Keeping good airplanes down
Putting tiedowns to the test
Your airplane is tied down in the grass at a major fly-in and a line of thunderstorms is forecast to blow through overnight.
Photography by Chris Rose
Suddenly, your choice of tiedowns—a purchasing decision that might have seemed trivial at the time you made it—looms large.
On the grass outside AOPA headquarters, we hammered a variety of tiedowns into the soil to find out how they performed in a head-to-head contest. An engine hoist was used to pull each tiedown vertically out of the ground, and a digital scale recorded the force necessary to do so. These results are for a single tiedown; most are used in a set of three to secure an airplane.
- FlyTies is a light, compact system with a retail price of about $135. The FlyTies package consists of three puck-sized metal tiedowns, nine metal stakes, ropes, and a T-shaped tool for securing the stakes.
Pull strength: 285 pounds
- The Storage Shed Anchor from Lowe’s is a mass-market product with a retail price of about $60 for three stakes. The auger-style tie-downs are disallowed at some fly-ins because they can leave deep divots in the ground. They’re bulky and don’t include ropes or insertion tools, but they’re rugged and cost effective.
Pull strength: 500 pounds
- Everbilt Tie-Out Stakes from Home Depot have the lowest price of any of the stakes, tested at $24 for a set of three. They’re 17 inches long, bulky, and don’t include ropes or insertion tools, and the tiedown ring attached to the stake itself is flimsy. But tying down to the stake handle makes it much sturdier.
Pull strength: 500 pounds
- The Claw is an aviation-specific product with a retail price of about $140. The Claw consists of three neatly folded tiedowns, rope, nine metal stakes, and a hammer to bang the stakes into the ground. The Claw remained intact even after it was ripped out of the ground, and the stakes themselves were bent in the process.
Pull strength: 520 pounds
- The Big Screw tiedown system is available online for $180, and it’s the most expensive and delivered the best results of any of the products we tested. It consists of three 18-inch screws that burrow deep into the ground, several high-quality straps that attach to the airplane without having to tie knots, and a carrying case. Each Big Screw has a 1-inch hex head so it can be driven in and out of the ground with a wrench, not a hammer.
Pull strength: 620 pounds
AOPA Publications staff
AOPA Publications Staff editors are pilots, flight instructors, and aircraft owners with more than 250 years of combined aviation experience.
