Seat belt/harness physiological considerations

[steveinindy]

upside-down V cabane in front of the cockpit for wing brace wire attach, and that should be good rollover protection

The issue with a "v-shape" is that they tend to "dig in" especially on soft soil thereby negating the head protection. It's the same issue with some of the common "roll bars" used in canopy equipped aircraft. In the latter case, the roll bars are often too narrow or weak to provide sufficient protection. It's a "lose-lose" situation in many cases.

What airplane are you building just out of curiosity? I love the WWI and earlier birds.

[WLIU]

Best of luck Mr. King.

"Of course, you have to remember that these are the same people who believe a lap belt is suitable to protect folks in a 140 knot crash landing....just sayin'...." EVERYTHING in an airplane is a trade-off. An airplane that was 100% crash impact safe would not be able to fly.

I will relate an incident that I witnessed at Reno some years ago. One of the biplane guys, in a modified Mong Racer, came screaming aroung to the Start Pylon at full tilt boogie, ready to start his qualifying lap. Rocked the wings to signal the timing crew and ran into some turbulence as he passed the Start Pylon. Started to porpoise and descended into the desert floor at full speed. Little bits of colored airplane went everywhere like someone had thrown a box of toothpicks up. People ran. The Life Flight Helicopter started up and taxi-ed over. People stopped running. The Life Flight Helicopter shut down. All us spectators felt really really bad as it was obvious that the pilot was toast. Finally the Life Flight helicopter started up and flew off towards Reno, race staff went back to work, and flying resumed. 45 minutes later flying on the race course stopped and some pickup trucks went out to the crash area and people started walking around. The announcer came on the air to explain that the folks out by the Start Pylon were looking for a shoe. The announcer explained that the pilot was at Reno General Hospital with a broken clavicle and minor cuts and bruises, but has lost one shoe in the crash. The the race crew was out looking for the pilot's shoe....

So our airplanes might be stronger than you think in a crash, and those flimsy looking belts might work good enough, although a little luck certainly helps. That Mong hit the ground going well over 140mph. The desert was very forgiving that morning.

Fly safe,

Wes
N78PS

[steveinindy]

"Of course, you have to remember that these are the same people who believe a lap belt is suitable to protect folks in a 140 knot crash landing....just sayin'...." EVERYTHING in an airplane is a trade-off. An airplane that was 100% crash impact safe would not be able to fly.

Of course, but I was simply pointing out that some of the things the FAA thinks are "OK" or "just fine" aren't backed up by science that wasn't relegated to the dustbin for any other group around the time the Marines were trying to hold the perimeter around Pusan. Lap belts are a marginal answer but a horizontal chest strap is going to probably cause more trouble than it's worth.

So our airplanes might be stronger than you think in a crash, and those flimsy looking belts might work good enough, although a little luck certainly helps. That Mong hit the ground going well over 140mph. The desert was very forgiving that morning.

I think I remember hearing about that crash or one very similar. Most airplanes are/can be made more than strong enough to survive even a 150 knot impact. That is an excellent example of it. The best one I have witnessed personally was a Mooney that came to a stop from about 100 knots in less than the length of the plane. I was the first EMT on the scene. The pilot and all passengers were out and started walking towards us. I asked if they were hurt. The pilot responded with "I need to replace my pants and need some help removing the seat cushion from my ***. That landing involved some serious pucker factor". I am a big believer that any crash you can walk, crawl or be dragged away from in a reparable condition is a good one.

[Frank Giger]

The emphasis that it is the pilot that should be in repairable condition, naturally!



I don't care if my precious bird is a mess of tubing that looks like a bucky-ball in the event of mishap so long as I'm able to roll it onto a recovery truck myself.