Hooker Harnesses

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:53 am

As I am sure most of you ping the other site as well as this one, you are aware of the fact that I will be working the levers on the Hooker Harness Deal V.2.

Say, does anyone have any pics of some harnesses installed in any RV side by sides? I would like to look them over and think about attach points and colors.

Also, I can't make any sense out of the product descriptions on the Hooker site. They say:

Sport Set

The Hooker Harness Sport Set is used for those who are flying light aerobatics. The Hooker Harness Sport Set is a harness system consisting of a military style shoulder harness, a military style seat belt, a crotch strap, and a four-piece pad set. The shoulder harness can be made as a single anchor V or Y style harness, or a double anchor H style harness depending on the aircraft. The Sport Set is available in your choice of 1-3/4” webbing, as well as your choice of pad and trim colors.

Aerobatic System

The Hooker Harness Aerobatic System is the seat belt and shoulder harness system that Hooker Harness is respected and best known for. The Aerobatic System is for the serious competition pilot. Throughout the years competition pilots have been plagued with seat belt loosening problems. These problems are a direct result of using seat belt hardwire primarily designed for military use, and not aerobatics. The Aerobatic System uses a stainless steel ratchet tightener on one of the lap belts to remedy this problem.

The Hooker Harness Aerobatic System harness system consists of a military style shoulder harness, dual military style seat belts, a crotch strap, a four piece pad set, and a stainless steel ratchet tightener. The shoulder harness can be made as a single anchor V or Y style harness, or a double anchor H style harness depending on the aircraft. The Aerobatic System is available in your choice of 1-3/4” webbing, as well as your choice of pad and trim colors.

Benefits of the Aerobatic System-
1) Great mechanical advantage.
2) Pulls up to 700 lbs. of pretension.
3) Easy to operate/quick adjustment.
4) Small enough to fit most aerobatic aircraft.
5) Numerous different configurations available.

My question is, what exactly IS a dual seat belt? The sport set comes with one belt and the aero come with a DUAL BELT?

I don't get it? Dual... left and right? I dunno...

Poorly worded, I think. HELP?

CJ

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:18 pm

John,

I have the Hooker 5 point Sport Harness with Rotary Buckle.
The V1 deal was 30% off.

I think this system is fine for mild acro. I went with the more expensive Rotary buckle as it makes it much easier to buckle up, and much easier to release it if I find myself hanging upside down after a crash, or if I want to release it quickly if I (god forbid) have to bail out.
Notice how it matches my avitar's paint scheme

My total came to just under $250 a passenger with the 30% discount.

Without that discount, I probably would have went with a different auto racing harness.

bmurrish · Post by **bmurrish** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:36 pm

Dave,

Is that the 2" harness?

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:06 pm

Thanks Dave!

Bill, now that is the Sporto with the 1 3/4" web.

I stil dunno what they mean by 2 lap belts!

CJ

4kilo · Post by **4kilo** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 11:29 pm

CJ,

When I used to instruct in open cockpit biplanes, we actually did have two seatbelts - one attached to the shoulder harness and an independant lap belt (the extra looked like it came out of an old Chevy). Since we practiced sustained inverted flight, two seatbelts just seemed like a good idea.

Pat

bmurrish · Post by **bmurrish** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:03 am

Dave, how much did the sport set cost you through the V1 deal?

Wicked Stick · Post by **Wicked Stick** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:36 am

Bill,

Just below the picture is the cost per seat with the 30% discount.
Hookers are not cheap, but the quality is good. The rotary buckles do add significant cost to the system.

I'm sure there are Shroth or Simpson harnesses you can get for less if you wanted to.

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 9:27 am

Pat, so if I unnerstan' correctly...

The Aero harness is a SEVEN point setup?

I am thinking the Sporto is the one for me. I will prolly get the same thing WS has, only different colors. My plane will be pink an yellow so I suppose the belts will have to match. Being color blind it looks like red and black to me and that is all that counts! (Note: Much sarchasm and truth stretching in this paragraph! It is difficult to convey in writing.)

P.S. Who else is gonna be in on this one? Chad, you are gonna be needing some self loading cargo straps soon too! Better get in on this one now! Not sure WHO might pick up the ball and run with it next!?! (if ever, this means ALOTTA WORK for ME!)

CJ

bmurrish · Post by **bmurrish** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:42 pm

Wicked Stick wrote:Just below the picture is the cost per seat with the 30% discount.

Guess I missed that. Looks like their prices went up about $55 per sport set with the rotary buckle. Hopefully CJ can pull off the 30% deal again. That would drop one set down to ~$266 each.

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 8:37 pm

I do what I can!

CJ

RV7Factory · Post by **RV7Factory** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:04 pm

CJ,

Not sure if you got your answer, but I had the hooker dual lap in my Citabria. The lap belt pad is double wide (around 6") with two staps and buckles which you clamp and tighten individually. I've flown plenty of hard acro with them in Pitts' and Extras but they are overkill for the RV IMHO. I never cared for it in the Citabria but never replaced it.

Here is the best pic I could find of my set-up...
http://picasaweb.google.com/pilotbrad/Lap_belt

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:09 pm

Cool, I see now.

I did speak with Scott over at Hooker and he verbally andwered my questions.

BTW, It looks like we won't be dealing with Hooker directly but with a dealer of theirs. Scott said it was labor intensive for the company to deal with all the individuals, so he is utilizing the dealership. Hmmmm, wonder what that does to the price?

I will letcha know!

CJ

prestwich · Post by **prestwich** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:39 pm

4kilo wrote:CJ,

When I used to instruct in open cockpit biplanes, we actually did have two seatbelts - one attached to the shoulder harness and an independant lap belt (the extra looked like it came out of an old Chevy). Since we practiced sustained inverted flight, two seatbelts just seemed like a good idea.

Pat

If you fall out of an open cockpit plane while wearing a harness, does the harness manufacturer refund your money?

JohnR · Post by **JohnR** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:24 pm

I would guess they would as long as you walked up in person and asked about it.

RV7Factory · Post by **RV7Factory** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:36 pm

prestwich wrote:If you fall out of an open cockpit plane while wearing a harness, does the harness manufacturer refund your money?

Only if your chute doesn't open!

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Hooker Harnesses

Hooker Harnesses

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