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  • Offering upholstered Bearhawk seats

    While visiting the factory early this week, we met with an upholsterer who does very nice work in the same town as the factory. He has done some classic old cars for friends. Thinking about offering seats upholstered with Bearhawk/Patrol/LSA embroidery sewn on etc. I would like hear the thoughts of kit builders who might be interested in this option. I am assuming we could offer upholstered seats at a reasonable cost savings - but that has yet to be determined.

    Please help me determine what kind of upholstery work might be desirable. Vinyl covering?? Leather covering?? or a fabric covering??? I was thinking maybe a couple of color options because it would not be practical to have too many options. Maybe gray and black? Or a combination of a couple colors??

    Bob suggested urethane foam with 2 1/2" on the bottom and 1 1/2" on the seatbacks.

    I welcome comments from everyone so we can if this is worth pursuing. Thanks in advance for the help. Mark

  • #2
    Mark,
    I would have probably bought this had it been available when I ordered my LSA kit. As it stands now, I would still be interested in seat covers that could be easily installed by me. In fact, I might be even more interested in seat covers that are easily removable. They could be designed with snap tabs, or Velcro tabs, and a pocket to slide down over the back of the front seat. I would suggest two colors, grey and beige, to keep it simple. You could use pockets in the covers for the foam so that it could be removed for washing, if needed. That would also make it easy to offer either standard foam, or three layer memory foam, which is what I would want. Alternatively, a builder could supply his own foam, making shipping cheaper. Just my thoughts. Bob

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    • #3
      Hey Mark,

      I think it's a great idea. I would have been very interested in this also, but I just built the seat pans and bought the Confor Foam. I'm looking into upholstering now, so I'd be interested in some sort of seat cover also. I built mine with 3" on the bottom and 2" on the back.

      I haven't decided on the covering material yet, but something durable that looks good is important to me. I'm leaning toward faux leather like: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...?clickkey=9673. Not sure on colors yet, but I do like two tone.

      Bobby
      Bobby Stokes
      4-Place Kit Builder
      Queen Creek, AZ
      http://azbearhawk.com

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      • #4
        Research the foam. I want safety if it catches on fire, and an absence of back pain after flying three hours. Memory foam perks my interst but I say this without giving it proper research.

        I first think of Oregon Areo for safety and comfort, but at a premium price that drives me to look elsewhere, even to make my own, or employ my local upholstery shop. Their high prices should allow ample room for a competitor to thrive. You could grow your upholstery business beyond the Bearhawk line...even into the certificated airframes I bet.

        High quality faux leather is a fine option. While Airtex covers I felt were too sensitive to the Sun's bleaching and did not last.

        Brooks Cone
        Patrol Scrath Build #303

        .
        Brooks Cone
        Southeast Michigan
        Patrol #303, Kit build

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        • #5
          Is feaux leather vinyl? I could certainly send any material down to be used if not available there. But preference would be to find something already available in the area which would seem to be very likely. Mark

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          • #6
            It's a good idea Mark, I doubt you'll be able to cover everyone's desire for foam density, fabric etc. I personally like 3' foam, extend the pan forward a couple inches for thigh support and a 'c' notch for the stick. A little lumbar support is good too. Tweed style fabric is my choice, durable. I think if you made it in gray it would cover allot of builders.

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            • #7
              The good thing about making the service available and optional is that folks who are really particular can do their own or call Oregon Aero, and the folks who are less particular can have access to someone who knows how to make the seats for a good price. I had the good fortune of a wife who was willing to patiently carve the seat foam and an old aeromodeling friend who was willing to sew the covers. As I recall, I had about $200 in foam and $500 in covers, and the quote from Oregon Aero was around $4000. That was a few years ago.

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              • #8
                The responses have been interesting, but not quite all I am hoping for. Is fake leather a kind of vinyl? Is tweed a wool fabric? I know very little about the different materials and am hoping some of you guys can educate me enough to move to prove this out. Mark

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                • #9
                  Google says:
                  Faux leather is made from a fabric base, which is chemically treated with wax, dye, or polyurethane for a color and texture. Ultimately, it is manmade and exists to give the look and feel of real leather at an exceptionally lower cost.
                  So it's not a specific material.
                  Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun.


                  I note that both wool and leather will sustain fire if they are treated with certain chemicals, or not if they are in a more natural state. We did burn tests with my cousin in-law who runs an upholstery shop specialising in vehicles, using offcuts. We ended up with a man-made product like Vinyl, the name escapes me.

                  Mark, I think you are better to do what you suggested initially - offer a basic option for those who have little or no interest in customisation, people who want a light and cost effective seat with perhaps a basic colour choice like grey or tan. Those waiting to customise will have complex requirements and will be prepared to pay for them. Providing a basic, safe, and Bob-approved package is probably the solution which would sell the most, unless you wanted to partner with this other company to offer full-custom seat production - which is a great option for customers, but a lot more complicated and means you're into a marketplace which is already full of choices.
                  Last edited by Battson; 12-17-2015, 06:04 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Oh, I'm in! I can do a bunch of stuff, but I can't sew. I like nice soft leather. Fabric is cooler, but leather ages nicely. Medium gray goes with most anything.


                    Bill

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                    • #11
                      Faux leather is a little generic but yes it's vinyl. I meant tweed in a generic way also, a tweed like fabric not necessarily 100% Scottish wool. These are terms that your upholsterer will understand. You can look at yourautotrimstore.com to get various ideas of what is out there. There seems to be a confusing variety of vinyls and fabrics but in general the auto or boat covering materials are what we use, depending on our tolerance for supporting flame. I agree that a simple basic package would appeal to allot of builders, those with custom ideas will be willing to find an upholstery shop.

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                      • #12
                        Thanks to all for your thoughts on what would be doable and also desirable. Maybe we offer some basic seats with three choices of covering. Leather, vinyl, and a wool tweed.I will move forward with investigations of what is possible. It is a little more challenging than you might think as none of this terminology or descriptions will be understood by the upholsterer who speaks zero English, and my knowledge of this all is minimal in English or Spanish. I am going to send him pics of my LSA seats which were done by a local upholsterer here in Texas as a starting point for what might be possible.

                        What is true is that forever people have taken their cars, airplanes, and boats across the border here in TX for upholstery work in MX. It is relatively inexpensive and can be very good quality. Thanks again for everyone's input. Mark

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                        • #13
                          Count us as interested too. Would probably prefer some sort of breathable fabric rather than something leather or leather like. A tan color would be good. We already have the seat frames covered with fabric so not sure how we would work it to get the next step done.

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                          • #14
                            My original intention was to offer this upholstered seat option to new kit purchasers. But it is obvious that we ought to make a "kit"or a cover that existing builders can use. Maybe supply it with Velcro that would need to be sewn or glued on at the right places depending on how each person did their foam. Mark

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                            • #15
                              Check these out. TN Wings is known for their aircraft interior kits for DIY. I'm putting one of their seat kits in my C150. Mark, they may be able to offer advice on how you could market the Bearhawk seat kits.
                              http://tnwings.com/catalog/index.php...roller=product.
                              Cheers
                              Gerry
                              Patrol #30 Wings

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