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I've read a cheap nomex flight suit can be a great intermediate step if you dont have the budget for a $$$ suit yet. Better than nothing and can sell it when you go to the next level.
Nothing "cheap" about a Nomex flight suit my friend . They work great. Ask any pilot. Nomex just is, it doesn't work better for people with lots of grub. Never slight Nomex, or the people who wear it? There is no "next level". Nomex is about as far as you can go.
Nothing "cheap" about a Nomex flight suit my friend . They work great. Ask any pilot. Nomex just is, it doesn't work better for people with lots of grub. Never slight Nomex, or the people who wear it? There is no "next level". Nomex is about as far as you can go.
Regards,
What? Slight? The price is cheap. Ebay has nomex flight suits for TENS of dollars.
Next level is a fitted 800 dollar light weight racing suit.
Maybe I missed your intent. Maybe this forum is above my head because I feel like lately I am corresponding with 3 people and they all are punching me repeatedly in the face.
What? Slight? The price is cheap. Ebay has nomex flight suits for TENS of dollars.
Next level is a fitted 800 dollar light weight racing suit.
Maybe I missed your intent. Maybe this forum is above my head because I feel like lately I am corresponding with 3 people and they all are punching me repeatedly in the face.
Dont let his comments bother you. I agree with you Olemiss540....the nomex flight suits are a cheap, entry level way to get into a driving suit. But, they are not top-notch, well fitting, lightweight race suits......
no one should be offended by that, nomex included. since nomex isnt a person and cant be offended...
What? Slight? The price is cheap. Ebay has nomex flight suits for TENS of dollars.
Next level is a fitted 800 dollar light weight racing suit.
Maybe I missed your intent. Maybe this forum is above my head because I feel like lately I am corresponding with 3 people and they all are punching me repeatedly in the face.
Yep, missed my intent, I was ribbing the folks who smirk a little at us trailer trash guys who wear old flight suits . No offense was taken at all, I was only commisertating. No punches, wouldn't want to be considered one of "the three". Included "smiley face" in hopes the humor would be understood.
Self-deprecating humor (jokes on myself) sometimes gets lost, or at least misplaced, so I use those little "emoticons" to let people know I'm smiling when I say things? I own several $40 NASA royal blue flight suits I use all the time. The best one I reserve for track days, it has my name badge along with all my old Space Shuttle patches from STS-1 (maiden flight of the Columbia, 1981) on it. I don't get many derogatory comments on that one...
Oh!? PS: There's nothing "entry level" about a Nomex flight suit either. GI maybe, but it takes some work to get behind the wheel of an F-18.
Regards,
Last edited by Otto Mechanic; 01-27-2019 at 07:01 AM.
Dont let his comments bother you. I agree with you Olemiss540....the nomex flight suits are a cheap, entry level way to get into a driving suit. But, they are not top-notch, well fitting, lightweight race suits......
no one should be offended by that, nomex included. since nomex isnt a person and cant be offended...
On top of that (or underneath really) you can buy cheap Nomex underwear to go with it and now you've got a two layer suit that costs less than $100. Don't let anyone tell you pilots aren't seriously concerned about fire; we are. Nomex suits are what they are and we wouldn't use them if we didn't trust them.
Not lightweight? I can't imagine anything lighter. Well fitting? Well, you have me there. In 1978 I was a lot younger and my (m)***, while close to what it is now, was distributed differently. That, my friend, is why God invented tailors ...
Regards,
Last edited by Otto Mechanic; 01-29-2019 at 02:13 AM.
Will you be continuing these experiments in order to provide us with useful data?
ADDENDUM: It wasn't too hard to find. The driver's side airbag deploys between 10 and 20 inches from the steering wheel. In my opinion that probably isn't a large enough "deployment zone" (technical term I found) to reach the seat, so the driver's body must move to meet the bag in most circumstance it seems.
But that does leave the option of fastening a 6 point harness loosely for street use I'd think? Allowing the driver room to turn the head, maybe the upper body, enough to see things on the sides and behind? Inertial 3 point belts have play in them which, I suppose, is why they work with bags?
So far no leads on tests with bags and 6 point harnesses, bags with helmets, really not much at all.
Sort of winds us back to the initial observation that we don't have any real data.
Last edited by Otto Mechanic; 01-29-2019 at 02:16 AM.
LOL!! That was so funny as I was reading down the thread and the one guy says he's joining late but wants to argue about something!!
I am (and have been) in the OPs position for what seems like forever. I got "permission" to get a track car as a x-mas present last year. I currently track my GT4 with half cage, and I use a CG lock and Simpson hybrid hans with the 3-point belts and OEM 2-way seats. Thinking about a race car, but currently have analysis paralysis.
Some of you are technical people and think in terms of risk and statistics. One question I would like to ask people is what are the most likely type of off-track events or accidents in HPDEs (not racing)? Given that list, then you can think of the most likely types of insults to your body and their potential magnitude.
