Tubing Pads for behind head

[AvDES LLC]

Has anyone done this in their plane? I cannot be the only one that gets into my plane and looks at that tube behind our heads and thinks - " a bit of rough turbulence and I can be taking a nap mid air"

If youve padded those tubes, please post up some pictures and materials you used. Id love to see some of your solutions to this before I go get some pool noodles and get to work (joking but the oldschool off road guys will remember those days)

[jiott]

In 8.5 years I have gone thru many incidents of unexpected bad turbulence and never once has my head banged against those tubes behind my head. I have hit the canopy roof numerous times. In case of a crash, most likely your head would be thrown forward. My own opinion is that the fabric sleeves that cover the tubes behind your head are adequate. The most important thing to do is keep your seatbelt very tight if turbulence is likely. My 2 cents.

[109JB]

I agree that in normal ops, even considering turbulence and hard landings, I don't think hitting your head on those is going to be a problem. That said, the Kitfox I got in October had pads on those tubes. A common hardware store split pipe insulation sleeve was wrapped around it and then a simple cloth cover with a velcro closure over that. I didn't put them back on when I rebuilt the airplane.

[desertdave]

I have 2 pieces of split conduit insulation on mine. I'll try to remember to take a few pictures tomorrow.

[Eric Page]

Look for BMX bike pads (https://www.google.com/search?q=bmx+bike+pads). They come pre-cut, with cloth covers available in all sorts of fabrics.

[n85ae]

I have an industrial sewing machine, and I used Cordura, and backed it up with sew foam, then put velcro on
the ends. Was quite simple to do, looks better, and actually I've never bumped my head on either the tubes,
or the padding in the 20'ish years I've been flying N85AE.

Comes off as quickly as unfastening Velcro :)

Jeff

30373

[AvDES LLC]

thank you all for your posts! Im likely going with that conduit insulation with a BMX bike pad wrapped around it. Lets see if I can find a few of those sweet ass neon green and black Schwinn handlebar pads from the 80's