The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I like to be able to separate the shoulder harnesses from the buckles. They are a great product - as far as installation - I don't plan to find out how good they function . I have an A model. Probably the most difficult thing was to install the nut plates inside the spar, and as the Alaskan99669 wrote, having two people to install the forward bolts is important.

I just bought the tail pull handle from them (BAS) as well. They give TIC170A members a 5% discount!
Kevin

I also went with the utility buckle. I can't imagine not using the shoulder harnesses. They are so easy to use and completely non-restrictive....even when reaching down around the floor. You actually forget they are on because there is no restriction on movement. The restrictioin of the cessna buckles is the reason ppl don't use them. If there is no restriction, you aren't going to hang them behind the seat. And if you were stupid or lazy enough to do so, you might deserve any subsequent problems. Using them is a no brainer in my opinion.

The responses to which setup to use were interesting. When I put mine in I used what would be considered the utility set up. I have often "thought" I wished I had the other kind just because anyone not used to using the utility setup seem to have difficulty getting the buckles for the shoulder straps onto the seat belt buckle properly and if the seatbelt (male) portion isn't all the way through the shoulder belt loops you can't get the seat belt to buckle. When one is used to using them they aren't that difficult unless you are trying to buckle them over bulky clothing--------guess if I would lose some pounds even that might not be a problem, but you gotta have some weight in these planes to make them fly right I had not thought about possible egress problems with the fixed setup.

I helped my mechanic install the BAS shoulder harnesses, and from what I can tell you couldn’t do it with one person…you need two people. Aside from that it wasn’t too bad…a few hours well spent. Now that the harnesses are in I can see that it doesn’t make much difference which buckle system you go with, as there are advantages to both.

I LOVE those harnesses!!! They are incredibly comfortable…you don’t even know you’re wearing them. I figure the $1400 for parts and instillation is worth it just for the comfort, and if I ever need they they’re priceless.

I went with the standards. Maybe I'm lazy. I like to just grab, buckle and go. I take a lot of folks for rides
and it's easy to get them buckled in too. Don't find them restrictive at all. I've had 5 points in all my akro and
race planes and find it's nice to have them already put together. YMMV.
Charlie

Corey,

You mentioned screws through the cabin roof when insalling the BAS inertia reels. I do not recall any such screws.
My reels were attached to the rear spar carry through hat section.

blueldr wrote:Corey,

You mentioned screws through the cabin roof when insalling the BAS inertia reels. I do not recall any such screws.
My reels were attached to the rear spar carry through hat section.

A picture's worth a thousand words: And for you 170 / 170A guys, here is how BAS recommends installing a nut plate in the carry-through spar:
http://www.basinc-aeromod.com/notes.htm

Here's another picture: NOTE: Apparently you can now click on the image to see it's full size!