Chapter 245 Tiedown Rules

Introduction

EAA Chapter 245 provides tiedown facilities to its full members for use with their aircraft.  Chapter 245 has chosen to implement rules for the use of these tiedowns in order to maintain an attractive environment for pilots, participants and visitors.  The rules are also in place to maintain safe operation of aircraft and vehicular traffic operating on club property.

Rules

1. Only members who are of Full Membership status, and in good standing, are permitted to use, or benefit the use of, tiedowns, except for itinerant users preferably from other EAA chapters. (Note: to be in good standing membership requires a current membership with EAA Headquarters in Oshkosh).
2. Payment for tiedown spaces must be made in advance of tiedown utilisation.
3. All aircraft parking shall be under the control and supervision of a nominated (elected or appropriate) chapter member, “aircraft parking officer”, and will usually be the operations manager. He shall be familiar with aircraft operations and frequents the chapter area.
4. All members renting a tie down shall abide by the rules set out in this instruction, and at the request(s) of the aircraft parking officer. Failure to do so can result in immediate removal of the offending aircraft, revocation of parking privileges, and a refund of any remaining monies that were paid for aircraft tiedown.
5. Tiedown fees shall be set annually by the executive committee.
6. The aircraft parking officer shall assign aircraft parking spaces and keep a record of the these as annex A to these instructions.
7. All members renting tiedowns shall read these instructions and sign the waiver of responsibility (Annex B), excluding chapter 245 from any legal responsibilities re: personal aircraft, or automotive damage, whilst personnel, aircraft, or automobiles are on chapter 245 property.
8. All members renting tiedowns shall provide proof of insurance to the aircraft parking officer.
9. All members renting tiedowns are responsible for keeping their tiedowns and surrounding areas neat and clean, with grass cut on a regular basis.
10. Members may use snow clearing and grass cutting equipment for the purpose of maintaining their allocated tiedown space.  Members are encouraged to maintain the property beyond the extent of their tiedown space to maintain a good club appearance.
11. Members are encouraged to occasionally replenish the fuel consumed by the maintenance equipment.
12. There is no formal garbage collection at the chapter facility.  Members are encouraged to take garbage home on occasion to facilitate the removal of garbage.  Historically this falls on the operations manager and members are needed to relieve him/her of this burden.
13. On completion of hangar usage, members are required to make clean the area in which they were conducting work on their aircraft.
14. Use of the hangar facility is strictly for use by the chapter for aviation related events and shall not be used for other purposes except by approval from the Operations manager or members of the executive.

Aircraft Parking Instructions

1. aircraft shall be parked and tied down in (two) facing rows and along the existing tie‑down cables provided until those spaces are fully occupied, after which the aircraft parking officer will designate additional tiedown spaces.
2. aircraft wings shall be tied to the tiedown cable, or suitable anchor, with rope, cable, or equivalent provided by the member. The rope, cable, or equivalent, shall be capable of withstanding a pull up of not less than 2000 lbs. Tie down rope/cables shall not use open ended hooks for attachment to the aircraft or tiedown anchors as these may work loose and come undone in conditions of high wind.
3. the aircraft tail shall be tied‑down with not less than two corkscrews type tie‑downs firmly screwed into the soil or a permanent anchor approved by the aircraft parking officer. The tail tie‑down rope, cable, or equivalent shall be capable of withstanding a pull of not less than 1000 lbs.
4. Tiedown spaces in the two rows immediately facing each other is intended for single engine aircraft of less than 2000 pounds empty weight.
5. Aircraft with conventional undercarriage (taildraggers) should favour being parked in the North facing row(s) whilst tricycle undercarriage aircraft shall favour being faced in the South facing row(s). This provides for the safety of conventional undercarriage aircraft to face closer into the prevailing wind.
6. Members renting tie‑down spaces, may park their cars at their aircraft parking space provided this does not interfere with the with aircraft movements. Cars shall come to a full stop prior to crossing aircraft taxiways, shall give way to taxiing aircraft, use four-way flashers, in all aircraft movement areas.
7. No one shall drive on the row hangar pavement unless they are an owner of one of the row subject hangars.

Tie-Down Courtesy

While EAA Chapter 245 has a formal “Code of Conduct” for those tying their aircraft at the chapter, there’s also room for us all to be better neighbours while utilizing our excellent chapter grounds.  To that end, some suggestions are included here to help highlight how we can make all our lives around the chapter more pleasant.

Tiedown Hardware

Tiedown ropes, chains, clevises etc are all part of the good stuff we use to keep our aircraft held fast against the howling wind.  Unfortunately, all those pieces of hardware are awfully hard on grass cutting and snow removal equipment.  The risk of flying debris injuring personnel or damaging aircraft is very high. The risk (and cost) of equipment breakage is also very high. 

Please take the time to ensure your tiedown hardware is secure and is neatly bundled and in a predictable location.  A long streamer of rope lying in the grass is invisible.  Coil it up and tie the coil up out of the grass so it is both visible and out of the way.

Grass, oh that dang grass!

If you are tying your airplane down at EAA Chapter 245, you are responsible for cutting grass both UNDER and AROUND your aircraft.  While you’re at it, cut some more grass.  Our chapter survives on volunteer labour.  Do a little more than the minimum, become a net contributor.  It only takes a few minutes to mow a pretty big swath with the chapter lawn tractor.  This will help us avoid burning out a few of the folks who very kindly spend a lot of time mowing for the benefit of all members.

