Flap Handle Extension STC

[Stephen]

i just have to wonder why more people don't use inertial retractors for their shoulder harness installations? So convenient. I don't even think about my flap handle. Just reach down and pull it. Inertial retractors allow for complete deliberate movement all over the cabin. Do you all have trouble getting to your cabin heat pull knobs, too? What about your fire extinguisher? Mine is mounted in front of the co-pilot seat on the diagonal just in front of my '56 tri-pacer battery. Ya'll tryin' to save 12 ounces?

what 12 ounces !??

[Subsonic]

what 12 ounces !??

The weight of a retractor.
-S

[Ononeleg]

The weight of a retractor.
-S

Just one retractor?

[LarryV]

I’ll stir the pot a bit more. I added the EZ Flap handle to my PA-22/20-150 and it’s a welcome change.

I operate off grass strips and occasionally off airport where bending down below the panel to reach the flap handle can be problematic during the take off roll or even after liftoff while you are climbing out over an obstacle.

However, I really like being able to slowly and smoothly raise the flaps on initial climb out while still seeing out the front of the aircraft.

I do have fixed shoulder straps. That was partly a matter of choice and partly a matter of availability. When I bought the plane last October the CFI I selected to go with me to KS to provide an insurance required checkout on the way back home to NC categorically refused to do so unless it had shoulder harnesses installed. Consequently, I needed a strange mechanic in KS to install them before we picked up the aircraft.

I looked at both fixed and inertia reel harnesses but fixed harnesses were all that were in stock at the time. That wasn’t all bad. installation of a fixed harness was much easier with the existing headliner installed, and quite frankly fixed harnesses have no inertia reel to potentially fail. I like simple.

Cost wise, a pair of seat belts and shoulder harnesses for the front seats cost me $400 total, about half the cost of inertia reel harnesses. That basically paid for the EZ Flap handle. So for about the same money, I have the advantage of not having to bend below the level of the panel to reach the flap handle. It’s a win win from a cost perspective and from a capability perspective.

installation is straight forward with two caveats.

1) You have to drill and tap a pair of 6-32 holes in the end of the flap detent retraction button. The holes need to be drilled accurately as they are close to the edge of the button and the holes are 3/4” deep. If they are a little off center or angled outward you could have issues. Hand drilling holes in an installed flap handle in the limited space available makes it even more interesting. Being a bit particular about craftsmanship and firmly believing it’s far easier to get things right the first time than it is to screw it up and fix it later, I turned a jig on my lathe that let me slip the jig over the button and ensure the holes were properly located and aligned. I drilled the holes undersize with a #39 bit and then upsized to a #34 before drilling and tapping with a bottom tap. It worked great.

2) The STC contains a lot of language designed to protect the STC holder. To the effect that the aircraft won’t be airworthy until you contact the STC holder provide all the required information and get a response back from him. The install took about an hour. The paperwork took about a week.



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[dgapilot]

I have to say, we now live in a world of people so risk averse it just amazes me! A CFI that refused to fly in an airplane without shoulder harnesses? You have got to be kidding me! I fly a lot of different airplanes, so with and some without harnesses. I've never really worried about it. If they are there, I use them, if they aren't, it's not a big deal. I flew my TriPacer for about 6 or 7 years towing banners with no shoulder harness. Early Pacers, all the Clippers, and Vagabonds (along with MANY other airplanes built in the 30s, 40, and early 50s only had a single belt that went across both occupants in both the front and back. Yes, crash protection is important. If you want to wrap yourself in bubble wrap, don't buy an old airplane, survivability wasn't built into them. For at least half my career, flying broken airplanes was a part of my job. I'm talking major structural damage from gear up landings, animal strikes, wind damage, you name it. First time I flew a Cirrus, about 3 feet of the leading edge was missing. Risk management is all part of the job. If you are worried about reaching the damn flap handle, plan on not using the flaps!

[Chris Iriarte]

Who knows, maybe he knew someone who smashed his face into a panel. People used to laugh about having seat belts ... but, you don't need them until you do!

Chris

[akflyer]

I put my old pacer into the dirt with extreme prejudice 21 yrs ago with just a 3 point. After that I vowed to have at least a 4 point in all planes I own. Rolling out of the shoulder strap and eating the dash is not high on my list of fun things to do anymore. yes, risk management is a part of every flight, I didn't plan on loosing the engine coming off a short area and climbing hard but it happened in a split second and there was not much I could do but go for a short ride and impact at 80° nose down. A 4 point that day and I would not have eaten the dash the way I did.

[andya]

I guess I must be same vintage as dgapilot.

[tjlebaron]

I have a lot I could say here but won’t. Having investigated over 300 aircraft crashes for the NTSB I’d like to hope most would consider the installation of shoulder harnesses. They are inexpensive and easy to install. I too installed the EZ Flap handle so I could access the flap handle without having to loosen the shoulder harness. While your at it, install a carbon monoxide detector that gives a flashing light where you can see it. Nearly every year there is a fatal accident from exhaust leaks. I get tired of seeing something so preventable cause so much pain for families.

[dgapilot]

By all means I agree on having safety equipment, but it always isn't possible. This falls in the same area as motorcycle helmets. It is your choice. A 4 point harness is going in the front seats of my Clipper, and the tube for mounting the center attach point in the rear is being changes to a larger tube and an X brace in the cabin overhead, but I fly a lot of other airplanes that don't have shoulder harnesses. I'm not about to say I won't fly an airplane without a shoulder harness. There are a lot of airplanes that have no practical way to install a shoulder harness. Even our short wing pipers have a less than ideal method for harness installation based on the angle of the harness coming down to the pilots shoulders.