P38 seat belts

[mossiepilot]

Can anyone help please.

Does anyone know where the seatbelts are attached on a P38 Lightning.

I did some research for my new build thinking that the belts would be attached over the back of the seat or on to the seat frame that can be seen over the top of the seat, but the best image I can find shows they are on neither. :noidea:

Thanks in advance of any help.

Tony

[stona]

I've seen several photos with a pilot in situ and the shoulder straps definitely pass over the back of the seat. Not sure where or how they attach.

The lap belts are bound to attach at the side of the seat pan.

I'll see if I can find something more definite,you never know but US aircraft aren't really my thing.

Cheers

Steve

[spanner570]

Just had a blimp on Google Images......It certainly looks like the seat belts go over the centre of the seat but as Steve points out, just what to is unclear!

There is a good picture of the seating and it deffo. shows the lap strap anchored to the side of the seat pan.

Cheers,

Ron

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Steve and Ron.

I was looking at this photo -

And the straps seem to come round the side of the seat, or am I looking at the parachute harness?

Tony

[ATTACH]39511.IPB[/ATTACH]

[spanner570]

Tony, if you look very carefully you can see the straps disappearing through a slot just behind the top of the seat..

I reckon they are the seat belts, but hanging loose around the side of the seat ready to be lifted over the shoulders.

So I think it's a fair bet to assume they do go over the top and through that slot when in use....Could be wrong though, as I know stuff all about the subject matter!

Cheers,

Sherlock Holmes (Photo analyzer!!)

[stona]

The shoulder straps form a Y with the leg of the Y passing down the back of the seat. You can see it at the top of the seat back in the photo. The two arms of the Y which form the shoulder straps have slipped down either side of the seat and are then reappearing from either side to sit on the seat. They are definitely not lap belts and you can see the adjustment 'buckles' which would sit around shoulder height. The excess strap looks to have been fixed to the harness with a black sleeve or tape.

In contemporary photos the shoulder straps don't pass through any slots but come over the top of the seat and over the pilots shoulders.

I can't see the lap belts in the photo I suspect they have fallen down to the floor. There's just a hint of the attachment on the left side of the seat (I think).

A parachute harness is a very different looking animal!

Cheers

Steve

Just saw Ron's post. I'm not sure which slot he means! What happens to the 'leg' of the harness behind the seat I have no idea. It may very well have been held central by some mechanism.

[spanner570]

This is good stuff!

Steve, if you look at the top round of the seat back, directly behind and on the top of the seat curve you will see what is deffo. stitched webbing of some sort going through a slot in what I presume is the armour plate to god knows where. I thought as it is the same colour as the rest it might have been the harness webbing going out to some sort of anchor point out of sight...

Any thoughts?

[mossiepilot]

Oh yes, I see it now!

Thanks.

Not sure how to model that but I'll give it a go.

Tony.

[stona]

Hi Ron,that's the webbing I was referring to at the top of the seat back. It's roughly where the two arms of the Y (shoulder straps) merge into the leg which goes down the back of the seat. I see what you mean now,it may pass down between the bulkhead (armour?) at the seat back and the head armour. It might just go infront of all of that,down the back of the seat to an anchor point. I've had a look in the P-38 handbook but it doesn't show it I'm afraid.

One thing's for sure,if Tony hides it down the back of the seat it will look right.

Cheers

Steve

[mossiepilot]

Thanks to you both.

Tony