Alltrikes

We landed at Milford with the winds 18 knots, gusting to 23.   At least it was straight in.  10 miles to the north was a huge windmill farm, all of them spining wildly.   Note to self -- avoid airports next to windmill farms. 

Ibex Hard Pan was only 45 miles away, and with the 30 mph tail wind we had that morning, we would get there in no time at all.   We needed gas and I wasn't too keen on landing at Ibex in high winds anyway, so we landed here.   It was a struggle keeping the wing level taxing to the gas pump and tie down area.  We knew today was the windy day, and it would be much nicer tomorrow, so I suggested we hole up here and see if the winds died off near sunset.   The winds steadily climbed all day reaching 25, gusting to 30 knots. They finally dropped off to 12 knots an hour after sunset.   The pilots lounge was nice, so we camped there for the night and got an early start the next morning.

I had a lot of time to kill, so I experimented with various ways to tie down my trike in strong winds.  The picture shows what I came up with --  the wing level with nose pointed into the wind, seatbelt over the control bar and locked into place with a length of webbing, wings tied down on each side, and wheels chocked.   Later, I added a rope from the nose wheel to the tie down anchor in front to make sure there was no way the nose could tip up.