General Category > Unofficial F/A-18 Acceleration Pack board
The Cool Video Thread
micro:
Nice vid, Spaz. Looks like someone forgot to lock their shoulder straps before the trap. His helmet almost ended up in the HUD!
SpazSinbad:
Heheh - looks like they were loose - I did not notice that. Funny when first viewing video it seemed to me the pilot leaned forward as if checking harness. ;D
Perhaps the screenshot does not show the full extension - I'm guessing IF LOCKED there is NO extension?
PhantomTweak:
--- Quote ---Perhaps the screenshot does not show the full extension - I'm guessing IF LOCKED there is NO extension?
--- End quote ---
No further extension. As in, no further than they were extended when the lock was activated. If the pilot hit lock when he was leaned forward that's how far they'll stay extended. Otherwise, they act like the seatbelt in you car: If there is sufficient G-Force they'll lock after a short pay-out, then unlock when the G is gone. So, if the pilot had some slack in his shoulder harness when he traps, the G will cause the reel to lock, then unlock when the G is gone. Sometimes it takes a little tug to get a locked reel to unlock.
Some pilots I've talked to say if they need to lock the reel, they lean forward a little first, so they have the freedom to look over their shoulders, or whatever.
The big exception is ejection. When they pull the handles, one action the seat takes automatically is to retract the reel fully, and lock it in place. Makes sure the occupant is in the correct posture. Nothing the pilot can do will affect that action. Naturally, when the pilot and seat go their seperate ways, there are no more shoulder harness straps to hold the pilot to the seat.
Have fun!
Pat☺
SpazSinbad:
Thanks for the explanation Pat. What is your opinion on what you see in that video regarding the harness upon arrest?
PhantomTweak:
--- Quote from: SpazSinbad on February 27, 2018, 12:36:14 am ---Thanks for the explanation Pat. What is your opinion on what you see in that video regarding the harness upon arrest?
--- End quote ---
Actually, 2 things come to mind: 1) The reel doesn't lock as fast as it should when the G from the trap hits, in which case it needs to be looked at by Seat Shop. The "never to be annoyed" Shop :D Or 2) He doesn't really go as far forward as it LOOKS like, due to the camera location, lens shape, and zoom factor. The lens is a little fish-eyed, if you look at it.
A third possibility just occurred to me as well: When he leans way forward to look over his shoulder is just when he locks the harness reel, just because his brain is at that point in his checklist, so that there's more slack than is obvious to the camera when he traps, allowing more forward motion of his upper body than should occur.
Alternatively, he took a little bump, or the deceleration of the plane + his lean caused the real to lock, and it never unlocked before he trapped. Like I say, that can happen, and all it takes to free it, generally, is a forward tug and a quick relax after. If he didn't realize it had locked on him, with his shoulder straps loose, it would do what we see. It's like if you pull your seatbelt strap to loosen it just as you go over a bump. The reel can sense the apparent G it's receiving, and lock, and if it's a little dirty, it can take a little tug/release to free it. Same with the shoulder strap reel.
Did you see him reach up to his shoulder? I suspect the reel had locked for whatever reason, with the shoulder straps a bit loose and he was trying to slide the shoulder strap back into the reel to free it. It may not have worked though, and all he did was push the slack behind him, then forgets about it. That's a pretty busy, intense time of a flight, after all. Then, if that happened, the reel would lock when the trap G hits, but the straps are already loose, and when the the gear hits it frees, then the hook grabs and it pays out a little more before it can lock, allowing him to lean way forward.
Personally, I think it's a trick of the camera lens shape/zoom factor, and he's not going as far as it appears. But that's just my opinion, for whatever it's worth. It's obvious his lap belt isn't as tight as it should be, as he has to hoist himself back and up using the glare shield after everything comes to a halt.
I learned early on, when I was first learning to fly, back when I was 14/15, that if the straps leave bruises, they're almost tight enough. My instructor would bounce me around, even go inverted for a bit and bounce me there, to see if my straps were tight enough. If my head hit the canopy, not tight enough. And if it did, he'd bang it off the canopy a few times as an object lesson. All this in a glider of all things, but he was a great instructor. Carried a yardstick to rap my skull from the back seat. Once I solo'd I used to go chase a pair of hawks on the cliffs. They enjoyed it as much as I did. But I was sure glad I had tight straps when I was doing some of the more radical maneuvers! After all, hawks are great pilots.
I think some pilots get slack about how tight their straps are. Sure, the seat takes care of the shoulder straps, usually, but the lap belt is entirely up to the pilot. If they start to leave it comfortable, not tight then things like you see in the video happen...
Have fun all!
Pat☺
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version