The International Cessna^® 170 Association

not sure what redneck method to pop beer caps off y'all use down there, but up in my neck of the prairie the preferred method makes use of the big belt buckle you won at a rodeo

I can imagine George's method either involves using a closed pocket knife and the heal of his hand to leverage the cap off, or maybe any convenient piece of furniture, table top etc to catch the edge of the cap, then strike the bottle top with the other. Now that I think about, beins George has Arkie kin, he may use his teeth

wingnut wrote:... beins George has Arkie kin, he may use his teeth

whut teeth?

Yeh, I know that guy/gal, he's/she's a cousin of cousin Bill Clinton

wingnut wrote:Yeh, I know that guy/gal, he's/she's a cousin of cousin Bill Clinton

NAH HESA DUBYA'S KISSIN CUSIN FRUM A ROUND CRAWFISH TX

If you ever think about leaving home without tiedowns, watch this. It's only 30 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-wjtP90 ... e=youtu.be

Yep, that would have won any short takeoff contest! And it demonstrates a good reason not to tie the stick back! Neutral elevator would not have done that. Of course tying it down would have been much better, if tiedowns were available.

And whoever took the time to set up that camera just might have had time to go tie it down or at least park a vehicle in front of the plane. Thanks a lot!

hilltop170 wrote:And whoever took the time to set up that camera just might have had time to go tie it down or at least park a vehicle in front of the plane. Thanks a lot!

I was thinking security camera...

I may have mentioned this before or in another thread but I have Abe's setup and like it. I've never had them in a real test. The only time my aircraft has been subjected to those types of winds as in the video was when an A320 taxied in front of me, stopped and then turned 90 Deg. to taxi to the threshold. Don't know if I was about to lift off as I had ducked below the glareshield but she was a Rocking.

hilltop170 wrote:Yep, that would have won any short takeoff contest! And it demonstrates a good reason not to tie the stick back! Neutral elevator would not have done that. Of course tying it down would have been much better, if tiedowns were available.

And whoever took the time to set up that camera just might have had time to go tie it down or at least park a vehicle in front of the plane. Thanks a lot!

Without a "control group" experiment, I don't know that's a valid observation Richard. It might be said that with neutral elevator it would have dropped onto it's nose/engine/prop since they are where the CG doubtless tends. (In any case, I imagine the airplane was heavily damaged as it appeared to be banking right as it drifted off-screen.)

Prop or Jet-blast likely caused this, and tie downs of ANY type would likely have helped (along with the fruit-cake operating the airplane ahead being aware of his blast.... that's the guy sharing responsibility, in my opinion,)

I agree with the suspicion that is a security-camera shot...not a photographer's subject. Thanks for the link, Miles.

George-
It's an opinion, not a statement of fact. But, I don't think it would have ever pitched-up to start with if it had not been for the controls tied back. It took max angle of attack to generate enough lift to take off. You can see several times it pitched-up then fell back level on its wheels before the final pitch-up which allowed it to lift off. It was obviously nose-heavy just sitting there. If the elevator had been neutral there would never have been any pitching up to start with. Of course, since the plane was not tied down, I agree if the wind/jet blast/prop blast had been high enough to generate enough lift, it still could have taken off or just blown across the ramp into something else. No argument tiedowns probably would have saved the plane.

Years ago, a big air taxi owner in Alaska who flew Cherokee Sixes never tied them down or tied the controls, just set the parking brake. His theory was if the wind is that strong, the plane will just turn into the wind and sit there. He never lost a plane to wind and they sat thru some pretty strong blows. I would not do that with my plane even if it was a Cherokee Six.

As for our 170s or any taildragger, tieing the controls back/elevator up will be a problem if there is a strong wind/jet blast/prop blast from behind which could nose-over the airplane if the tail is not tied down. That's one of the things I like about the 170A elevator. It is heavy enough to stay down on its own in a tailwind.

As for the camera, it probably is a security camera but it sure has a narrow field of view, almost like it was zoomed-in by an operator, which goes back to my original comment. Thanks a lot!