>>> 3)  Do aircraft ever use air bags for the humans ?  Do they
>>>     ever use air bags for the belly or nose of the aircraft ?

>> No, and no. Equipment is severe weight penalty.

On Sun, Aug 2, I wrote:

> Technically, that should be "no and yes" (historical footnote).

I stand corrected.  The correct answer is "yes and yes".

In a recent AOPA (US Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association) newsletter,
they mentioned seatbelt mounted airbags for general aviation aircraft.
They wrote:

   " AmSafe began installing airbag seatbelts in GA aircraft in 2001,
    and they have become standard equipment in 80 percent of the new,
    single-engine airplanes manufactured today. About 17,000 sets of
    airbag seatbelts have been installed on GA aircraft, and that
    includes a growing number of retrofits in the existing fleet
    through supplemental type certificates. "

>From photos included, airbag is mounted on the lap portion of the
seat belt and inflates away from the person (better than cars).
It adds about 2 pounds (1 kilogram) to empty weight.

Retrofit for 2 front seats is roughly $5,000 installed (with large
variance based on number of hours labor needed to do the install).

						Lee Jones

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