Air Tractor for Goodrich 'Smartbelt'

Air Tractor will be the launch customer for Goodrich's inflatable restraint system, Goodrich will reveal in Orlando this week.

Goodrich will obtain FAA certification for a four-point, flight crew restraint system later this year for the Air Tractor family of agricultural aircraft. Dubbed SmartBelt, the system will be the first inflatable restraint system ever certified by the FAA for the pilot seat.

"[Air Tractor founder] Leland Snow didn't have any requirements for a belt system--he just wanted to improve safety for his customers and pilots," Rich Weite, manager of aviation restraints for Goodrich, told Show News.

The contract is for 100 belts with inflatable restraints, with certification of the system on Air Tractor aircraft expected this fall.

The four-point belt system for Air Tractor provided Goodrich with challenges different from those encountered during development of an inflatable restraint for business aircraft passengers.

"This was a tough challenge because it is a crew restraint system rather than a passenger restraint," says Weite. "We had to ensure that in the case of an inadvertent deployment of the system that it wouldn't interfere with flight controls or obstruct the windshield."

The inflatable restraint system also acts as a "pre-tensioner," so when the airbags-which are integral to the belt-are deployed, they cinch the pilot into the seat and reduce head and chest movement. The inflatable restraints do the same in the passenger systems.

"The key thing is that this [Air Tractor] application is very similar to the application in general aviation, business jets and for flight crews," Weite says.

The business and general aviation belt comprises a three-point restraint system that should be certified by the end of the year, with first sales in 2003. Once certified, the inflatable restraint system can be installed in new production aircraft and retrofitted into existing seat systems.

By Barry Rosenberg