper to protect your propeller. Tree stumps, pier pilings, brush and tall grass will be deflected by the cable before any offending object hits the prop. Personally I have bounced more than one seaplane off of old dock pilings.

2. Plus a tight cross-over cable gives you another reference to bore-sight your float's spreader bars. If the cable, and both spreaders are all level with each other, your floats will be usually happy campers and will take-off faster and fly straighter.

3. You can stand centered on the cable, hold the prop hub and lean backwards to take weight off the rear (aft) section of the floats when you are heel-beached. ( beached with the after section of the floats up on the sand )

The cable gives you another place to balance a piece of plywood with engine maintenance and oil changes. I put one end of the board on the spreader bars and another over the cable. It gives you a platform for your used-oil jug and when you drop your best socket wrench, you can watch it roll for a few feet before dropping into deep leach filled water.

It makes the preflight inspection faster and more complete. It gives you access to the propeller and forward cowling.

Walking across the cable is not very difficult as long as you remember to keep one hand on the propeller spinner. And remember that if you do slip off for some reason, to make sure both legs go over the same side of the cable. There is a video someplace of myself doing the splits right onto the cable just before I fell into a ice cold mountain lake. In that case the icy water was of some benefit.

That's known as the suicide wire... I've had one break twice on two different airplanes. Can be embarrassing. Can be dangerous if you can't swim. Or you're planes not tied up and drifting towards a waterfall. If properly installed and preflighted regularly, they shouldn't break when you least expect it but personally, they don't break if they're not installed...

Nothing wrong with them when installed correctly/ inspected regularly. Same as the rest of the parts and components on your airplane.
Load up a Courier or a C206 while tied up on a river bank. You have two choices: use the cross over wire or swim around the A/C. You're not going to spin the airplane around in moving water.