Seat Belts!

[RickE]

ASRA are about to make a change in regard to the style of seat belts used in gyrocopters. The change is that all newly registered gyrocopters must be fitted with a four piece seat belt i.e. Two separate shoulder straps and two separate lap straps.
The thinking is that it is a much safer system as once the buckle is released there is no linked seatbelt straps to get caught in.
i had first hand experience in this recently when I had to pull a dazed pilot out of an overturned machine and his arms were all caught up in his seatbelt. If there had been a fire I don't think I could have gotten him out.

[Tsemler]

What about enclosed machines? Ejection seats? No more doors on cab machines? Guess I better get my new machine registered before all this comes into effect it's made hard enough now for a basic open machine to be registered now... guess that's why there is so many unregistered...

[tonydenton]

I can only imagine what the pilot was going through. a couple of years back I fitted new seat belts to mine. supposedly better I thought in case of an accident / fire / drowning. it really was a dodgey buckle and really was extremely hard to unlatch, even though I was on the ground and stopped I was heading towards a panic attack just in fear that it wouldn't release. thinking of alan being underwater . anyway I tossed the bloody thing and bought another. I think the 4 strap seat belt is a good idea. remember that if your crashed your never going to be sitting upright and thinking sanely. and remembering how to get out of seatbelts . maybe broken limbs can't be manovured as easy out from under a shoulder strap.
my little tip for any first time crashers , ok 2 tips . first one is don't crash. the second one is as most times as you will be on your side , when you pop your buckle you will fall like a bag of sh#t so try to put your feet down first . .

[RickE]

The change to seatbelt compliance for newly registered gyro's will come into effect after 31/12/2018. This will give homebuilders, factory builders and importers the time to make the neccessary design changes to suit the new seatbelt configuration.

There will also be a RECOMMENDATION that all gyro owners retrofit the four piece type harness to all currently registered gyro's as a safety precaution.

[mad max]

I must say, any seat belt design that is easy to pop open is a good idea. Once many yrs. ago I hit an ant hill while airbourne in my rosco clone two seater which surgically removed my left suspention and wheel. When I landed the craft rolled left with the usual blade distruction and I was unable to push the release on the belt as there was too much tension. I had 40 ltrs of fuel on my right seat in two cans with vent holes and they started to dribble petrol over me and I was unable to turn off ign. and stop the engine fuel pumps as the switches were on my left and buried in the dirt. I eventually shrunk my chest and popped the belt button, climbed out from under the plastic jerry cans and ran to a safe distance. Turned around and observed no fire so ran back, dug a hole with my fingernails and shut off the fuel pumps. When things go wrong you want the simplest and most reliable means of exit. If the craft has cabin and doors, it should be one action to open and clearly labeled.

[RickE]

If any of us are unfortunate enough to ever have a rollover I can assure you from first hand experience that being able to successfully release the seat belt can be a life saver.

[RossM]

I have nothing against the 'four separate point harness' system.
At my work place, if someone designs a great tool for making a job easier, it still has to get approved by someone (usually by more than one other person, eg, engineer, co-workers, ETC) They have to make sure that they have not introduced another hazard.
One issue that should be thought through.
For open/pod gyro's that have a seat tank, one half of the seatbelt passes through the tank moulding. One end anchored at the back and bottom of the seat tank, through the moulding, to the harness clip, then up over the seat tank to attach to the mast.
It is impossible for the belts to go through the prop.
When I do the warm -up of my gyro before the days jaunt, I just sit on the seat. I do not do the belt up.
With four individual belts, the only attachment would be at the anchor end.
Regards....Rossco