I would guess most likely events are:
1. spin into/out of a turn due to driver losing control (2-wheel off, oversteer, etc.), no other cars involved. Car hits nothing or barrier/armco. -->Impact type: 1) front only (40%), 2) rear only (30%), side only (10%), f & r (10%).
2. spin into/out of a turn, into another part of the track to hit other cars or being hit by an oncoming car.
3.
....
x.
x. mechanical failure of suspension/tire
x. spin due to fluids dropped by another car
x. rollover (due to any cause)
x. any impact, spin, etc. due to brake failure
x. fire
...
Naturally my mind is drawn to think of the worst-case type failures, like total brake failure at the end of a straight or spinning due to fluids at the same place. But, is that 140-160 mph event a 1 in 50,000 type of event compared with a typical spin that might happen at 40-75 mph a 1 in 5,000 type event. Does protecting against an impact into a barrier out of a spin at impact speeds up to 60 mph protect 90% of the cases? This is the type of logic I am going after, but I presume data is not available.
I would put a HANS as no. 1 on the list of desired safety equipment (after helmet). In almost any impact scenario your head is affected - can probably say 100% of events put your head/neck at risk.
It's a lot to consider, and of course the type of car comes into play as well. Some cars are more prone to roll. In some of the Camaros your helmet will not fit through the window in case you need to climb out, so fire protection may be a higher priority...
LOL!! That was so funny as I was reading down the thread and the one guy says he's joining late but wants to argue about something!!
I thought it was darned good myself .
Still, in the end it's a serious subject. I like making jokes about it too though, mostly because I think it's gotten way to easy to use "safety" and the "precautionary principal" to justify almost anything.
In my endless pursuit of the perfect Roll Cage I've come across a product offered by Safety Devices Ltd. a company in the UK who've developed and are marketing a "bolt in" cage for the Porsche 944. It's a system that appeals to me because it's a bolt in, and because it offers a complete 6 point cage solution. I'm interested in it because:
1) It seems to fit my 1989 Porsche 944 S2
2) It's segmented in a way that may allow me to install it in parts. This would mean I could have a "half cage" for HPDE, then later install the front portion to make it a full cage for racing.
It's not currently FIA certified and Safety Devices isn't certain of its acceptability as a PCA Club Racing cage. They've suggested I contact a PCA Scrutineer to answer that question. Although it may be a little off topic, it seems to be in the realm of this discussion and may offer assistance to the OP.
Is there a PCA Scrutineer on board that may wish to offer an opinion on:
a) Would this cage be considered adequate for PCA Club Racing?
b) Might it be installed in parts, with the "back" half used for HPDE events and the additional front part installed for W2W racing?
In my endless pursuit of the perfect Roll Cage I've come across a product offered by Safety Devices Ltd. a company in the UK who've developed and are marketing a "bolt in" cage for the Porsche 944. It's a system that appeals to me because it's a bolt in, and because it offers a complete 6 point cage solution. I'm interested in it because:
1) It seems to fit my 1989 Porsche 944 S2
2) It's segmented in a way that may allow me to install it in parts. This would mean I could have a "half cage" for HPDE, then later install the front portion to make it a full cage for racing.
It's not currently FIA certified and Safety Devices isn't certain of its acceptability as a PCA Club Racing cage. They've suggested I contact a PCA Scrutineer to answer that question. Although it may be a little off topic, it seems to be in the realm of this discussion and may offer assistance to the OP.
Is there a PCA Scrutineer on board that may wish to offer an opinion on:
a) Would this cage be considered adequate for PCA Club Racing?
b) Might it be installed in parts, with the "back" half used for HPDE events and the additional front part installed for W2W racing?
Thanks in advance,
In my opinion, you are much better off purchasing a bolt in roll bar and then reselling it when you are ready for weld in cage.
Or you could also consider selling the car with the roll bar installed to another hobbiest and buying a purpose built race car once you are ready to make the jump.
Belay that. The drawing presented isn't of the system I had been enquiring about. Unfortunately the cage I was asking about bears little relation to the system described in the attached drawing above. I'm not certain what happened, but the system shown clearly isn't divided between a "front" and "back" half, nor does it show the removable side impact protection.
I'll get back to the manufacturer and request further clarification.
In my opinion, you are much better off purchasing a bolt in roll bar and then reselling it when you are ready for weld in cage.
Or you could also consider selling the car with the roll bar installed to another hobbiest and buying a purpose built race car once you are ready to make the jump.
Thanks OleMiss, I'd already come to a similar conclusion. It's taken me awhile to discover "you just can't get there from here" . Forgive me for not giving up easily? It's my nature.
01-26-2019, 01:27 PM
. They work great. Ask any pilot. Nomex just is, it doesn't work better for people with lots of grub. Never slight Nomex, or the people who wear it? There is no "next level". Nomex is about as far as you can go.
