Combi harness

Features:

-Aerotow loops
-Stationary winch tow loops
-Two Pockets, one of them is used for the folding of throttle cable and controll during free flight but it has a lot of space for anything else.
-New design of mechanical part connection and disconnection. Just undo two buckles and the harness is free from everything and ready for free flight (see details below).
-New design-Leg lines are tighten on a ring attached to the frame pocket (see details below) instead in frame tubes.
-Leg lines are passing in a ring attached in a bungee to keep the lines free from troubles as to snag any where.
-The combination harness has been produced mainly for our project and also as a conventional free flight harness for a possibility of a future conversion to a powered harness or even for a DIY individual project.

Developing the combination harness.
This harness has been developed with some special design characteristics for this purpose as described below:
The fitting of the frame into the harness has similar philosophy of the batten and the batten pocket. For this reason there is a pair of pockets along the harness made with a strap that you can put the frame tubes inside as like the battens and then you are connecting the mechanical part to them. In our prototype, frame tubes were bolted into the harness and the mechanical part was connected to them with quick pins. In the current model the tubes are freely inserted into the pockets with out any connection with bolts and the mechanical part is inserted to the tubes with out pins.

Any one could wondered for what is keep this mechanical part connected with the harness as it should be rejected after the take off if you don’t use something to connect the side tubes in the harness and the mechanical part in the side tubes. The solution for this connection is performed with a pair of buckles with adjustable straps. So the adjustable strap of the buckle is an extension of the frame pocket and the strap of the other buckle is bolted on the frame of the mechanical part. These two buckles are secured the frame inside the harness and so anything else as a bolt or pin is need less.
In our prototype and in any other powered harness, leg lines are connected to the tubes with an eye bolt or something else. In this harness, lines are connected with a slip knot in a ring attached in a strap. This strap is stitched on the strap of the frame pocket and so the stress of the drag of the legs is transferred to the frame pocket.

Horizontal position of the body during free flight:
During powered flight the body is remain horizontal due the support of the side tubes of the mechanical part along the rear part of the harness.
In a free flight harness the horizontal position is performed either with a pair of lines from the carabiner up to the position of kneels or in a more advanced design with an extension of the back frame further backwards and so the lines are need less.
In this harness we choused the second way. The problem in such a case is to found a way for the hinging of harness for the conversion between horizontal and upright position. In free flight there is no any problem but in powered flight it is impossible to hinge the harness if you stitch the back frame in the rear part while the side tubes are inserted. So the back frame pocket is stitched up to the beginning of frame pockets and the rest is remaining free.

 

Summary:
For some pilots this arrangement is not considered really as an advantage due they believe that it is better to have a separate kit for each activity but any way the breaking in two pieces of the new harness is much easier than the prototype regardless if you like to fly in both ways with the same equipment or not. How ever regarding our experience the reality is completely different regarding this philosophy of combination of both ways. If you want to try both then you need a different set up for each activity. It is much different think to carry separately your powered harness with all the requirements of it’s own set up as the additional time you will need to tight it in the roof of your car, store it back, etc. than to have just an extra bag with an engine in the boot of your car. This arrangement is bringing the opportunity to someone to try something else in more permanent base as another one flight after the landing or just only a powered flight when the conditions are not suitable for your local hill. Just remind that we state about this feature genuinely from our experience about this reality, rather than to foul you with something that is not really functional. If you have a big track and lots of storage space then you can even leave it connected. Actually there are three ways of rigging. First one is to leave it connected the second one is to leave the leg lines attached to the legs and the harness putting both inside the harness bag and the third way is to remove all the lines from harness and legs and store the legs in the bag of the mechanical part something that it will take another 1-2 minutes more.

 

Further details:
The engine cover is fixed with a Velcro in the rear part of the harness. Currently the harness has a fixed strap position and not a sliding system as many harnesses so the flare is performed in semi prone position rather than a more upright one. This is not considered as a more difficult skill but if someone used with a harness equipped with a sliding system then he/she will have to get used with this way that is existed in many harnesses any way. This feature can not be arranged in the powered version with the side tubes inside the pockets. The shift of the sliding system backwards is performed with the extension of legs and then is returning back due the rear site is unrigid (if the frame is not inserted in to the pockets)
Finally this harness has all the features of any good conventional free flight harness as aerotow loops, stationary winch tow loops, pockets etc.

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