Roland CII seatbelt attachment points?

[Dave in Dubai]

Hi,

Can anyone shed some light on where the seatbelt attachment points should be for the Roland CII?

The WNW instruction book shows the pilots seatbelts draped over the sides of the seat and disappearing underneath the seat.

Is this correct? Do they attach to the underneath of the seat and on top of the fuel tank somewhere?

I expect that they would be more likely attached to the fuselage longerons or else attached to the auxiliary fuel tank bulkhead- part A44?
Alternatively maybe they are anchored to the floor?

Also, another question is where do the small internal 20kg carbonite bombs go ( seen on the underside of part B17) and shown on page 25 of the WNW book.

They seem to carry through into the space which forms the fuel tank?

Thanks to anyone who may be able to answer these couple of questions.

Dave in dubai

[GrahamB]

Hi Dave,

practically impossible to answer this as the Datafile and Herris book have no photos showing this part of the cockpit. I just followed WNW in attaching them to the seat base but this seems wrong in principle. As you suggest, a better option may be to attach them to the upright frame behind the seat (i.e. part A44) low down near the longeron, OR on the longeron itself back towards A44. Either way is a much more secure attachment point. Your call - I'm no expert on German practice (or any other for that matter!).

Cheers,

GrahamB

[Dave in Dubai]

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your reply and really nice work on your Roland build by the way!

Yes it seems unlikely that the seatbelts are anchored under the seat and above the fuel tank for structural reasons.
The belts could be anchored to the bulkhead although I am not so sure since they are lap belts and would not drape over the back of the seat.
Most likey is an attachment point to the side longerons or else the floor.
In this case the mounting points would not really be seen which is probably why WNW went with them being depicted just lying over the arms of the seat.

Thanks in any case for your reply.

The carbonite ordnance is a bit of a conundrum.

I toyed with the idea of removing them just showing an empty hole, but since no info seems available on this area, I have just opted to leave them in place.

The Roland is a really nice kit and beautifully engineered (whatever else), which kind of makes me want to build more than one.

All the best

D in D

[kornbeef]

Dave.

Well I attached the belts as per WNW. I think the thinking those days were not as anything other than stopping the pilot falling out  as opposed to any benefit in an impact. Besides once she's together you would be hard pressed to see where the buggers finish 

For the carbonite bombs, it had me scratching my head too. So I cut them out and thinned the belly skin some. Once the area inside is painted black it leaves a nice void with no sides which looks better IMHO.

It's a gorgeous kit with very few vices so enjoy.

Keith

[Dave in Dubai]

Thanks Keith and Red Baron for your replies.

Interesting to read your thoughts on the seatbelts and the bomb wells.

RB you have good eyes as I had seen the very photograph in the datafile but had not seen the seatbelt ring until you pointed it out.
Not sure how easy it would have been to lob a couple of 20kg carbonites over the side, but a possibility.

The WNW has a couple of lateral slots on the lowest level floor in the observers cockpit.
Not sure whether this may have been something to do with the dropping mechanism or else just drainage holes?

I believe I saw a carbonite bomb in a glass case at Le Bourget a while ago.
If I find the picture I will post it here for interest.

Thanks again for your help and the references chaps !

D in d

[Dave in Dubai]

Here you go....sorry it's not as sharp an image as I would like....due to shooting through glass.