“Unbelievable. Not chains. Nylon straps. Now, I could be wrong, but I don’t think those straps have what it takes over time to secure a plane in anything less than a calm sea (which is what it was in the video)”
Just FYI, materials science has advanced to the point that synthetic textile straps can exceed chain strength, to the point where even in civilian life in the US, tow “chains” have been replaced with tow straps. The only thing a strap doesn’t do better is spool on a winch, but there are now synthetic ‘ropes’ used to replace steel chain and steel cable in many winch applications.
The US military has slowly started to replace chains with straps where applicable - the in-plane cargo tie down chains have been replaced in part by the CGU-1/B strap system, for example: https://www.skygeek.com/military-specification-cgu-1-b-tie-down-cargo-aircraft.html
https://www.wbparts.com/rfq/1670-00-725-1437.html
https://www.army.mil/article/96140/helicopter_loading_system_lightens_burden_on_soldiers
Yes, I do keep in mind that technology may have changed in that respect. Still, a 20 ton plane on a pitching deck in the North Atlantic seems like chains would be more reliable (especially compared to those straps I saw that had a lot of slack in them)
But yes. I could be an old fossil in this area.
A dozen or so of these tie down straps followed me home when I retired from the Air Force. Best strap I ever found for pulling someone’s pickup out of the ditch on a snowy Michigan winter day. The quality is top rate, no comparison with the crap Harbor Freight sells.