Geo,
The "debate" over which belts is an ongoing one...however Edgar Brooks has spent a LOT of time at PRO and his conclusion is that *maybe* some Tempests and Typhoons had the QS belt (the one you have done) before the end of the war but that no Spitfires had.
QUOTES
Can anyone tell me the date when in WW II the British changed from the Sutton harness to the (mid to late war) Q type harness?
Kent in Oz
They didn't, except (possibly) on the Tempest; there's mention, in its Pilot's Notes, of a "new" type of harness. I'm only researching, fully, the Spitfire, where references to the Sutton-style harness can be found, in the Inspection Schedules, right through until 1945 for various Marks, and there are photographs, in which you can see Suttons draped over cockpit sills on 1945-era XIVs. The parachute-style "QS" harness didn't come into Spitfire use until 1946; with three harnesses having Q in their titles, confusion is an ever-present, but the QK was just a version of the Sutton K, the QL had the box-type of fitting, but appears to have been superceded by the QS. This, in turn, was superceded by the (essentially similar) ZB harness in 1950.
Edgar
So summing up the "Q type" harness, despite being described as a mid to late war modification, really didn't see general usage (in the Spitfire) until after the war, however there were a few a/c that may have had the modification. Obviously it will depend on the specific references available but it would be a safe bet to generally stick with a Sutton harness for a WWII Spitfire?
Kent in Oz
..
I'd say so; the Spitfire was unique, with its plastic seat, which was always prone to cracking, especially at the sides. Even the introduction of the QK (which was just a variation of the Sutton K) was conditional on the seat, whether plastic or metal, being above a minimum thickness, with special emphasis on the side walls. The leaflet, introducing the box-fitting type QS harness is dated 1946, which seems an inordinate delay, if they'd been in use earlier. Typhoons, Tempests, etc., probably due to their metal seats, had fewer restrictions. I have found the Typhoon manual, which definitely illustrates a Sutton, sitting in Kew's archives, but not (yet) one for the Tempest. This seems to indicate that the Typhoon might have changed, during the war, but Lord knows when (or even if.)
Edgar
END QUOTES.
In any case the "safe" bet is this one:
Here is a model one but DON'T feed the belt through the back of the seat like this one is!! Also note he has the triangle clip attached to the WRONG side..there is actually a little tab on the right shoulder harness that the cord gets tied to.
Also the right hand side lap belt SHOULD be fed through a hole in the side of the seat (like this model) to stop it tangling with the seat lift mechanism. I'll try to find a picture of the real thing..
The good news is that I have one and can give you all the detailed photos you want.
...
Sorry!!! didn't mean to ruin your day.