Velocity seats and safety

[emteeoh]

I`ve been planning to build a velocity for a while. I`ve been reading alot about the differences between it and the cozy. I was pretty sure about the decision, until I read an accident report on Mark Zeitlin`s website. http://www.cozybuilders.org/N2992_Accident_Eval/index.html

 

OK, I have to admit I`m a little confuzzled about what plane it was that crashed. It sounds like it was a mish-mash of cozy MkIV and SQ2000 (of which I know little. The manufacture seems to be defunct).

 

anyhow, its clear that the seats were not like the cozy, which, as I understand them, are basically thwarts (to use a naval term) in the fuselage. This should be quite strong. The crashed plane had seats that were not structural, and ripped out in the crash, and appeared to not have a great deal of strutural strength themselves.

 

 

So my question is about the seats in the velocity. How do they compare? Could "It seems that these seats have no true structure to them, and are closer to lawn chairs in their design and structural integrity." possibly describe velocity seating?

[Marc Zeitlin]

OK, I have to admit I`m a little confuzzled about what plane it was that crashed. It sounds like it was a mish-mash of cozy MkIV and SQ2000 (of which I know little. The manufacture seems to be defunct).

It was an SQ2000 - no COZY heritage at all. It had a Mazda rotary engine. The company that used to make the SQ2000's may still exist, doing something else.

 

So my question is about the seats in the velocity. How do they compare?

They are similar in architecture, in that they are "seats" with folding backs. This says nothing about the relative design specifics.

 

Could "It seems that these seats have no true structure to them, and are closer to lawn chairs in their design and structural integrity." possibly describe velocity seating?

Sure, and it could possibly describe F-16 seats, too, but there was no investigation or analysis of Velocity seats, just the single SQ2000 seat that failed (well, the two that failed, as can be seen in the pictures, even though no-one was in the second one).

 

I would in no way generalize what happened to the SQ2000 seat to what MIGHT happen to a Velocity seat. If you want information, talk to the Velocity factory about the accidents that have occurred in Velocities. The specifics of the design are all-important - not what they happen to look like from a distance. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge looked pretty similar to the George Washington Bridge, but the TNB lasted all of four months before collapsing, while the GWB has been standing for 77 years.

[emteeoh]

Sure, and it could possibly describe F-16 seats, too, but there was no investigation or analysis of Velocity seats, just the single SQ2000 seat that failed (well, the two that failed, as can be seen in the pictures, even though no-one was in the second one).

 

 

I would in no way generalize what happened to the SQ2000 seat to what MIGHT happen to a Velocity seat. If you want information, talk to the Velocity factory about the accidents that have occurred in Velocities. The specifics of the design are all-important - not what they happen to look like from a distance. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge looked pretty similar to the George Washington Bridge, but the TNB lasted all of four months before collapsing, while the GWB has been standing for 77 years.

Thanks for the answer, Marc. I guess I was really driving for a sense of how different the Velocity seats are form the SQ2000 seats. I intend to ask the factory, but I don't presume they know anything about the SQ2000, since they build velocities. The fact that a similar accident hasn't happened doesn't mean that one couldn't.

[Marc Zeitlin]

...I guess I was really driving for a sense of how different the Velocity seats are form the SQ2000 seats.

Unknown. There are two or three SQ2000's flying - maybe you could catch one at a fly-in and check them out, along with the many Velocities.

 

I intend to ask the factory, but I don't presume they know anything about the SQ2000, since they build velocities.

Agreed, and they wouldn't say anything about the SQ2K anyway. But they SHOULD be able to give you a lot of info about the Velo, which is what you're interested in.

 

The fact that a similar accident hasn't happened doesn't mean that one couldn't.

Sure, but there are only a handful of SQ2K's flying, and this happened to one of them, while there are hundreds of Velo's flying, some of which have crashed, and AFAIK this type of seat collapse hasn't happened. No guarantee, obviously, but just an indication.