Stan, you said:
One other thing, which is about the only thing I would change, is to experiment with making the crossmember a bit wider,
maybe 22" which would allow the nose wheel to be turned more before the wheel pant touches the plastic
tubing encased rope. Still, what we have is working fine.
How about using nylon straps instead of plastic encased rope? I use my motorcycle straps to winch-in my own plane in my hangar. These are straps i use to also tie down my motorcycle in my truck bed. You can buy these at a bike shop, or auto parts store, perhaps even Walmart. The straps have a little give in them and that absorbs the harsh jerks. The straps have a soft feel and won’t mar your wheel pant (or a motorcycle’s finish.) You could loop it through the hole on the spreader bar and therefore have twice the strength. They come with rubber-coated hooks designed to not scratch up a motorcycle’s handlebars. (You wouldn’t want to scratch up the eyelets on your tow-bar now, would you?
Also, we haven’t tried this on ice yet. We have some concern that the plane might try to get a little crosswise on ice.
But we figure as long as we are going straight enough it shouldn’t be an problem. Usually the ice is only in
patches anyway. Stan
Ah, this is where it would have been nice to be able to winch-in by the tail tie-down, but that’s a no-no in Cirrus-land! Even using the step, perhaps, would make the pull-in more controllable. I really doubt that your set-up will be a real issue, as you say, if you kept the plane going straight to begin with. Heck you’d have to be wearing ice crampons on your feet if it were that bad!
-Hal