Safety–One Man's Style
Technical Tips Manual Volume 4
Summary By Taylor Mershon, IAC 442603
In Technical Tips Manual Volume 4, taking a look through the article Safety–One Man’s Style reveals some thought processes and aerobatic pilot practices that, while written in the late 1980’s, are just as relevant as if they’d been written yesterday. In this safety article, Editor Jean Sorg delivers an in-depth look at aerobatic pilot Ken Stout’s view on safety and safety practices, starting with the cockpit of his Super Decathlon and his wardrobe and ending with a discussion about maintenance.
Sorg begins the article by establishing that Stout’s 180 horsepower Super Decathlon is a certified aircraft that has been modified only with STC alterations. Other than adding spades as a competitive mod, all of the mods he’s done have been for safety.
The first safety mod to be discussed is the removal of the rear stick. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that, “some Decathlon front seat backs have broken and fallen back against the rear stick, jamming it into a fixed position,” Sorg says. Stout adds that removing the rear stick also gives him a competitive advantage because it “helps lighten up the controls, just a little bit…and in a Decathlon, everyone knows that anything we can do in that area is a plus."
A second reason for removing the rear stick is to avoid any possibility of entanglement with the safety belts. This leads to the next modification, which is installation of a Hooker harness in the front seat of the aircraft. Stout had concerns with the factory-installed belts based on reports of “rear stick entanglement, failure of seat belt attach fittings, inadvertent release of the belt buckles, and loosening up of the belts and harness while flying, particularly during aerobatics”. These reports came from fellow aerobatic pilots who were also members of the IAC.
The Hooker harness also provides the benefit of a multi-attach point system for its belts, while the factory-installed system had a single-attach point. Hooker’s system is safer and more comfortable during aerobatics. Stout also praised the ratchet tightening mechanism on Hooker’s belts. "I used to be floatin' all around the cockpit thanks to the belts loosening up and the automobile-like, across-the-shoulder bit," he stated.
“Now if a little more give develops than he wants while performing maneuvers, he can reach down without letting go of the stick, give the ratchet a quick click and be instantly snug again in his seat. This produces another fringe competition benefit in that firm, secure bodily restraint aids one in flying maneuvers better.” Sorg added.
Regarding safety, one thing all pilots (and especially aerobatic pilots) must keep in mind is fire. Because of this, Stout advocates for wearing a Nomex fire suit when performing aerobatics. He acknowledged the suit can be hot, but said it’s not really that bad. "You know you're not going on a long cross country with it. And it gives you a few seconds of fire protection."
For hand protection, Stout had originally planned to get a pair of leather gloves. But, through conversation with other aerobatic pilots he learned that leather “will shrink in a fire and you won't be able to move your hands. So he “went to the regular stock military Nomex gloves which are very comfortable and pliable. You can still pick up things easily and they keep your hands from slipping off the stick. Sweat is just absorbed. In addition the military style grip is a lot better than the old rubber bicycle grip." he said.
Possibly the most important part of Stout’s wardrobe is his helmet. At EAA AirVenture one year he went to the Flight Suits Limited booth and was measured for a custom fitted Kevlar helmet. "It's the stock military high G helmet. Kevlar is an option that adds lightweight strength. A composite, it's the state of the art in space age lightweight, real strong material." he said.
“He also arranged for his Dave Clark headset to be installed in this helmet.” Sorg added.
At this time in aerobatics, the sleek, breathtakingly expensive, readily available pilot helmets that we are privileged to have today were not so popular or abundant on the market. Wearing a helmet for aerobatics was something of a new concept.
“The use of a helmet made a lot of sense to him,” Sorg said.
Stout’s thinking was validated when "a couple of guys on the circuit started showing up with them.” Still, there was some stigma. "Some guys may think it's not very macho to wear all this stuff. But when I'm up there I'm not really trying to impress people that way.” Stout said. “The helmet is phenomenally comfortable and easy to wear and only took me about one hour to get used to it. In fact I wear it on cross countries and everywhere now."
