Shoulder Harness Options

[Joachim Gruber]

Hello, everyone.
I've read a lot about Kosola, but when I look for them on line, I come up empty handed (did they go out of business?). I found a place called Alpha Aviation. They sell STCd shoulder harnesses. The belts are made by Amsafe. I don't know about the reels. I'm thinking that the inertial reels may be more comfortable than fixed. Does anyone have any experience with the products sold by Alpha Aviation? Does anyone have recommendations about what they'd get installed?
Thank you.

[Tomoharu Nishino]

Having the Alpha inertial reel shoulder belts installed was one of the first things I did after buying a Twin Comanche. The mechanic told me that the installation was pretty straight forward, especially if your plane already has shoulder harness mount points (mine had fixed shoulder belts). The belts are well made, and are very comfortable in flight. (Though, thankfully, I've never had to test how well they work....)

If your plane has fixed shoulder belts, or no belts at all, I highly recommend the Alpha inertial reel belts.

Tomoharu

[Joachim Gruber]

Tomoharu,
Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, the plane I'm looking at doesn't have any shoulder restraint. Therefore, the headliner needs to come off, the anchor points would have to be installed, etc. But, nevertheless, I'm definitely planning to have shoulder restraints installed. I'm just trying to figure out which options are best.

[LeWayne Garrison]

Kosola was purchased by Aerospace Welding Inc., mostly (I think) for their engine mount business. Don't think they are selling the shoulder harness kits any longer, but you could call them. They may have kits that went unsold that they would want to get rid of.

Have never put on the other STC'd belts, but have done 3 of the Kosola kits. The headliner did not have to be totally removed, just pulled back from the window area to allow work space. If I remember it took about an hour or so per belt( 1st one a bit longer). Very straightforward installation.

[LeWayne Garrison]

I just looked at Alpha's website. They have a simplified installation picture. Looks like theirs is a bit more involved to install. Appears as though fuselage rivets must be drilled out and and anew section re-riveted into the fuselage. Still not a huge job. On the positive side, I dont' think you'll have an externally visible clevis bolt head on the fuselage, as with Kosola

[N3322G]

I put in Kosola with inertial reels. Have been happy. Headliner was gently pulled out and put back by an upholstery shop - still have original headliner. Attach points were already on 1970 aircraft. Check that inertial reels retract all the way before installing. The type of reel and belt fabric can make a difference here.

[Joachim Gruber]

Thanks for all the input from all respondents. If I end up buying this plane I'll probably have the Alpha kind installed. I assume that customer service may be better (since they're still in business and are actively selling the product).

[Gomer Pound]

Joachim, Just to expand on LeWayne's info about Aerospace Welding of Minneapolis, I contacted them. Aerospace has no info on the Kosala shoulder harnessess. They think that STC was either sold or was just never bought. I tried to get AmSafe, the maker of the retraction reels on my Kosola harnesses, but AmSafe will not rebuild them as I am an individual. Too bad, as they are a nice setup. My retraction reels do not ractually need rebuilding, it was just the plastic breaking. However, if they did need rebuilding in the future I would be SOL.
Gomer

[Joachim Gruber]

Gomer,
Thanks for the info. This reinforces my tendencies towards Alpha.