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I will be attending the High Sierra Fly-in at the Dead Cow lake bed in Nevada the middle of October. I have never used tie downs in a dry lake bed. I have the corkscrew type tie downs which work well anywhere I have been camping at the East Coast or Oshkosh (always on gras).
Will I be able to get these tie downs into the ground? How hard is a dry lake bed?
I will be attending the High Sierra Fly-in at the Dead Cow lake bed in Nevada the middle of October. I have never used tie downs in a dry lake bed. I have the corkscrew type tie downs which work well anywhere I have been camping at the East Coast or Oshkosh (always on gras).
Will I be able to get these tie downs into the ground? How hard is a dry lake bed?
Juergen
Pacer N3342Z
I've done a bit of flying on dry lake beds and I can't imagine a screw type anchor working. I would use something you can drive into the ground.
Run your wing 10' long nylon strap tiedowns forward and outward about 6~8' from wing rings (45 degrees fwd of chord) and tail tiedown about 4~6' back from tail.
Drive the spikes outward as much as possible thru holes in the anchor ring plates.
YMMV.
I survived the hurricane at SnF and the wind storm at Spear Fish SD. that put airplanes near me on their back. I was using FlyTies.
Lakeland FL., SnF, has very sandy soil.
Last edited by Gilbert Pierce; 09-19-2019 at 12:25 PM.
I was trying to get my Claws in on Nokai Dome in Utah and would always get to where one or two would hit a rock. Finally moved to new location. There was a thunderstorm coming around the mountains and the winds were getting strong. I tied down tailed into the wind with the flaps down and stacked the biggest rocks I could move around my tires. If I was at Dead Cow during a wind event I would dig holes for the wheels and push them into the holes. I have seen pictures of Stearmans at NAS Millington landing field secured this way.
I was trying to get my Claws in on Nokai Dome in Utah and would always get to where one or two would hit a rock. Finally moved to new location. There was a thunderstorm coming around the mountains and the winds were getting strong. I tied down tailed into the wind with the flaps down and stacked the biggest rocks I could move around my tires. If I was at Dead Cow during a wind event I would dig holes for the wheels and push them into the holes. I have seen pictures of Stearmans at NAS Millington landing field secured this way.
Geez. Great input, Steve. I bought latest and greatest version of FlyTies after all this info. But if things are going south fast, and you can't drive a spike in the ground...move around and dig some holes - pack some rocks. Yes I have a nice military camping shovel. Thx.
Here is a Picture of the tie downs I used at Dead Cow lake bed last week. Worked well, but next time I will look for longer nails. Mine were only about 12" long.