This might be a bit of a weird question, but:
What do front seat passengers usually hold onto in a Christen Eagle or Pitts 2 holer during aerobatics?
I don't have the experience of giving acro rides to front seat passengers in the Eagle yet, I'm still rebuilding mine, however I do have quite a bit of experience with acro rides in decathlons, and I have logged some front seat time in Pitts S2B's and an Eagle. I find that when passengers start to get nervous particularly in inverted or downline maneuvers, they tend to grab hold of whatever is around them without much regard for what they're grabbing. What I do not want is them grabbing a: The Stick, b: the throttle handle or linkage c: the canopy release linkage d: instrument panel e: anything else rather than their seatbelts.
So, I set out thinking, maybe I can provide them a handle to hold onto and feel slightly more secure, (and keep from us both from being surprised). I've seen somewhere, an Eagle front instrument panel notched at the bottom to expose the fuselage bars behind the panel, but I didn't want to cut my panel and make it unsightly.
My idea was to fiberglass some molded handle grips under the front seat sides. In the pics, its difficult to get a prospective on exactly how they're oriented but they're molded underneath the "armrests" and situated similar to some roller coaster handles I've seen. They will allow the passenger to keep their elbows and forearms down on the seat armrests, and hold the handles while pulling them selves down into the seat.
(I can already imagine some of you all will have concerns of being able to reinstall the front seat. While it is a PITA to get back in, I have had the front seat in and out with the handles installed. With some patience, lubrication, and tactically placed metalized tape, it does go back in. )
What do front seat passengers usually hold onto in a Christen Eagle or Pitts 2 holer during aerobatics?
I don't have the experience of giving acro rides to front seat passengers in the Eagle yet, I'm still rebuilding mine, however I do have quite a bit of experience with acro rides in decathlons, and I have logged some front seat time in Pitts S2B's and an Eagle. I find that when passengers start to get nervous particularly in inverted or downline maneuvers, they tend to grab hold of whatever is around them without much regard for what they're grabbing. What I do not want is them grabbing a: The Stick, b: the throttle handle or linkage c: the canopy release linkage d: instrument panel e: anything else rather than their seatbelts.
So, I set out thinking, maybe I can provide them a handle to hold onto and feel slightly more secure, (and keep from us both from being surprised). I've seen somewhere, an Eagle front instrument panel notched at the bottom to expose the fuselage bars behind the panel, but I didn't want to cut my panel and make it unsightly.
My idea was to fiberglass some molded handle grips under the front seat sides. In the pics, its difficult to get a prospective on exactly how they're oriented but they're molded underneath the "armrests" and situated similar to some roller coaster handles I've seen. They will allow the passenger to keep their elbows and forearms down on the seat armrests, and hold the handles while pulling them selves down into the seat.
(I can already imagine some of you all will have concerns of being able to reinstall the front seat. While it is a PITA to get back in, I have had the front seat in and out with the handles installed. With some patience, lubrication, and tactically placed metalized tape, it does go back in. )
