DG-100 Headrest

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Hi Folks,

I'm trying to get comfortable in a DG-100 that currently has no headrest, and am finding that my neck gets sore quite quickly without one. I'm 6'3 and am very reclined in the cockpit (I have to be to fit). I'm using a national backpack chute.

I'm aware that the early DG-200s with the 2 piece canopy have a headrest mounted to the hinge mechanism. I've also been told that some DG-100s have a headrest integral to the backrest.

Does anyone have any info on this that might help?

Cheers,
Nick Gilbert.

[Michael Opitz]

At 23:33 22 April 2018, wrote:
>Hi Folks,
>
>I'm trying to get comfortable in a DG-100 that currently has no
headrest,
>and am finding that my neck gets sore quite quickly without one.
I'm 6'3
>and am very reclined in the cockpit (I have to be to fit). I'm using
a
>national backpack chute.
>
>I'm aware that the early DG-200s with the 2 piece canopy have a
headrest
>mounted to the hinge mechanism. I've also been told that some
DG-100s have
>a headrest integral to the backrest.
>
>Does anyone have any info on this that might help?
>
>Cheers,
>Nick Gilbert.
>
>
Have you tried not using the backrest? If not, that will probably
give you more room to sit a little more erectly. I have also found a
memory foam cushion about 18" x 6" x 4" that fits above my chute
pretty nicely. I am 6' 2" and in most gliders I had flown before my D-2b,
I found that I had to remove the backrest to be at least semi-comfortable
(including DG-100 and DG-300). I have also been
known to put an extra jacket, fleece, canopy cover, etc in the front
of the luggage compartment (leaving enough of an area for vent air
to pass through) in order to put a headrest kind of cushion (which
might be fastened with some velcro, etc on the inside of the turtle-
deck) in front of all that. Experiment to find out what you need, and
then design a solution. You may have to cut some foam yourself,
and then have a cover sewn for it. I did that for my ASW-19 after
removing the backrest.

RO

[Scott Williams]

On Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 7:30:04 PM UTC-5, Michael Opitz

For my Cirrus I used a foam "noodle" toy for swimming pools, cut about ten
Inches of it and sewed up a sunbrella fabric cover with flaps and wide Velcro.
I made a couple of them for adjustability.
works really well and is super light.
good luck
Scott.

[[email protected]]

Cheers for the info.

I find without the backrest i'm more reclined, which makes the angle at which I need to hold my head worse.

I'm currently having a look at aftermarket 'clip-on' style headrests designed for older vehicles. The custom shaped foam with cover solution is certainly an option.

Thanks.

On Monday, April 23, 2018 at 10:00:04 AM UTC+9:30, Michael Opitz wrote:
> At 23:33 22 April 2018, wrote:
> >Hi Folks,
> >
> >I'm trying to get comfortable in a DG-100 that currently has no
> headrest,
> >and am finding that my neck gets sore quite quickly without one.
> I'm 6'3
> >and am very reclined in the cockpit (I have to be to fit). I'm using
> a
> >national backpack chute.
> >
> >I'm aware that the early DG-200s with the 2 piece canopy have a
> headrest
> >mounted to the hinge mechanism. I've also been told that some
> DG-100s have
> >a headrest integral to the backrest.
> >
> >Does anyone have any info on this that might help?
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Nick Gilbert.
> >
> >
> Have you tried not using the backrest? If not, that will probably
> give you more room to sit a little more erectly. I have also found a
> memory foam cushion about 18" x 6" x 4" that fits above my chute
> pretty nicely. I am 6' 2" and in most gliders I had flown before my D-2b,
> I found that I had to remove the backrest to be at least semi-comfortable
> (including DG-100 and DG-300). I have also been
> known to put an extra jacket, fleece, canopy cover, etc in the front
> of the luggage compartment (leaving enough of an area for vent air
> to pass through) in order to put a headrest kind of cushion (which
> might be fastened with some velcro, etc on the inside of the turtle-
> deck) in front of all that. Experiment to find out what you need, and
> then design a solution. You may have to cut some foam yourself,
> and then have a cover sewn for it. I did that for my ASW-19 after
> removing the backrest.
>
> RO

[Michael Opitz]

At 00:47 23 April 2018, wrote:
>Cheers for the info.
>
>I find without the backrest i'm more reclined, which makes the angle
at
>which I need to hold my head worse.
>
>I'm currently having a look at aftermarket 'clip-on' style headrests
>designed for older vehicles. The custom shaped foam with cover
solution is
>certainly an option.
>
>Thanks.
>
You could certainly take an automotive headrest and rivet a couple
of tube receptacles to the back of the backrest as mounts for it, as
long as it's not too far forward. The automotive headrest sounds
like a good idea as long as you engineer it to be easily removable for
glider assembly and access to the baggage compartment. There
should be lots available from junkyards everywhere.
RO

[Echo]

I've got an old Mercedes SL headrest as recommended to me for my asw20, posts fit right between the shoulder harness brackets. You can have that if you want, I ended up fabricating a Velcro secured headrest from sheet metal and a dog cushion, works good, looks good.

Jordan

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My Ventus 2 seatback has a headrest, but it's too far back for head support. I made a foam headrest that slips over the top of the seatback.

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Like RO, I'm also tall (6'3") and my ASW 24 came thru without the backrest....which means it didn't have a headrest. I'm reluctant to fly without one (see my posting in the thread about LS-3 Headrest). So I attached a piece of padding wrapped in a hand towel (sewed/tied) to the main bulkhead. Tried to find something without much "bounce" to avoid rebound during a crash. Memory foam would be perfect but it gets hard when cold and my head doesn't rest on the headrest much of the time to warm it up.

I suspect (hope?) a junkyard automotive headrest might be safer than some DIY solutions.

Chip Bearden

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Thanks for the input everyone. The automotive headrest is the approach i've chosen

Cheers,
Nick.

On Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 7:28:40 AM UTC+9:30, wrote:
> Like RO, I'm also tall (6'3") and my ASW 24 came thru without the backrest...which means it didn't have a headrest. I'm reluctant to fly without one (see my posting in the thread about LS-3 Headrest). So I attached a piece of padding wrapped in a hand towel (sewed/tied) to the main bulkhead. Tried to find something without much "bounce" to avoid rebound during a crash. Memory foam would be perfect but it gets hard when cold and my head doesn't rest on the headrest much of the time to warm it up.
>
> I suspect (hope?) a junkyard automotive headrest might be safer than some DIY solutions.
>
> Chip Bearden