PA-28 shoulder harness

[simtech]

With my upcoming annual I think I want to install some shoulder harnesses for the front seats. I'm looking at the BAS retractable harness and the wag aero non retractable. A Hugh price differnce to say the least. Anybody have pictures of an install or experience with either one they would like to share?

 

[Bob Noel]

fwiw - if my cherokee shoulder harness was not retractable, changing to retractable would be one of the first changes I would make.

 

[Clark1961]

fwiw - if my cherokee shoulder harness was not retractable, changing to retractable would be one of the first changes I would make.

Yup, the flap handle would be tough to reach with a non-retractable shoulder harness that was adjusted tight enough to do any good.

 

[murphey]

I went with the WagAero non-retract. Why? Because in almost every airplane I've flown in, (rent or owned) with the retract (inertial reel) at least one of the 2 in the front was always broken. Install cost is about the same for either, both come with the STC. I think it was a grand total of 4 hours (have to install a doubler on the roof) and another hour for the paperwork.

The non-retract is about half the price but the retract do look sexier.

 

[murphey]

Yup, the flap handle would be tough to reach with a non-retractable shoulder harness that was adjusted tight enough to do any good.

I disagree - I never fly with the shoulder harness so tight that I can't reach the flap or fuel in the cherokee. My philosophy is that I'll have plenty of time to turnoff the fuel and tighten up the harness as I'm screaming "We're going to crash & die!!!!"

 

[James331]

If you're going that route get the intertia reel BAS.

Otherwise it's just junk, ether too loose to reach the flaps, or nice and tight and you can't reach anything.

BAS is overpriced, but I'd rather pay the bucks or just not have a shoulder belt.

Also be sure to get the rotation buckle so you can loose the shoulder belts in cruise.

 

[simtech]

I went with the WagAero non-retract. Why? Because in almost every airplane I've flown in, (rent or owned) with the retract (inertial reel) at least one of the 2 in the front was always broken. Install cost is about the same for either, both come with the STC. I think it was a grand total of 4 hours (have to install a doubler on the roof) and another hour for the paperwork.

The non-retract is about half the price but the retract do look sexier.

Are they comfortable in flight? As in not rubbing on your neck or anything like that. Have any pics of it after install. I was wondering of them hanging down all the time would they get in the way.

My buddies RV6 has non retractable, I can reach everything while it still being fairly snug, granted he doesn't have a flap lever. Still up in the air but leaning toward wag...

 

[murphey]

Are they comfortable in flight? As in not rubbing on your neck or anything like that. Have any pics of it after install. I was wondering of them hanging down all the time would they get in the way.

My buddies RV6 has non retractable, I can reach everything while it still being fairly snug, granted he doesn't have a flap lever. Still up in the air but leaning toward wag...

The WagAero is a Y setup with the single strap attached to the doubler in the roof then then the 2 branches come down and connect to the seat belt. I wont't be at the hangar until Tuesday for photos. The intersection of the Y can annoy the back of your neck (drive you up the wall!) if you have it too low. You can adjust the length of the single strap coming down fro the roof so it doesn't hit the neck. Since I never wear a tshirt (always wear a shirt with a collar, eg polo) it doesn't bother me.

 

[docmirror]

I installed the Wag-aero four point(single Y attach at the top) on three different planes.

They can chafe your neck if you are tall. You can get some soft covers at http://www.amazon.com/Pair-Reversib...id=1426477204&sr=1-6&keywords=seat+belt+cover or other solution.

I think the hassle of pulling the release lanyard on the harness to reach stuff is a minor annoyance for the improved safety. The other hassle is them hanging down when not in use. For a Cherokee which has the similar access as a Bonanza, this is a real annoyance. I put up with it - again, because I consider the four point harness to be far superior in safety over the inertia reel 3 point.

 

[simtech]

I went with the WagAero non-retract. Why? Because in almost every airplane I've flown in, (rent or owned) with the retract (inertial reel) at least one of the 2 in the front was always broken.

Looking at the inertia reel in the BAS set up its actually the same inertia reels we have in our sims at work. And let me tell you, they break all the time! And they are expensive. But..the sims do get heavily used daily. I beleive im gonna stick with wag, I'll talk with my mechanic as well about it.

 

[hindsight2020]

Thread resurrect...


My Arrow has the OEMs retractables on it (attachment point on roofline by the rear seats) and my gripe is that they simply ride too high on my neck. I'm not talking a little rubbing on the crease, I'm talking the belt line crosses AT the neck. I suppose workable if the belt was of the manual variety and you could just manually slack it, but Completely unusable in the inertial type. So I'm flying just with lap belt.

Looking at airplanes I've flown when I was a renter, the Cessna setup circa 172Rs seemed to solve this problem, as it has a loop on the seat side where the shoulder belt is routed through, effectively lowering the hinge point to shoulder height, making the line crossing your collar bone as is the case for automotive setups, and not your effing neck.

Anybody knows if there are retrofit loops for Piper halfback seat applications, or otherwise aftermarket harnesses with lower hinge points, such as the ones seen on mooneys? A roofline hinge point is just way too high for single belt harnesses, it renders my Arrow harnesses impracticable.