Corbeau Shoulder harness??

[Brad Ripp]

I'm going to install an inertia reel shoulder harness system for the front seats and don't see where anyone has ever commented on the Corbeau harness. They seem quite a bit more inexpensive than others, so just wonder if anyone has seen a reason "Not" to use them.

[whee]

I'd never heard of them before so I looked them up. I don't see why they wouldn't work. I don't like the standard automotive buckle they use but that just a personal preference.

[whee]

I'd never heard of them before so I looked them up. I don't see why they wouldn't work. I don't like the standard automotive buckle they use but that just a personal preference.

[S Lathrop]

I went with www.hookerharness.com. I have a Y type shoulder harness with an inertia.

I am building a 4 place. The reals do compromise the rear seat space a bit. They are above the head liner in between the front and rear seats.

I have thought about adding a second pair of harness straps that go from the bottom of the seat over the pilot's shoulders. The second straps would be between the pilot and the seat back. This would provide additional restraint for severe turbulence. Just a thought.

[S Lathrop]

I have not seen the double shoulder belt system done. It is just something I have been thinking about.

With the system I have in my Bearhawk, I am satisified with the protection I have for forward motion but inverted, most of the work will be done by the lap belts.

In a high G situation, there will not be enough head room to keep my head out of the fuselage above the cockpit. I have been told that the body will stretch up to 6 inches even when restrained. This was from reports from crash studies for race cars.

I have done a short flight in a Citabria. I was impressed with belts and ratchets on the restraining system.

[Flygirl1]

The first Citabria I had did not have the system you experienced. I think it was just put in there so there would be a shoulder harness available. I had to fashion a bar at the headliner for the harness to attach to get it off the bottom of behind the seat. Not FAA approved at the time, but it was my body I was concerned with so I did it anyway. ( another reason I LOVE being EXPERIMENTAL, I can do the safe thing and not worry about it. ) My second Citabria did not have shoulder harnesses at all and I flew that way for 22 yrs. In one of my motorcycle incidents I was flung forward into the handle bars, chest and face, hence the scrape on the chin guard, and was told at the emergency room the chest cavity will compress about 5 inches before breaking. It felt like at least a 4.9. ;-) I would NEVER fly without a shoulder harness again. I don't intend on testing this one, but stuff happens right!!

[S Lathrop]

I gave up motor cycles before I got hurt. I had a Ducati Diana MK2, 250ccs. I did a layout at about 100 mph going into Bloomington, Indiana. I also was showing cutting horses. I decided that I better quit the bikes before I killed myself. I took a job in NYC and that is when I started racing cars. Eventually I turned my hobby, race cars into a profession. I quit driving cars when I had to start sending the first of my 5 kids to college. I took up flying after the last kid graduated from the Air Force Academy. My 2 youngest kids are professional pilots. We were doing our basic flight training at the same time. My daughter flies EM helicopters and the USAF kid is a test pilot flying Ospreys. Both of my parents were pilots. Our family hauler was a Cessna AT17 Bobcat, late 40's and early 50's.

[Brad Ripp]

Does Hookerharness offer one with the inertia reel or did you have to add that yourself? Model and price? The price is the attractive part of the Corbeau.

[Zzz]

I think it looks like a decent option. I don't mind the automotive-style buckle. Reel looks like it might be a little bulkier than Hooker or BAS.

[Flygirl1]

Brad, we researched seat belts extensively and were concerned about the comfort level at the "Y" section behind the neck. Nobody that we found had a belt that was sewn to separate that area out a bit, except seatbelt planet. Very reasonably priced, lots of color choices and does come with an inertia real and a number of choices for the buckle and worked with us to get the right fit. Also they had them made and shipped out in a reasonable amount of time. We did not use the inertia real supplied, but found a matching pair on eBay. They were quite a bit smaller and were the same ones they use on the Husky. Another feature is you can get them so that the lap portion adjusts on both sides and I believe also on just one side. We have both sides and they work great. I am very happy with them and hardly notice the shoulder harness is there. Back in the for sale section I have a photo of them installed in the front seat. I was selling them because I didn't like the color, but have gotten used to it, so they are not for sale anymore. D. P.S: Don't have stock in the company, just am really happy with the product.🙂

[Brad Ripp]

Thank you all for the input and ideas. The seatbelt planet looks pretty good, I'll look more into them. Thanks.