Moving on to safety as it relates to the whole aircraft and to aircraft maintenance, Stout talks about the Complete Halon Fire Extinguisher System for Aircraft from International Safety Systems Inc. that he had installed in his Super Decathlon. With this system, “one nozzle is pointed right at the header tank…The other points downward at both sides of the engine and its cylinders via tubing from the top. The theory behind this is the natural airflow will suck the Halon down and around the engine very rapidly.” Sorg described.
The system has no shut-off once it's been activated. “Halon is not supposed to harm any of the aircraft's components, including electrical. Its common use is in computer rooms.” Sorg added. Regarding its effect on humans, Stout acknowledges it would not be good to breathe in at high concentration, but points out an air vent above the front seat and says, “you could stick your nose in the vent to breathe outside air.”
Stout acknowledges that some pilots don’t like the fire extinguisher system for aerobatic aircraft because of the weight it adds to the plane. Stout estimates his system weighs about seven pounds and states: "If you're that worried about weight, then quit crying about it and just go on a diet. Most of the guys who do worry about weight are carrying a lot of extra pounds themselves."
Aircraft maintenance is the core of safety in this sport. Stout recommends regularly waxing your aircraft as a way to catch small issues that come up. By looking closely at every inch of the plane, there shouldn’t be much that you’ll miss. He also says it’s smart to take a look frequently inside the tail. "A lot of things tend to end up in the tail assembly. You wouldn't believe some of the things that drift back there from pockets or whatever — like keys, coins, screwdrivers, pens, glasses, anything. So before every flight you want to take off the inspection plate under the horizontal stabilizer and check visually and by feel."
Stout advises internally inspecting your wings every 10 flight hours. “Nails working up or out is one item he's looking for here. If one is working out, he simply taps it back in. He has inspection plates that he pulls for the task.” Sorg says.
Header tanks should be watched closely as well; their aluminum tubes are rigid structures that get vibrated and rattled around constantly. It’s smart to always assume there could be an issue there. Stout says to watch for any sign of cracks in the tubes, the smell of fuel, or “gooey green stains down around a fitting”. At the first sign of any of these issues, drain the tanks and replace the tubes.
Coming from less of a vital safety standpoint and more of a luxury safety standpoint, Stout discusses the use of gap seals on tail surfaces of the aircraft. He says, “the…benefit here, I feel, from a safety standpoint is the aircraft is much more controllable with the gap seals. It really makes a difference in the elevator and rudder handling performance. It won't hold knife edge without the tape and does quite nicely with it." Stout uses 3M book binding tape, saying the benefit there is that it’s cheap. “It does get yellow and old and eventually peels off. Then one simply replaces it.” Sorg explains.
In 2025 there are a few more options on the market for gap seal tape and they are quite a bit higher quality than book binding tape, although they are not cheap. Aircraft Spruce carries 3M brand gap seal tape for about $250 a roll, but if it’s installed correctly, not regularly covered in smoke oil, and the plane isn’t being flown so hard it needs an engine replacement every year, the tape should last more than 5 years–but likely for the lifetime of the plane.
Stout says that he regularly drills emergency exits from his plane so that if a real emergency occurs, he won’t think twice about how to egress the aircraft. He recommends this as a regular practice, especially for aerobatic pilots. Simulating different types of emergencies and making different escape plans accordingly helps to widen the scope of situations for which a pilot will be prepared.
Stout’s shiniest gems of advice come toward the end of the article. “You just can't inspect the aircraft too much,” he says. “It's mechanical. There's going to be wear and tear.” And finally, perhaps the best advice: “I talk to other Decathlon owners a lot to find out what they have had problems with and what breaks on their airplanes and why.” This is valuable wisdom (at least in this author’s opinion) because through talking to other owners of the same type of aircraft as your own, you’re basically creating for yourself your very own collective knowledge bank of that particular airplane. With this you can foresee problems that may be likely to happen, perform additional preventative maintenance, or even modify your aircraft to avoid issues that others have experienced.
Safety is a multi-faceted, constantly evolving, moving finish line type of goal that can cause harm (to human and airplane!) if you don’t keep after it. However, with constant review of topics like these and the community reminders that we all need to check up on this or take a look at that, we all are capable of keeping up with safety the way we should.
To read Jean Sorg’s full article about Ken Stout, download the pdf below:
