Fresh Breeze conversion from J bars

This is specifically for chrisjones, but may be of interest to others with or contemplating FB machines.

lots of pictures on this post viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5863&start=0&hilit=aerochute

showing my original approach with the old FB 'respect' or 'airboss' frame.

The top cross member of the central motor suspension part of the frame is positioned further back to enable the back padding to be supported by the flexible cord, thus providing cushioning for the harness and pilot.

Originally I inserted an extra cross bar to attach the fixed harness to so that the motor would not move up and down excessively when transferring from the take off run to flight mode.

Unfortunately due to the configuration of the Aerochute harness this had two drawbacks:

The motor hung a little low on the back, and

the extra bar could be felt across the shoulder blades when flying holding the brake handles.

I tried a few different ways to attach the harness but ended up removing the extra bar and attaching the harness in the following fashion;

I unthreaded the top two traverses of the flexible cord and tied it off:

I secured the top securing strap of the harness to the fuel tank support bar:

I then fitted the original J bar jettison strap from the harness webbing to the top cross member of the FB frame to hold the webbing off the shoulder during flight:

This has resulted in a much more comfortable arrangement and holds the motor higher up on my back. The shoulder straps cannot be shortened much because it makes it immpossible to get into the harness after take off.

For Chris with an Apco harness you will have to assess where the top straps on the harness will lie and fit accordingly. My guess is the motor will sit higher and getting in the seat will be easier.

Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Alan

Alan, the harness is Aerolight, not Aerochute. I flew the FB Simo I originally converted to this system again recently and had forgotten just how much more useable it makes the whole set up. FB modified engines are lovely to fly with so converting one of the many FB J bar machines to a better spec by use of the Aerolight harness means you can get a fab machine for not much money. This is particularly true for the heavy guys who are after cheap reliable power in the form of the Simo.

Since seeing how much the motor twisted from horizontal during flight, I have fitted an extra strap to hold the cage straight.

It is looped around one of the harness size adjustment straps on the back of the harness:

This shows the position on the cage 'leg' upright, with a plastic clamp to keep it in position:

It works extremely well, the cage is not twisted and there is no change to flying characteristics.

Brilliant,

Alan

Thanks For the photo's Alan. I tried for hours to get this system to work with my fresh breeze airboss frame (identical to Alan's) and Apco universal harness but couldn't get the motor to sit at a reasonable angle on my back once I was in the harness. I've picked up a fresh breeze CB type frame (with L-shaped bars under the arms, like a Fly products or Bulldog) which I'm mounting the motor on and making a new cage in the next couple of months.

Thanks for going to the effort Alan!

Chris.