Jim,
Thanks for your in depth reply. Do you have any pictures of your belts by
chance?
Reg
Tony Renshaw
Sydney Australia
>
>Tony,
> Just elevate the stock shoulder harness attachment above your
>shoulders. Actually I threw away the Europa units. I purchased a set of
> Hooker Harness for both sides. I preferred the military style hook up
>for obvious safety and extraction reasons. This is an airplane, not a
>car. I also moved the shoulder harness attachment to the top of the
>airframe. This stops the compression of the spine in a sudden vertical
>or forward motion. With the original mounting, you will have a serious
>problem with vertical compression in a vertical and forward motion of the
>airframe in a crash situation. If you look at the movement of your body
>in a crash, you will move forward but will be restrained by the lap seat
>belt and the shoulder harness. With the restraining of forward motion
>using the shoulder harness, you will be forced downward because of the
>geometry of the stock mounting position (below the shoulder). Also, I
>sit in a seat that positions the body in a semi-reclined position. Thus,
>a very small possibility of needing the 5th point. Also, you need to
>keep the harness snug because you are positioned very close to the top,
>thus you need to keep attached snuggly to the airframe. I've already
>bumped my head during mild turbulence. You get very used to the snugness
>of the belt and begin to prefer it over the other style.
> Just my opinion but I'm getting to be an old, and not bold,
>pilot. Just my rantings, but with 20 + years flying helicopters, I've
>found a few truths in crashing (seven times). Don't want to do it in an
>airframe which must be kept moving forward to remain airborn. Thank
>goodness for our slow stall speed and the design of the forward lower
>fuselage. BTW the upward sloping portion of the fuselage in the footwell
>area is very good. A 90 degree position of the firewall to the bottom
>will dig in as you try to stop thus increasing the deceleration forces
>higher than you want. The slooping area lets you slide on with out
>digging in. We really have a pretty good design. But nothing is
>perfect. The shoulder harness mounting area is not good in my opinion.
>Just raise it about 3 to 4 inches.
>
>
>Jim Nelson
>N15JN
>
>
><tonyrenshaw@ozemail.com.au> writes:
>> <tonyrenshaw@ozemail.com.au>
>>
>> Gidday,
>> I am working on my cockpit module and am wondering about a 5 point
>> harness.
>> I know some may think this overkill, but I fly an a/c now that only
>> has a 4
>> point, and there is a natural tendency as your shoulder harness
>> tightens
>> under load for your lapstrap to ride up above your hips. To achieve
>> a safe
>> outcome your lapstrap would have to be uncomfortably tight always.
>> So, the
>> problem arises in an impact where your abdomen is exposed to forces
>> supposed to be contained by your lapstrap, but they aren't. So, I
>> want to
>> know if anyone has fitted a crutch strap and if so where it was
>> mounted,
>> either on the vertical face of the thigh support, or was it
>> accomodated in
>> the first 4-6" of the front portion of the thigh support on the seat
>> long
>> axis, or where? Any quick advice would be kindly appreciated.
>> Reg
>> Tony Renshaw
>> Sydney Australia
>>
>>
>>
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