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Old February 14th 18, 09:01 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
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Default New Glider Dream Elon Musk Flow

On Wed, 14 Feb 2018 11:06:11 -0800, ND wrote:

speaking of cars... this is a little nuts, but, airbags? i've always
thought that during a crash, you probably smack the **** out of your
head.

Airbags shouldn't be necessary provided that your straps are tight and
the anchor points don't pop off the hull, though your chin may hit your
chest quite hard. The stick is be short enough that your head won't hit
it and the shoulder + lap straps will stop your head hitting the panel

That said, I've been shown photos of lap-strap anchor point failures
during a BGA safety talk. Some of the older gliders used steel rod with
four bends to form a joggle for the lap-strap to go through. These were
attached to the hull with patches of glasscloth glued on over the
straight bits at each end of the rod. Stop suddenly enough with a heavy
pilot on board and the patches tear or pull off the hull, but IIRC that
usually causes the pilot to submarine under the panel rather than hitting
his head on it.


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