Taking my first flight for pleasure this weekend from Melbourne to Tampa… short flight but will be staying over night. I think I missed warnings or cautions about towing the airplane. Can the toebars used by most FBOs work perfectly ok with the SR20, or are there problems that should be expected? The FBO I am visiting is a big VIP FBO but I am not sure whether it is ok to let them toe it and park it after after we disembark or not. Any problems in this regard? Thanks.
John,
I hope the FBO uses a towbar and not a toebar (which sounds pretty unpleasant).[:)]
http://www.sltrib.com/2002/sep/09182002/utah/182307.htm
Seriously, we’ve never had a problem with the towbars used by FBOs. A great number of places are Cirrus-savvy these days. Just have a chat with the line manager if you want to be sure.
Cheers,
Roger
Here’s a fix for the problem with towbar popping off nose gear. (picture attached)
In reply to:
Seriously, we’ve never had a problem with the towbars used by FBOs. A great number of places are Cirrus-savvy these days. Just have a chat with the line manager if you want to be sure.
Yes… and no. Overall, I’d disagree with my esteemed friend Roger on this one; or rather, my experience has been different. Yes, they know HOW to use the towbar (and they probably are pretty effective with toebars, too). The problem is that NOBODY will treat your airplane with the same respect that presumably YOU would.
I learned the hard way – got my nose wheel pant pretty dinged up, despite begging and pleading with the FBOs to treat my baby carefully. Almost a year ago, I had the wheel pant repainted and re-striped, and since then I haven’t let ANYONE else touch it. I’m the only one who puts the towbar on, or takes it off. When I park the airplane on the ramp when I’m away from home, I attach the towbar, and put a big sign in the window that says “HAND TOW ONLY. DO NOT REMOVE TOWBAR. ANY QUESTIONS CALL…”
A side-benefit is that often, ramp personnel will move a King Air or a Citation to make room for a Cherokee, rather than move my airplane… because they can use the power tug. So my airplane gets messed with much less.
Almost a year with nary a scratch or a ding so far.
YMMV…
Mike.
The problem is that NOBODY will treat your airplane with the same respect that presumably YOU would.
Mike,
I agree 100%. I do feel happiest at places where I get to tie the airplane down myself.
Cheers,
Roger
Mike,
I have found that many of the line personnel are as you describe, i.e. they are simply not too concerned about the stripes on your wheel pant. Others have a sincere concern for your aircraft and a real willingness to handle it carefully, but things still happen just out of a lack of familiarity with the airplane. Even the most well intentioned people can accidentally mess it up. Right now, I am in the process of making up three or four of the ‘dashboard signs’ you mentioned in an earlier post. I have found that a couple of hours after I leave the FBO, a new set of line personnel show up that never seem to get the instructions you left behind.
Could you do me the favor of posting the sign messages you use? I am sure others could benefit as well.
Thanks in advance.
Heck Roger, over here in Oz, you’d be flat out getting anybody else to do it for you! Often you have to bang your own pegs into the ground!
Clyde,
Quite so. We Yanks are often a bunch of provinicial galahs.
Are tiedowns lacking even at busy airports like Bankstown, or is it just a problem when you fly to the back of beyond?
Cheers,
Roger
Roger, I’ve never flown into Bankstown, so I can’t speak about it, but e.g. at Archerfield which is comparable to Bankstown, the parking is mostly on grass (the sealed parking areas are reserved for local aircraft or turboprops) but some of it does have tiedown cables. At other airports it varies, some have sealed parking areas with tiedown cables (i.e. steel cables running across the parking area and anchored to the ground) others have grass tiedowns, or just grass parking with no permanent tiedown facilities. I have never been anywhere in Australia where FBO staff parked or tied the plane down, and finding hangar space for an overnight stay is rare (except at one strip where a friend of mine owns the sole hangar!)
The kind of full-service FBO that is common in the US is very uncommon here. I was stunned by some of the FBOs I came across in the US - e.g the one at Mammoth Lakes.
In reply to:
Could you do me the favor of posting the sign messages you use? I am sure others could benefit as well.
Greg,
Here you go.
The two TOW signs are laminated back-to-back, as are the two FUEL signs. I put both in the window.
Mike.
Mike I am also trying to open the file and unable any help please Thanks fromDon
Thanks, Mike. I do not have Power Point here at home, but I have it at the office, I can open it on my PC there without any problem.
In reply to:
Mike I am also trying to open the file and unable any help please.
Don,
It’s a Powerpoint file – do you have Powerpoint installed?
Mike.
Mike, I’m having trouble also. It’s behaving like a 0-byte file. I have PowerPoint running and I can get other PowerPoint attachments through my browser (your CAPS pix presentation).
Cheers
Rick
No maike I only have power piont on my nosecone of my SR20 And it can not read it can only go fast thru the air thanks anyways From Don
In reply to:
Mike, I’m having trouble also. It’s behaving like a 0-byte file. I have PowerPoint running and I can get other PowerPoint attachments through my browser (your CAPS pix presentation).
Hmmm… really not sure why this is. Did you try downloading the file first, then running it? I just downloaded it, to make sure that it comes in with some size (it does - 13.5 kb). Just in case it’s a compatibility issue, I’m attaching it again, this time saved in Powerpoint 95 instead of Powerpoint 2000 format.
Let me know…
Mike.
In reply to:
Did you try downloading the file first, then running it?
That works.
Steve, can you check what mime type is associated with that attachment? Both versions have .ppt extensions and my browser is set to open with PowerPoint, but somehow the browser behaves as if it has cached the file but never tells PowerPoint about it!
Cheers
Rick
A search on the members forum for “Hand tow” for the last 6 months works too.
Greg, Don, others…
I redid it in Word format… should make life a little easier.
Mike.
Thanks Mike I can now open it but nothing on the two pages they are blank thanks for trying.from Don