Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: oil can
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Shoulder Harnesses (front pit routing)>The compression issue can obviously be overcome by a compression>strut(s).....In this case the fuselage structure itself could serve>this purpose. There remains the issue of how to attach the harness in>the front pit without a steep downward angle. The obvious answer to>this is to have a sturdy structure directly behind the passenger to>carry the load outward to the longerons.... The structure between the>pits could be built sturdily enough to serve this purpose. A>laminated arch covered with light ply and integrating with the cross>piece at station 41.5, behind the front pit, supporting the section of>turtle deck between the pits, and plywood covering between the rear of>the front pit and the front of the rear pit and other strategic places>with a good structure behind the instrument panel could serve the>purpose.That's the way the Moth does it! by the way Bernard mentions copying theDeHavilland fuselage in his article in the Flying and Glider manual.J Mc________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: jmcnarry(at)techplus.com (John McNarry)
The compression issue can obviously be overcome by a compressionstrut(s).....In this case the fuselage structure itself could servethis purpose. There remains the issue of how to attach the harness inthe front pit without a steep downward angle. The obvious answer tothis is to have a sturdy structure directly behind the passenger tocarry the load outward to the longerons.... The structure between thepits could be built sturdily enough to serve this purpose. Alaminated arch covered with light ply and integrating with the crosspiece at station 41.5, behind the front pit, supporting the section ofturtle deck between the pits, and plywood covering between the rear ofthe front pit and the front of the rear pit and other strategic placeswith a good structure behind the instrument panel could serve thepurpose. In a front end crash the front part of this structure wouldthen be subjected to a downward force which would be taken by thediagonals and plywood of the fuselage side. The rear part would haveto depend on the longeron and plywood to overcome the correspondingupward force. Jury struts or light cables could tie this through tothe cluster at the bottom of the rear pit to supplement this. You ineffect have a rigid structure that wants to pivot about the clusterwhere the rear cabane strut is attached, and if restrained from doingthis will hold you in place. Please excuse me if I have failed to paint a clear picture.....It's clear in "my mind's eye", but I have yet to find a digicam thatwill capture what "my mind's eye" sees. I don't have a proper set of Piet plans.... just looking at thedrawings in the Flying and Glider manual. It's not an impossible oreven particularly difficult task to design a structure into the Pietwhich is sufficient to withstand shoulder harness loads.... unless thePiet is already built.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: LaurenMWilliams(at)webtv.net (Lauren Williams)
x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"Howard,Thanks for the ideas on should harness routing. I have been flying myPiet a lot. Lots of kids in the front seat. Should get setup withshoulder straps in the front seat too. I even thought about fasteningthem to the top of the vertical center struts. Kind of messy.Craig________________________________________________________________________________