The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Cessna 170 gang,

On my list is BAS shoulder harness, anyone with experience with these believe that the Rotary buckle option is worth an extra $700? Thanks in advance.

Happy flying,
Thejetjerk

Mine has them and I love them. Easy to remove shoulder straps after takeoff on a long flight, and easy to latch them again before landing.

I use a rotary buckle in my track car with a 6 strap harness because that is really the only option. Although I like that system, in my 170 I chose to keep it really simple and opted for the standard belt arrangement where the shoulder straps are permanently attached to the lap belt with a standard seatbelt buckle.

I don't have any seaplane options, so am comfortable with the permanently attached shoulder belts.

I have found that the simplicity of not having to look for the shoulder belts either velcroed to the plane or dangling behind my seat to be advantageous, and the simplicity for my passengers to buckle up is a big factor for me.

A good friend of mine has the rotary buckle from BAS, and he loves it. But he also likes the option of removing his shoulder belts in flight that the rotary allows him. Personally, the BAS inertia system is so good that I have no problems wearing the shoulder belts all the time. I virtually don't even know they are there when reaching for the flap handle etc.

I have the utility belts and keep them buckled all the time so that the shoulder straps are not dangling around, and no Velcro. No, I would not pay for the rotary buckle, no way. If you think the utility straps will be hanging loose in your plane, or that you need to Velcro them to the headliner, then buy the standard belt.