This week I've mostly been working on the seats. I used the tip for using a metal yardstick as a drilling template to make the drilling of the seat angles/hinges more consistent. My yardstick is riddled at this point since I've used it for 4 different drilling templates.
The first thing was to fabricate the F637B vertical angles for the seat back stiffeners. These get cut out of a long chunk of 3/4 x 3/4 x .125 (1/8") angle.
The F637B gets a notch at one end to provide space for the hinge at the bottom. Not having a milling machine, I tried a couple of things - turned out it was easiest to just file it.
There is a left and right hand version required for each seat, so you have to pay attention not to make two of the same part.
A piece of piano hinge gets cut and drilled for the bottom (this is what attaches the seat back to the floor pans). There are three separate identical lengths of matching piano hinge riveted to the floor skin. This allows for some fore/aft adjustment for leg room as well as a bit of reclining.
Since I also drilled several attach points for the rudder pedals, the plane will easily accommodate a variety of pilot sizes, although any adjustments will have to happen on the ground.
Once the verticals are finished, there are two horizontal angles made from 3/4 x 3/4 x .063, one at the top and one at the bottom.
Finally all of these parts (including the length of hinge) are match drilled to the seat back, which is a corrugated sheet of aluminum. The corrugations provide additional stiffness.
Here's the completed assembly after drilling. The only difference between the left seat and the right seat is the orientation of the hinge at the bottom. Left side has the hinge set up one way, the right is exactly opposite. Other than that they are identical.
A seat back brace F638 is riveted to another piece of piano hinge, which is then attached to the upper back of the seat. This provides sufficient flexibility to accommodate any seat back adjustment, as well as allowing the seat to be folded forward if need be.
This would probably be very handy in a tip up canopy RV, although with the sliding canopy I'm planning on, I don't see much of a need. It would also be very easy to take the seat back out if you had something to carry and didn't have a passenger - *that* I could see doing at some point.
Here's the seat clecoed together and installed in the cockpit. In this shot it is in the middle position of the floor attach hinges.
Here's a side angle shot of the same thing - gives a better idea of how it all fits together. The F638 brace at the top is a tight friction fit into the bulkhead. The grey angled pieces sticking out of the floor are the seat belt anchors.
It's amazing how light and strong this is.
The seat will be a lot more comfortable than it looks. There is a spacer cushion that will be shaped to fit the depression and fit level with the forward seat floor. Then a seat and back cushion will be installed on top of that, so it will end up sitting pretty much like you would in a car.
Here's a shot of what an interior looks like all decked out.
