daily pic

Switched up my normal B-17 flying for some B-24 flying yesterday.
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Inverted said:
It does not.
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That yoke is in the perfect position to fracture your skull, why would they not install shoulder harnesses? It's a 73 year old airplane, there is a very high likely hood it will have an issue where shoulder harnesses could save two lives.

Alex.
 
CK said:
That yoke is in the perfect position to fracture your skull, why would they not install shoulder harnesses? It's a 73 year old airplane, there is a very high likely hood it will have an issue where shoulder harnesses could save two lives.

Alex.
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Where would you put them that they'd actually do any good? It doesn't appear that anything on the overhead wouldn't also buckle in a crash.
It's like the people that put the shoulder harnesses on the 3/4" tube above the front seat in a cub, well... that's just going to(and does) bend right where you attach it and your head will still hit the dash.

I'd imagine the best option in a warbird is to wear a helmet.
 
z987k said:
Where would you put them that they'd actually do any good? It doesn't appear that anything on the overhead wouldn't also buckle in a crash.
It's like the people that put the shoulder harnesses on the 3/4" tube above the front seat in a cub, well... that's just going to(and does) bend right where you attach it and your head will still hit the dash.

I'd imagine the best option in a warbird is to wear a helmet.
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The top of the seat frame is where is has been in every warbird I've flown.

That tube would have to bend a lot (and very quickly) to enable your head to hit the dash hard enough to kill you.

Alex.
 
CK said:
That yoke is in the perfect position to fracture your skull, why would they not install shoulder harnesses? It's a 73 year old airplane, there is a very high likely hood it will have an issue where shoulder harnesses could save two lives.

Alex.
Click to expand...

A shoulder harness only works if it is anchored to something properly, and mounted in a way that doesn't compress your spine in the event of an accident, as a guy who used to race cars I know. You would really have to contort yourself to hit your head on the yoke. If you are crashing a B-24 Liberator to the point that a harness might save you, the airplane will probably be exploding.
 
To add, I have ripped harness anchors out of various airplanes that had them added afterwards. The Stearman is a good example of this.
 
CK said:
The top of the seat frame is where is has been in every warbird I've flown.

That tube would have to bend a lot (and very quickly) to enable your head to hit the dash hard enough to kill you.

Alex.
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There is no "top of the seat frame" on these seats. Anywhere you mount below the shoulder line is just going to break your back in an impact and nothing on the seat pan is strong enough to mount harnesses.
 
Like Palm Tree said, if I'm in the seat, I'm wearing the 5 point. Granted regulation may allow people to relax on the shoulder harness but for me, if the aircraft has a 5 point, I always wore collared shirts and the full harness all the time. Shoulder harnesses rubbing on my neck just annoy me.

I think I've seen other B-24s with shoulder harnesses, although I maybe thinking of other bombers.


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There are only 2 flying in the world, we may have them but they are disconnected from their attach points. They weren't factory, and we're probably just bolted to the aft cockpit bulkhead. They would pull right through with minor force.


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Ok so I actually dug around in the seats and behind the cushion there are shoulder straps but they are inop.


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Flying these airplanes is relatively high risk, I don't understand why you would argue against having shoulder harness. If the maintenance team can keep a 70 year old airplane airworthy, they can find a way to safely anchor shoulder harnesses. When I was around the airshow circuit and flying vintage airplanes mitigating risks was crucial. If I asked why we didn't have shoulder harnesses the answer would not have been shoulder shrug, it would have been a lets find a way get them installed during the off season. I won't argue with you about it any more, I just don't understand it.

Alex.
 
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