This is Wisconsin Stephen with a question for all the SPAD experts. I have multiple SPADs in assembly at this moment and I've reached a stage of hesitation. Exactly where do SPAD XIII lap and shoulder belts attach to the airframe? I have conflicting evidence from photos.
From the photos of SMITH IV and from an existing seat used by Rene Fonck One school of the ought is that the lap belts attach to the seat itself, between the edge of the cushion and the inside of the seat. Likewise, the shoulder belts rise up from attachment points on the seat up between the rear of the seat cushion and the wooden seat back.
The other, more conventional school is that the lap belts attaches somewhere nearby on the seat frame, go up and over th edges of the seat to meet in the middle. The should straps mysteriously attach to the frame behind the top of the seat.
What do original photo show? I have no locator points for belt attachments. All my SPADs represent American 1918-1919 versions.
Wisconsinstephen
