We have a couple folks from AK lined up to talk a bit about this, and I am using information regarding tiedowns and lots of pictures I have received to put a little presentation together. Hopefully it will help save an airplane or two in the future. Any additional input is appreciated!
sj
"Often Mistaken, but Never in Doubt"
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I never thought much about parking outdoors with the Cessna, thought a little more about it with the -12, but the Rev? 35 mph on the nose and it was trying to break the ropes or break free from them, even with the slats locked. At 40 mph I was parking my truck in front to block the wind. No way that plane would survive a 90 mph storm without damage or great effort to defend it, and I’m away a fair bit. That influenced our hanger acquisition. How you secure a plane depends a lot on what plane you’re securing.
Seen wind blowing 50/60 it's many times in Palmer, Wasilla and our wind in Willow would be 20/25 mph up in Talkettna it would be 30/40mph at same time.
Saw 17 planes flipped at O'Malley in Anc one storm, alot of them tied with clothes line rope, or to a 100lb block or some other rediculous bullsh*t???
Many times big wind on the back of wings was disasterous, and braced rear struts could very well have
saved the plane.......
Ditto for 18" of wet snow. Yet no one does it anymore? Or almost no one
Tough stuff for sure
E
BC12D-4-85 liked this post
The new HD struts are a lot stronger and seem to do well. I still see a few outside cubs with the rear strut braced.
DENNY
For those that were parked outside during the last wind, watch out for snow invasion. Especially if you parked something in front of your plane. Low pressures develop in all kinds of places. Because this was high wind and blowing snow event, it's possible that snow may have made packed areas in your wings, between your interior panels, and any other void where a low pressure could develop.
This happened to my cub once. Even after all the inspecting I did, water still dripped out of places when I finally got smart enough to rent a couple of warm up days in Wood's hangar.
What clued me into a hard look in the first place was my truck engine compartment being completely hard packed with snow to include the inside of the air cleaner.
Jerry
On the lighter side, some post-storm challenges are purely recreational.
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