On the other side of the tie-down coin, a CPL of my acquaintance once had a very early morning winter charter in inland Australia. The C310 was parked on a reasonably bumpy bit of land and it was not unknown to need a bit of power to get rolling any aircraft which were parked there. Anyway, somewhere in the untie routine he got distracted and the pax boarded the 310, still in darkness. He started up, and noticed that the aircraft was reluctant to move, but the 310 was fully loaded and the ground was rough so he applied more power..and more power..and still more power. Eventually the 310 did move (rather quickly, I imagine)...but only after he'd torn the tail tie-down off. He was a careful pilot/instructor, and the lesson I took from his experience was to be extra thorough when your defence is low and, in truth, when your brain is a bit slow.
Last edited by tecman; 1st Mar 2013 at 11:50.