Aircraft technical Basics: Introduction to Airplanes - Navy Training Courses Edition of 1944: Chapter 10 Anchoring and Mooring

CHAPTER 10 ANCHORING AND MOORING

ANCHOR GEAR

Modern seaplanes and patrol boats are furnished with COLLAPSIBLE ANCHORS made of nonmagnetic, corrosion-resistant steel. Most such anchors are very much ALIKE IN APPEARANCE, but they will VARY IN SIZE according to the holding power required.

What is the anchor equipment for a small sea-plane? There's the ANCHOR itself, an ample length of manila LINE attached to the anchor with SHACKLES, and such necessary plane attachments as the FLOAT CLEAT AND RING BOLT, strapped to the lower end of the FORWARD FLOAT STRUT. On a small plane you don't need a reel for the anchor line. If and when such a plane is converted for land use, the anchor gear is removed entirely, and the anchor stowage space is available for other purposes.

More and heavier anchor equipment is needed for bigger aircraft, such as the PBY patrol plane.

You find a 30-POUND ANCHOR in a PBY, for instance, with an ANCHOR REEL, 150 feet of 1/4-inch corrosion-resistant wire CABLE, a mooring and anchoring PENDANT equipped with a "lizard," and PLANE ATTACHMENTS of the kind required for securing and operating the anchor gear. A WINCH for handling the anchor cable is provided with the reel. Other parts of the winch are the gearing, a brake, hand crank or electric motor - maybe both, sheaves to guide the anchor line, and a "level winding" device or the equivalent. There is plenty of space on the REEL to hold ALL THE ANCHOR CABLE, regardless of how adverse winding conditions may be, or what winding method you have to use on the spur of the moment.

There are GUARDS around the reel and gearing. They are put there to PREVENT INJURY to persons using the equipment. And the brake is placed in a spot where it can be applied without danger of the hand crank flying around and CONKING THE OPERATOR.

An ANCHOR CABLE CLAMP, called a "come along," will be found with the anchor gear. It is used in transferring the load from the anchor ring or mooring to the PENDANT, thus relieving the tension on the anchor winch. The pendant is strong enough to stand plenty of tension. By examining figure 34 you can readily identify these items of anchor gear. The "come along" clamp should also be used while "breaking out" the anchor to prevent excessive strain on the winch. Some winches are not designed to absorb heavy shocks.

Anchor stowage in seaplanes is very PLAIN because of the simplicity of the gear. In patrol planes it must of necessity to be more ELABORATE, as you can observe in figure 35 which shows the approved stowage of anchor gear for the PBY.

Suppose you're anchoring a seaplane.

The ANCHOR LINE is broken out of stowage and the end SHACKLED TO THE RING BOLT. Next from the compartment comes the ANCHOR. You unfold it by first pulling up the FLUKES and then the SCANTLINGS until the catch engages. When the plane is just where it ought to be, LOWER THE ANCHOR AS THE PILOT CUTS THE ENGINE. Now run the line through the anchoring cleat and secure it. When it's time to weigh anchor, all you'll have to do is reverse the procedure, although you may

Figure 34.-Anchor gear for a PBY.

need a little help from the engine in breaking the anchor loose from the bottom.

ANCHORING and GETTING UNDER WAY in patrol planes are considerably more detailed operations, and the procedure varies considerably according to the type of plane, its anchoring gear, and the way in which gear is stowed. Take a PBY, for instance, so you can follow through on operations as you approach the anchorage. Are you aboard i Keep referring to figure 34, and -

Obtain the WINCH CRANK.

See that the REEL is locked.

Stand on the MOORING PLATFORM. Remove the ANCHOR from the box and UNFOLD it.

Figure 35.-Stowage of anchor gear for a PBY.

DROP THE ANCHOR over the side, threading the cable through the RUN provided on the mooring platform.

Using the BRAKE, allow cable to feed out SLOWLY to the desired length.

LOCK the reel, and ATTACH THE CLAMP on the mooring pendant to the anchor cable.

Allow cable to FEED OUT, while you're controlling the brake, until entire anchor pull is taken by the mooring pendant.

Leave enough SLACK to insure that no pull will be placed on the reel's lock mechanism. LOCK the reel, and SECURE all loose gear.

If the anchor can not be broken loose with the WINCH, you can break it loose with the engine. Be sure the strain is taken up by the pendant - NOT by the reel. After the anchor is free of the bottom, the gear must be stowed. Take another look at figure 35, and

UNLOCK the reel.

