Ratchet belt

ebetancourt

Line Up and Wait
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Feb 12, 2010
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694
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Middle Tennessee
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Ernie
Is Hooker the only one? Any advise before I make the change? I can't seem to get mine tight enough by pulling on the ends. When I get negative I can't get full forward stick. Stretches an amazing amount for a super tight belt. :rolleyes: :confused:
 
Ernie, I don't know about other mfg's of ratchet harnesses - never looked into it. But Hookers are pretty standard in acro planes, and they are pretty much a requirement once you starting doing any negative stuff. Very good quality, and I'd highly recommend getting a set. The 5-point Hooker harness comes with two lap belts - a main ratchet belt, and a non-ratchet backup belt. It's best to have two different areas of the airplane structure to mount the two belts to in order to take full advantage of the redundancy. You can get a Hooker with either two ratchets (one on each side) or one. I think one would work fine for you.
 
Look at Allen Silvers acro belts. He makes a nice setup. I put new Hookers in my Eagle and wish I would have used Silvers instead. Sean Tucker uses Silvers setup. Just google Silver parachute sales.
 
I put new Hookers in my Eagle and wish I would have used Silvers instead.

What do you like better about the Silvers? They appear to be configured just like the Hookers. Worth noting that the Silvers are non TSO'd, so can only be used in Experimentals. Price for Silvers appear a little cheaper than a similar Hooker configuration.
 
The Silver belts are seperate. You put on the standard aviat style belt and the second ratchet belt goes over it or you can do it opposite. I HATE the huge pad with both belts sewn into it. Everyone else seems to like it but I would rather have the belts seperate. I just put new belts in the Eagle and went with Hookers again because he told me no measurements were needed. Silver needed lots of measurments. I got the belts from Hooker and had to sent them back twice because they were not close to fitting.
Also with separate belts in the front you can cinch them down tight when no passenger is there. The junky Hookers just flop around because there is no way to tighten them. Now I leave the front unbuckled and zip tie them all together so they can't flop. I am not at all happy with my Hookers. I would rather have the standard Christen belts. That is my opinion but everyone is different.
 
I would need TSO'd. My airplane already has a 5 pt and separate lap belt so installing the Hooker won't be a problem. Their website is poor. I was trying to see the setup. I sit pretty vertically and a big buckle would be uncomfortable.

Usually I get the lap belt pretty tight but it was cold yesterday and with more clothes I didn't. In the Cuban I couldn't get the stick forward all the way.
 
If you can wait until Sun-N-Fun you can get them at the show discount which helps a little and you usually can talk to Jack Hooker with any questions. I replaced mine with a double ratchet setup in the rear cockpit a while back and like it much better as it ratchets me straight back into the seat vs over towards one side with a single ratchet setup. For tightness, you probably know this but pre your acro maneuvers pull a few G's and when you are forced into the seat from the G's crank down on the ratchets.:D
 
Call and they will negotiate on prices. I got my Hookers for way under list price. I actually sold my 13 year old Hookers for what brand new ones cost me.... That was a sweet deal for me. Some people just don't pick up the phone to haggle prices.
 
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