The International Cessna 170 Association

I want to know how to install new seat belts for the front seat.
Should the buckles be on the right, left, or maybe inboard or outboard side?
Or does it really matter?

buckles inboard

Probably makes no difference in the performance of their job, strapping someone into the seat for safety. But should one get left dangling out the door in flight I'd rather that not be the buckle. I'd put them inboard.

In the military (not that we're in the military), there is a general rule that all buckles should be right hand release...sweep your right hand from your left hip across your waist and you should find the buckle and be able to release it in one movement...

That said, I've seen buckles in GA aircraft in every orientation...I don't think there is a "right" way or a "wrong" way...

I just wonder how they were installed when the planes came from the factory. Maybe that info is available somewhere(?)
But it's not a big deal.

Standardization, as in the military, is a good point and something to consider. However even cars have one grasping the seat belt and buckling it in either to the left or right depending on the side of the car one is sitting on. If you have a later Cessna with shoulder harnesses or your 170 modified with across the chest single shoulder harness, like a car, they all buckle inward.

Remember ALL original seat belts had to have been replaced in 170s due to AD, so no flying 170s should have the original belts installed by the factory. The IPC or parts numbers leave no indiction of a right and left side. So we'd have to rely on original factory pictures showing seat belts to figure out definitively how the factory did it.

The 170B IPC shows in Fig 32 a front seat with the buckle on the left side, but doesn't identify whether it is the pilot or co-pilot side. For the reason Bruce said in the third post above, and the practical reason that the outboard strap frequently falls out when I'm getting in the plane on the seat, I put the buckles inboard. When the buckle is outboard and falls out when getting in, it bangs the fuselage much more than the tab end, which just seems to fall without banging the side. But I agree it is user/owner preference.

I follow the right-hand-release philosophy in all the seat belts. In an emergency, if everyone releases the belt with their right hand, that could save valuable seconds in getting out. It’s also easier for most folks to assemble the shoulder harness fittings onto the seat belt tabs if they hold the seat belt in their right hand and stack the shoulder harness tabs with their left hand, then latch it all together. Again, personal preference but also all seats work the same/standardization. The shoulder harnesses are the “seaplane” style that fall completely apart when released and DO NOT create any closed loops that can snag occupants in an emergency egress.

Plus, I usually have the rear seats out and my belts attach to the fuselage, not the rear seat frame. With all buckles on the left, the rear seat belts double as cargo tiedown straps. The outside belts can be used to strap down large items or the left and right belts can be used independently to strap down smaller items.

Having a belt fall outside the door before it is closed and beating up the fuselage is the very least of my concerns. As an initial start-up checklist item, I do not start the engine until all seat belts/shoulder harnesses are on and latched. Plus, I always latch seat belts after every flight so they don’t fall around the cockpit where they are always hard to find on the next flight or might fall out the doors.

There is a lot of seat belt knowledge on this forum.

Just had the BAS inertial seat belts installed in N2890C 2 wks ago.

Took a lot ribbing on auto purchase half a century ago. Purchased the darling of the showroom, dealer delayed delivery. 1964 Cadillac Coupe Deville; first car delivered w factory seat belts (front seats only) Last car with TRUE tailfins. Current Cadillac have incripted tailfins. The joke was I would open the car door unlatch the belt step out and my pants would fall down.

A lot of people trusted Harley Earl.

It is upsetting to take off in a GA and hear the banging against the fuselage. No inference bias on professionals.

Not as experienced using military seat belts as others present....but the military belts with which I’m familiar do not release with a “lever buckle” as civilian belts do... They either have a special lever-lock or a twist-lock style rotary buckle (similar/identical to aerobatic harnesses) so right-hand/left-hand logic seems unimportant.
I like the buckles placed inboard for reasons mentioned, and like Richard, I keep the front belts latched together at all times whether used or not.

do these belts look original?
is so, the buckle is inboard

iowa wrote:do these belts look original?
is so, the buckle is inboard

They have the look I believe was original. Where did that photo come from?

the photo was taken in 1964 the 2nd owner of the plane
just before they flew it from Ohio to Las Vegas
the son was an airline pilot and sent me the picture
D

gahorn wrote:Not as experienced using military seat belts as others present....but the military belts with which I’m familiar do not release with a “lever buckle” as civilian belts do... They either have a special lever-lock or a twist-lock style rotary buckle (similar/identical to aerobatic harnesses) so right-hand/left-hand logic seems unimportant.
I like the buckles placed inboard for reasons mentioned, and like Richard, I keep the front belts latched together at all times whether used or not.

I’m quoting myself because I wanted to mention an installation in which those comments may not be appropriate:
Depending upon the opposite attachment-end (usually but not always a triangle-attach, and sometimes including a sliding adjustment fitting) it can be necessary to have the buckles not symmetrically installed.
For example, the seat tracks of early170/ 172 and some other aircraft are so close to adjacent structure that the buckle can fall between the seat and the flap-tunnel/seat tracks and become jammed. In that case the buckle might be better assigned an outboard position. The point being that it might be a preference matter more than a “correctness” matter in some cases.
Keep in mind that it is considered “Preventive Maintenance” for interior refurbishment items to be installed/replaced by a pilot/owner, including seat belts. But it’s important to use the correct hardware and to install it in accordance with original design. I’m not sure that buckle orientation is part of the basic design unless the seat belt mfr’r makes that statement or includes installation instructions.

Is there a reinforced anchor bracket available for mounting front seat shoulder harnesses on my 1952 C170B? The original single overhead anchor (nut plate) in the wing spar seems inadequate.