CRANK IN the cable until the clamp on mooring pendant attached to cable is accessible from the mooring platform.

Loci( the reel.

RELEASE the clamp on the cable.

UNLOCK the reel.

CRANK IN the cable until anchor hangs just below the mooring pendant.

LOCK the reel.

LIFT the anchor over the mooring platform, then fold and stow it.

DON'T try to lift the anchor out of the water and up over the side while the plane has WAY UPON HER through the water. Sure as shooting, the sharp point of the anchor will be THROWN IN AND TOWARD the hull, and you'll unintentionally become a full-fledged SABOTEUR. Now

STOW the mooring pendant in the place provided for it in the compartment.

SECURE all gear.

LOCK the reel.

MOORING GEAR

When seaplanes and patrol boats are engaged on extended flight operations they are seldom anchored. Instead they are MOORED. One of the jobs performed by aircraft tenders is the planting of heavy moorings at locations expected to be occupied by the operating units. Hence anchoring is necessary only at INTERMEDIATE points.

Heavy moorings are sometimes anchored PERMANENTLY at a base. At other times they are planted TEMPORARILY in an anchorage by a tender acting in advance of the operating units. Moorings consist of an ANCHOR weighing about 500 pounds, a 5/8- or 3/4-inch WIRE CABLE, a SPHERICAL BUOY, and a RIDING PENDANT made of about 5/8-inch wire to which is attached a length of MANILA LINE and a wooden MARKER FLOAT, or BUOY. Each end of the cable is provided with an eye splice. One end is shackled to the anchor, the other end to the buoy. Figure 36 shows you the gear.

Figure 36.-Mooring gear.

The RIDING PENDANT is usually about 1 fathom (6 feet, if you weren't sure) in length and also has eye splices at either end. One end of the riding pendant is shackled to the buoy. The other end is used for shackling to the plane's mooring pendant, and is attached to the marker buoy by about 10 feet of manila line. You will find a RING at the top of the mooring buoy. It is used for picking up the buoy and also is useful as a temporary fitting to which a line may be secured until the mooring pendant is firmly attached to the anchor pendant. Sometimes ADAPTERS, which will fit over the mooring buoy ring, are available. If so, they are for securing temporary lights to help avoid fumbling in after-dark mooring operations.

It is important to keep in mind that the LENGTH of cable by which a mooring buoy is anchored should vary according to the anchorage, normally being about THREE TIMES the depth of the water. Too short a cable results in poor holding power, as it does not allow for changes in tide level or for heavy seas, and sometimes permits the plane to ride UPON the buoy - a matter that can cause serious damage.

On SEAPLANES, a line attached and led in the same manner as an anchor line - but secured to the buoy instead of an anchor - serves as a mooring pendant. On PATROL PLANES, the anchoring pendant serves as the mooring pendant.

When you're aboard a patrol plane and approaching for mooring, the pilot brings your craft toward the buoy SLOWLY - from DOWNWIND - and maneuvers with controls and engines to bring the buoy close aboard the PORT BOW. Members of the crew - wearing life jackets - have all gear in readiness and are set to go to work from the mooring platform or rail. Someone should have an AUXILIARY manila line with HOOK attached, ready to pick up the buoy by means of the ring. When the line is passed through the ring and the plane temporarily secured, it is time to stop the engines.

The marker buoy is picked up next, so that the buoy pendant can be reached and shackled to the plane's mooring pendant. Then you can cast off the manila line from the buoy ring, because

YOU'RE MOORED.

Under extreme conditions you may also be called upon to secure the towing bridle to the buoy pendant. Another extra precautionary measure sometimes used when the weather's really bad is to drop the regular anchor in addition to mooring. If you're operating from a patrol plane, take care that the anchor cable is placed so that it won't foul the mooring gear if the plane swings in a shifting wind.

In unmooring a patrol plane, be sure to wear your LIFE JACKET if you're going to be working OUTSIDE the hull. First make ready all gear and tools. Then the auxiliary manila line should be passed through the buoy ring and both ends of the line secured. With the aid of the lizard, the mooring pendant is raised and unshackled from the buoy pendant. The airplane may then be permitted to drift back by allowing one part of the manila line to slip through the buoy ring. Keep a strain on the line as you drift. Get all your gear stowed while the engines are being started. When they're purring, the airplane may be taxied away from the buoy by freeing one end of the manila line and hauling in on the other end to clear it from the buoy ring.