Learned the hard way.
Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 7:10 pmNot really anything to do with building, but it's my soapbox on harness safety.
I had a habit of not snugging up the lap belt on my 4 point harness in my Thatcher CX4, and the shoulder straps were kept fairly snug but not so much I couldn't reach anything easily.
This placed the buckle somewhat higher than ideal. On a flipover crackup, the buckle struck the stick and was driven into my chest cracking my sternum and cracking fracturing 4 ribs. Just to make things interesting I was trapped, jammed upside down with my head jammed into the ground. It was dark and no way to get out with only a small gap between the ground and the longerons. A clicking sound reminded me that shutting down the fuel pump would be wise. Especially since this was a wheat field. Funny how hard it is to find the master switch when you're upside down in the dark. I decided that I might get into a better position if I undid the harness. It helped but not much.
Happily, help was on the way and after maybe 5 looong minutes I heard my buddy who had been waiting to take off while I was landing, "Are you all right?"
"No, but nothing seems broken. Get me the hell out of here"
His son lifted the wing and he dragged me out. By then I knew my chest was comprimised. I lay there a while till the ambulance came, along with police cars, and the fire department.
A week in the hospital, and a long recuperation. My back is still not right 2 years later.
What pisses me off most about the whole thing, and the lesson to be learned is that if I'd had the harness done up properly I most likely would have walked away with some pulled back muscles.
https://youtu.be/XXcU4mfGOtQ
I had a habit of not snugging up the lap belt on my 4 point harness in my Thatcher CX4, and the shoulder straps were kept fairly snug but not so much I couldn't reach anything easily.
This placed the buckle somewhat higher than ideal. On a flipover crackup, the buckle struck the stick and was driven into my chest cracking my sternum and cracking fracturing 4 ribs. Just to make things interesting I was trapped, jammed upside down with my head jammed into the ground. It was dark and no way to get out with only a small gap between the ground and the longerons. A clicking sound reminded me that shutting down the fuel pump would be wise. Especially since this was a wheat field. Funny how hard it is to find the master switch when you're upside down in the dark. I decided that I might get into a better position if I undid the harness. It helped but not much.
Happily, help was on the way and after maybe 5 looong minutes I heard my buddy who had been waiting to take off while I was landing, "Are you all right?"
"No, but nothing seems broken. Get me the hell out of here"
His son lifted the wing and he dragged me out. By then I knew my chest was comprimised. I lay there a while till the ambulance came, along with police cars, and the fire department.
A week in the hospital, and a long recuperation. My back is still not right 2 years later.
What pisses me off most about the whole thing, and the lesson to be learned is that if I'd had the harness done up properly I most likely would have walked away with some pulled back muscles.
https://youtu.be/XXcU4mfGOtQ