Prop Blast (We ARE a Windy Bunch!)

It doesn’t matter the season, moving airplanes around is always a challenge.  Our natural response to those challenges is typically to open the throttle a bit (or maybe a lot) further and power our way from our tiedown spot.  This generally is a bad idea on hard surfaces and an even worse idea on soft surfaces.  The probability of prop damage increases seemingly exponentially with RPM – that gets expensive really fast. 

Looking beyond the issues of damaging our own airplanes, we must give consideration to everything and everybody who is getting blasted by the wind coming from our props.  All those grass clippings that are behind your airplane... where are they going?  Many times, they end up going under the doors of the row hangars creating a huge mess there.  The same thing happens in the winter – there’s an amazing amount of snow which becomes a veritable blizzard behind an airplane using maximum breakaway power.  Where’s all that snow going?  We sure don’t want it being blown into the nooks and crannies of another airplane, or a hangar, or some poor innocent bystanders face. 

Please, be considerate of others.  Try to the greatest extent possible to move your airplane by hand rather than trying to use the mighty Lycoming to haul our aircraft from the ruts into which it has sunk.

Speaking of Ruts...

Our grounds at EAA Chapter 245 are quite lovely by almost anybody’s standards.  The grass is lush in the summer and there’s always some kind soul who does their best in the winter to keep snow removed to facilitate access by all chapter members.  Then there’s that nasty in-between season called spring, when our grounds often become a quagmire. 

Any damage we do to the entryway and surrounding grass, becomes a problem for all members.  Ruts very quickly fill with water which makes the ground even softer.  The problem quickly balloons from one tire track that’s muddy, to our entire entryway becoming impassable.

Please, please don’t be the inconsiderate person who ruins our lovely grounds.

If you DO happen to leave a rut, please take the time to squish it down and flatten it out.  Some of our members get tired of having to work to clean up the mess made by somebody who drove through the mud and just kept on driving without even looking back to see if they have damaged the grounds.

The Bathroom

Believe it or not, our chapter’s bathroom is not cleaned by a contract cleaning service.  Who would’a thunk that?  Please do your best to both keep the bathroom clean and to leave it cleaner than you found it.  It only takes just a little bit of effort after you’ve washed and dried your hands, to wipe up the vanity and sink.  If you’ve tracked dirt and gravel in on your shoes, get the broom and dustpan, sweep it up and leave the place in a state more comfortable for the next person.

Electricity

EAA Chapter 245, under the guidance of its hard-working executive members, delivers excellent value to its members by keeping membership costs low.  When we look at the operating costs of the chapter hangar one of the big cost drivers is our monthly electricity bill.  With this in mind, please be very cognizant of the fact that our workshop is heated electrically, so... don’t leave doors open!  Likewise with lighting and other electricity use.  The juice is there to be used, but if we can’t keep our costs under control the results won’t be pleasant.  Please close the doors, turn off the lights and DON’T assume that somebody else will do it for you.

Door Locks

We have always operated on a “last one out locks up” policy.  We’ve seen a few too many instances where the man door and/or hangar door has been left open or unlocked.  If you’re leaving, assume you are the “last one” and that you should lock up.  Don’t think that somebody working over in the row hangar is going to lock up the chapter hangar, or that somebody out working on their aircraft will lock up.  Unless you have asked them specifically, please just assume you’re the last person there and lock up (after you’ve turned out the lights!).

Garbage

Our chapter garbage is not picked up by the City of Ottawa, but rather is taken home by a few stalwart members who put it out to the curb with their own household garbage.  With this being the case, if you’re making garbage, make plans to dispose of it rather than leaving it for somebody else to clean up.  This is just common sense and common courtesy.

FOD

FOD, the bane of our existence.  Whatever you leave outside becomes FOD.  Wind blows it around, smashing it into things like fragile aircraft.  Prop blast blows it everywhere.  It often ends up blowing onto the taxiway or, even worse, the runway.  Please ensure that you leave nothing outside which might become FOD.  Airplanes are expensive to repair!

Communication

This one should be obvious, but it doesn’t seem to be.  If we see something that’s not right at the EAA Chapter 245 hangar we should be communicating that matter to the EAA 245 executive (info@eaa245.org reaches the entire executive).  If it’s something that we can fix on our own, just do it.  If it’s going to take a bigger effort, let’s make sure our chapter executive, and particular our chapter Operations officer ( ops@eaa245.org )  is aware. Don’t just walk away from it and think that somebody else will see the problem and fix it.  Take some ownership of the issue and its resolution, let the executive know so a fix can be organized.

Our chapter is a wonderful place for us to indulge our passion for aviation.  Let’s do our best to be good neighbours to our fellow chapter members, making it a better place for us all.

Annex A To Chapter 245 Aircraft Tiedown Instructions

Annex B To Chapter 245 Aircraft Tiedown Instructions

I…………………………………….. hereby absolve EAA chapter 245 (Ottawa) and any chapter executive on behalf of the said chapter from any responsibility for loss or damage to my aircraft, automobile, my person, member of my family, or guests, while on the property commonly known as chapter 245 property.  I also confirm I am a member of EAA in Wisconsin and in good standing.

EAA #....................................                                       Renewal Date………………….

Dated at ……………………………. this day………………………………….of…………………………