David Paule
Well Known Member
I've got a Cessna in addition to the RV-3B that I'm building. I contacted the company that made my aftermarket belts and shoulder harnesses and got a prompt reply. Not bad for something I'd bought 30 years before. Here's part of what he said:
"The next thing is that these assemblies life expectancy are somewhere between 10 and fifteen years depending on a lot of factors(environmental exposure, hours of use, etc...) Replacement now is based on what is known in Part 21 as Continued Airworthiness. If the product meets the requirements of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness they are operational. Yours are 30 years old. They are way past replacement time and actually were built before harnesses were TSO'd, meaning the part number you have cannot even be built by AmSafe. When your harnesses were purchased, if they are our harnesses, the mandatory replacement was every 10 years. This was before the TSO regulation and ability to inspect to Continued Airworthiness was in place."
Now for our experimentals, we probably don't need to worry about the TSO or replacement interval. That said, they do age anyway.
Please consider the age of the harnesses and belts and maintain their condition appropriately. Be safe!
Dave
"The next thing is that these assemblies life expectancy are somewhere between 10 and fifteen years depending on a lot of factors(environmental exposure, hours of use, etc...) Replacement now is based on what is known in Part 21 as Continued Airworthiness. If the product meets the requirements of the Instructions for Continued Airworthiness they are operational. Yours are 30 years old. They are way past replacement time and actually were built before harnesses were TSO'd, meaning the part number you have cannot even be built by AmSafe. When your harnesses were purchased, if they are our harnesses, the mandatory replacement was every 10 years. This was before the TSO regulation and ability to inspect to Continued Airworthiness was in place."
Now for our experimentals, we probably don't need to worry about the TSO or replacement interval. That said, they do age anyway.
Please consider the age of the harnesses and belts and maintain their condition appropriately. Be safe!
Dave