Erik,

It was, although "butt in sling" or something similar might better
"fit" the situation. The whole point of that 5th strap is to keep the
lap belts properly positioned on the pelvis and still allow the
shoulder belts to be tight. This positioning gives the best control of
both vertical and horizontal motion. In the case of a really high g
impact in a glider I suspect restraint issues would be moot, however.

There's been a lot of research on making high speed racecar crashes
survivable; there's both interest and funding for it, very little on GA
and only a bit in gliders. The key lessons from Nascar and Grand Prix
racing are that a cockpit that maintains its integrety and a restraint
system that keeps the driver within that container are good things.
Nascar has now mandated a separate head restraint to prevent neck
injuries. These measures have made at least some 200 mph crashes
survivable.

Bringing measures of this kind to gliders would require that we be
willing to pay for them, something, according to the DG newsletter, we,
as a group, are not willing to do.

Ray Warshaw
1LK