Warning [X(] !!!!!

Noobie alert

Prepare to roll your eyeballs outta your head .

I'm building a plane restraint for use at the field/testing engines in the plane/flight-line etc and I have an uber-simple question.

How high should the support be (from ground level) for the uprights ? I have a tail-dragger trainer but I want this thing tall enough so that as I advance it'll be high enough for tricycle - gear equipped planes. But no Giant scale stuff as I don't ever see going there.

Generally speaking, how high does the top of the elevator sit above ground level at it's "max" for your most typical planes ?

Muchos thankos !!!!

Joe14580,
When I started flying 10 years ago I spent 3 weekends building a restraint system too. After a season or two it broke and I had to decide to rebuild it or find something else to use. I've found that a tent stake and a length of rope to be the best restraint that I've seen. It holds just about any size plane back without worrying of slipping. And it's priced right, about 75ΒΆ for the entire rig.

Well, that's my 2ΒΆ worth

Ken

Right on KEN !!! but now it's up to $0.77. ENJOY !!! RED

An inexpensive and ready made restraint is a screwdriver and an inexpensive dog leash that has a little metal ring on one end and the loop hand hold on the other. Just stick the screwdriver through the metal ring into the ground and take the loop end under the left horizontal stabilizer, up over he back part of the fuse right in front of the fin, then down under the right half of the stabilizer. Then just drop the loop over the screwdriver. Simple and cheap yet effective.

Sounds as though you are more interested in a wing restaint for getting your plane started and ready to fly?

16" high if you are going to use two pipes stuck in the ground. That should take care of your needs from now on?

If you are going to build a stand, the airplane is usually 30" off the ground.

Enjoy,

Jim

That's pretty similar to what we use at our field, except that it's a hook connected to the tables. Works like a charm.

Here's what I use... some 3/4 inch copper pipe, 2 elbows... make a'U' shape as wide and as tall as you need. Get some 3/8 inch threaded rod and cut off a 12 inch section. Get two nuts and two washers that fit onto the threaded rod. Drill a hole through the horizontal part of the 'U'.

Run a nut and washer onto the end of the rod , put it though the hole in the pipe, put another washer and nut on the end of the rod and tighten them down on the pipe...Should have something that looks more like a 'Y' now.

Use foam pipe insulation on the arms of the 'y' to protect your plane.


insert it into the ground and put your airplane into it to hold it back. Works OK for the average 40-60 size airplane and if the ground is hard or rocky... use an FBH.... (Flipping Big Hammer)

BE VERY CAREFUL HERE. I saw a guy lose a fingertip as well suffer lacerations because the commercial "Y" shaped tail hold, didn't hold his airplane. If the tail moves up and over the hold down, the plane is coming toward you. I prefer the rope method. Once intially adjusted and fastented by a screwdriver or stake into the ground, it's pretty foolproof and secure. One think I like about it is that it holds very securely and when I need to release the plane, I can do it from behind the prop. This is something you don't want to get wrong.

Safe flying,

Tom

And you can release the plane without having to pick it up. That is one thing I have always disliked about restraint systems like those described above. You have to lift the plane up to remove it from the restraint. And with the motor running it just takes one small slip to cause injury. With rope and a tent stake I just lift the rope loop off of the stake and the plane comes right out of the rope.

Just another 2ΒΆ worth. So I guess that makes me up to 4ΒΆ now!!!

Ken

there are many methods in use. there is a commercial availible u shape with stake ( midwest MFGD I think) ive used with no problem. as well as home made wood tail restraints with large spikes& door hinges requiring you to pull the model back some before the brace drops backward. a comercial unit was availible several years ago. any time your engine is running you must exercise caution regardless.
the dog collar snap works too with a length of commercial heavy fish cable swegged to it. snap goes around the nose gear or tail wheel.

1 more way.
A 2' stake that has at least a 1' inside diameter eye is driven into the ground so that only the eye is above ground.

Put the biggest plane in the club ahead of it with about 3' between the end of the tail and the eye.

Tie 1 end of 1/4"synthetic rope to the eye. Take the rope over the right elevator, then over the right wing, down and under the belly, up the otherside, over the left wing, back and over the left elevator, tie it to the eye.

A smaller version should be built for the 1/2 A's.

NO WINGS or DELTAS go into these as there is no vertical tail to stop a slip off.

I saw a real neat and easy one in a recent issue of Fly RC or MAN.
It is essentially a large dual metal hook designed to hang a bicycle from the rafters in the garage.
Just nail it to the ground and hook your hroz stab in it.
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