Customer Question: Can I Use Motorsport Harnesses in Aviation?
Customer question, harnesses
Every so often someone asks us whether they can fit one of our motorsport harnesses to an aircraft. It is an understandable question. Racing harnesses are strong, they come in 4, 5 and 6 point versions, and many use a rotary quick release buckle that people describe as aircraft style.
Our answer is no. We do not recommend a motorsport harness for any aircraft. This guide explains why, how racing and aviation restraints differ, and who to ask if you are building or maintaining an aircraft.
- The harnesses we sell are made and tested to FIA motorsport standards, not aviation ones
- Aviation authorities such as the CAA, EASA and FAA set their own requirements for aircraft restraints
- A motorsport harness is not approved for aviation use by any of them
- Homebuilt and experimental aircraft have different rules, but the choice and the responsibility sit with the builder
- Some makers, including Schroth, make aviation restraints as a separate product line
- Ask a qualified aviation engineer or your aviation authority, not a motorsport retailer
What is on this page
The short answer
Every harness we sell, whether OMP, Sparco, Schroth, Sabelt, TRS or another brand, is built for cars. The FIA approved ones are tested and homologated to FIA motorsport standards such as FIA 8853-2016 and 8854-98. Those are standards for racing cars. They are not aviation standards.
Aviation authorities, such as the UK CAA, EASA in Europe and the FAA in the US, have their own requirements for the restraints fitted to aircraft, and a motorsport harness is not approved to them. So our advice for any aircraft is simple: use a restraint that is made and approved for aviation. What an aircraft actually requires is a question for the aviation authority and a qualified aviation engineer, not for us.
The rotary buckle is where the confusion starts. It may look similar to a buckle in a cockpit, but looking similar is not the same as being approved for the job.
Homebuilt and experimental aircraft
Homebuilt, kit, microlight and experimental aircraft are treated differently from factory certified aircraft, and builders have more say over the parts they use. We know some owners choose to fit racing harnesses to them, often because they are easy to get hold of and come in multi point versions.
That is the owner’s choice and the owner’s risk. We cannot tell you how a motorsport harness will behave in an aircraft, and we do not recommend it. Experienced builders generally advise using aviation rated restraints wherever possible, because the loads and the fixings in an aircraft are different from a car. If you are building one, talk to the organisation that oversees your aircraft category and a qualified inspector before you choose a restraint.
Why a race harness is the wrong tool
A good racing harness is very strong, so it is fair to ask why it does not carry across. The answer is that it is designed and tested around a race car, and an aircraft is a different environment.
- What it is tested for. Motorsport harnesses are tested for the kind of impacts that happen on a circuit or a rally stage, with the driver inside a car’s structure and usually a roll cage. Aviation restraints are designed around aircraft crash conditions, which can load the occupant in different directions.
- How it is mounted. A racing harness is designed to bolt to eye bolts or wrap around a harness bar on a roll cage, with the shoulder straps at an angle set for a car bucket seat. An aircraft restraint mounts to the airframe with its own fittings, set for a cockpit seat and the aircraft’s structure. Fitting a car harness in a plane means the anchor points and angles may not suit the seat or the structure at all.
- The webbing. Aviation restraints have their own requirements for materials, including flammability, which a motorsport harness has not been tested against.
Even if a race harness feels just as secure when you sit in it, it has not been proven in the ways an aircraft restraint must be.
Schroth is a good example of the difference. Schroth Safety Products makes restraint systems for aviation, from cockpit and cabin crew restraints to passenger lap belts, as well as the motorsport harnesses we sell.
They are separate product lines, designed and approved for separate jobs. Schroth's racing harnesses are made for racing cars, and their aviation restraints are made for aircraft. Even a company that makes both keeps them apart.
Our advice
We are proud of the harnesses we sell, and in a car they do exactly what they are made for. But we will not recommend one for an aircraft, of any kind. It is outside what the harness was made and tested for, and outside anything we can stand behind.
If you want a 4 or 5 point restraint in an aircraft, there are aviation suppliers who make multi point restraints for aerobatic and other aircraft, made and approved for that use. They may cost more than a motorsport harness, but they are the right part. Always ask a qualified aviation engineer or your aviation authority before changing an aircraft’s restraints.
If your question is about a car, we are glad to help. Garreth’s advice is to tell us the car, the seat and whether there is a roll cage or harness bar, and we will suggest a harness and the right way to mount it. Our guide to running a harness without a roll cage covers one of the most common car questions.
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Can I fit a motorsport harness in a certified aircraft?
We do not recommend it. Motorsport harnesses are made to FIA car standards and are not approved by aviation authorities. Ask a qualified aviation engineer.
What about a homebuilt or experimental aircraft?
The rules are different, but the choice and the responsibility are the builder’s. We do not recommend a motorsport harness in any aircraft.
Is the rotary buckle the same as an aircraft buckle?
It may look similar, but a motorsport harness has not been tested or approved for aviation.
Does Schroth make aviation harnesses?
Schroth Safety Products makes aviation restraints as a separate product line from its motorsport harnesses.
Who should I ask about aircraft restraints?
A qualified aviation engineer, or the aviation authority or organisation that oversees your aircraft.
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The short versionRace harnesses belong in cars
For any aircraft, use a restraint made and approved for aviation.
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