Comment

Comment by Richard Vetterli on March 8, 2009 at 10:41am

What did you use to cover the front bow of the rear turtle deck? I've been looking to do the same thing, but can't seem to find the right material.

Comment by Dr. Edward M. Moody II on March 8, 2009 at 9:35am

The four point harnesses are from Crow Enterprises ( http://www.crowenterprizes.com/ ) and while not dirt cheap, they are well made and have nice features. The shoulder harness attach point is one 5/16" hole centered behind each seat in the wierd shaped cross piece that is the front lip of the baggage area / upper seat back. I strengthened the bottom of that piece by doubling it with 2" x 2" x 1/8" extruded aluminum angle. I'll try to find a photo of that to post to my page. I have heard other builders warn about using a low attach point like this for shoulder harnesses claiming that it increases the chance of a fractured clavicle in a severe impact. I chose to go ahead with that anchor point because my belief is that I will have a lot of other issues to deal with long before I reach the point where the impact causes my collar bones to break. I may be far wrong but that was my decision. I see the harness mostly as a way to keep me seated securely while bumping around inflight or upon landing off-field.

Another issue is that to achieve a higher attach point, I would have had to add a lot of weight to get adequate strength from the top longerons to the higher attach point. I was not willing to do that. Also, if the shoulder harnesses attach higher, they obstruct access to the baggage area which for me is a good reachable place to stash charts, a water bottle etc. on a X-C flight.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Ed

Comment by Chris Sinfield on March 8, 2009 at 5:24am

Dred
did you do anything special for the rear seat belt attachment point , ie where it attaches and whos 4 point harness?
Chris