Aircraft Parking Wing spoilers

[Bruce]

With today's storm damage at Ardmore, I was thinking about how my Adventurer spent 2 winters parked outside at Hamilton Airport, enduring storms and gales. To keep it safe I not only made sure it was very well tied down and checked it regularly, I also made a set of spoilers to fit on top of the wings, killing most of the lift that the wind could generate. I shared the design on Facebook today and friends encouraged me to share this on the forum for wider use. I cant guarantee that they would have prevented the damage the extreme conditions at Ardmore caused, and I'm certainly not implying anything about tie down techniques (all aircraft were well secured I understand) but it may be a useful idea worth sharing:

I built these spoilers out of pool noodles (Plastic foam tubes that kids play with in swimming pools), 25mm dowelling, some bungee cord and a few miscellaneous fittings, all of which I could buy very cheaply at my local "Large Green shed" hardware supplier. They dont mark paintwork (although some of the colour did run from the Bungee cord...) and can be fitted in a few minutes if strong winds are expected. the diagrams and photos pretty well explain how they go together....











You are more than welcome to share this idea around if it is helpful - Its an inxpensive way to get a bit more peace of mind if your aircraft is outside. A nice hangar like CKE now has is still the best option though!

[isc]

With some of the breezes they had up north today I think that even a hangar might not be safe shelter, but I like your idea. isc

[andre]

Look at the video footage of one of the flips, I was surprised to see that it was the tail that caused the flip. Possibly from locking the controls slightly aft and parked tail first into the wind??

[scrooge]

Maybe, or just that the tail itself was not tied down, and the wind got under it and once it started to lift more surface was exposed and the aircraft pivoted around the wing tie-downs. If it is a C150/C152/C172/C182/C206 etc then the elevator/aileron lock is a pin through the control column and would give slightly nose down positioning if facing into wind.

[FlyingKiwi]

Unfortunately, when the massive gust in the video above came through, the wind swung through about 120 degrees, so the aircraft that were flipped went from a quartering headwind to an almost direct tailwind. I was standing inside just to the left of the video above and I actually moved to take cover because I thought the windows in the building were going to blow in. Strongest wind I've ever seen in my life. It's been described as a tornado but I actually think it was probably a microburst more likely.

I think the idea Bruce posted regarding the spoilers is definitely a sound one and has obviously worked for you - I'm not sure they would have helped in this case necessarily but they would definitely fix the more common problem of the aircraft simply taking off because the wind is beyond minimum flying speed!

[isc]

I seem to remember someone using foam mattresses on the wings to do a similar thing, might have been back in the 1950/60s, but the Noodles are a much more tidy looking arrangement. isc

[Dave Homewood]

In Hamilton the homeless people will steal the mattresses.

[ZacYates]

It's a long way to walk to snaffle up a mattress!

Great idea, Bruce. The Aero Club's Facebook page is adamant all aircraft were correctly tied-down and has requested no photos or video of the weather event or its aftermath be uploaded to the page.

[baronbeeza]

One of the storm damaged aircraft was recently put up for tender but the process is now on hold. A Cessna Skycatcher with damage to the tail and wings etc. Very low hours also, about 550 TSN.

[baronbeeza]

The tender documents have just been re-released. Closing date 26th Sept.





I am not familiar with the type but I expect that would be the kind of damage that may be (become) commonplace.
Perhaps repair schemes and spares are available.