Let's make an aircraft seat shoulder harness!!!!

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So, the "Y" shoulder seat harness on most USAAF WW2 era aircraft seats look like this. The USN adopted this type in 1943. On the back of the seat the "Y" harness connects to the inertia reel or a spring friction action devise that allows the pilot to lean forward without being stopped. Your car seat belt harness functions the same way and has its roots in this set up. If you look at the front of the seat you will see the aircraft seat belt connected at the pilot's waist. Connected in the same belt buckle used by the seat you will see the "Y" harness connected. This is exactly the same system for the 5-point harness system as used by 4x4's, race cars and other specialty vehicles. The 5-pointsystem derives from this belt.

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This is the donor harness. This one has a 1952 contact date. I paid $40.00 for this on ebay. Look at what you're bidding on! Civilian belts may not work depending.

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The blue belt is civilian and everything on it will work for a conversion. The second belt is military, but of a newer construction.  The cinch pulls will work, but it doesn't  have the type connection from the "Y" to the lap belt buckle. The 3rd photo looks good, but look closer, the same problem with belt two is the same issue here. The metal attachment to  the lap belt buckle is not the same as the WW2 connection.

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The next photos compare an original WW2 "Y" cotton to webbing I found on ebay. The last photo shows a rotted out "Y" strap that I need to pull a part from. The green harness is the donor, the 3rd harness is an original. I will be pulling all of my numbers off that. The bottom is what I bought off ebay for the conversion.

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This connects to the inertia reel. It disconnects and adjusts to the main harness by threading in and out of the buckle. Take note of the last two photos for construction of this tab.

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The main run of the "Y" is doubled up from the bottom and starts it spread at 13 inches. The section from zero to 13 inches is sewn together. Note that little box stitch is what locks in the spred. The end that will hold the cinch ends at 36 inches, but folds back 3.5 inches, so the total length is 39.5 inches on both sides.

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The section that holds the lap belt attachment is a total of 29 inches long. It has a 3 inch fold back at the lap belt attachment and a fold back at the cinch.

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Pay attention to how the belt attachment is set. The green harness reflects what was done post war. The white harness is what was done in WW2. I have three WW2 "Y" harnesses and they all look the same. The connection needs to look like this.

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This is the dry fit next to an original

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        If you have a family member who can sew, ask them to stitch it up. Be sure to use the correct cotton thread, no nylon thread. They should be able to figure out what to do from what they see in the photos. If not, a furniture reupholster should be able to do this. Print out some photos so they can see what they need to do. I bought four original "Y" straps years ago and used them to complete aircraft seats I have.         

       The correct WW2 aircraft seat lap belts can be found on Ebay. I posted a number of photos of WW2 lap belts I have in a post I started on this site years ago explaining the difference between WW2 and post war lap belts.  In a nutshell war time lap belts are cotton canvas with box X stitching, not nylon with zig zag stitching.

       When I bring an aircraft seat back I like to use original parts. These WW2 "Y" harnesses are just too hard to find. The canvas used in the "Y" harnesses is the same used for parachute harnesses and the quality of the reproduction harness straps is good. Be sure to add up all the numbers so you know how many feet to buy. I ended up with 8 inches of extra harness.

       If you have a WW2 aircraft seat that you thought about bringing back to life this gives you an option on how to do it'

              Good luck!