Vendors for seats

[svyolo]

Anybody have a positive experience with a vendor to make seats for a 4 place? There are a bunch of vendors that specialize in RV seats. I haven't found one that lists a BH as one they do "stock".

[Glenn Patterson]

If you are looking at the metal frames then consider buying a set from Bearhawkaircraft.com. If its upholstery then put in your seat pans in the BHaircraft.com seat and backs so an upholsterer can finish them. Any person good at sewing can make a set of seat covers that will look good. I bought the recommended foam and bolstered the foam for comfort. We used an automotive fabric from Perfect Fit Upholstery. There are sprays to make the fabric fire resistant. My thought is that by the time seats are on fire then there is more issues at hand then seat construction. A friend sewed the cushions up and they are simple for a good seamstress. The covers are velcroed so they can come off for cleaning or replacement. The velcro simplifies the construction as well. I bought some embroidered Bearhawk patches from the Bearhawk store that we glued to the seat backs to give a factory look.

We built our our own seat frames. I had my partners sit in my truck to see if the guys were comfortable with the cushion and back angles. I often drive in 12 hour stretches and can only adjust my seat back angle as the cushions are fixed. I found my truck to be extremely comfortable on the long hauls and would not change them. The truck cushion and back angles became the angles for building the seats. The seats turned out to be very comfortable. The other big change for comfort was to move the pedals 4 inches closer to the seat. We are 5'-8" to 5'-10 so it was important to get the pedal reach comfortable with the seats. We read that other builders had moved the pedals closer & pleased that we did.

[rodsmith]

One builder sent his kit seat frames to Oregon Aero and had leather seats with heaters built. I bought some left over leather pieces from a biz jet project on ebay and had a local upholsterer do the seats to my specifications. Turned out great. $150 for the leather, $700 for the foam and labor.

[Glenn Patterson]

Leather is a good choice as it is lighter than fabric. There are lots of suppliers for auto leather. Our costs were around $200 sewing our own. If it is cold we wear our snow machine suits and 100 below Sorel Glacier boots. It is easy to open a zipper to adjust the temperature. We go ice fishing at -5 to -10F so we can be on the ice all day and be very comfortable. Hence the warm flight gear.

[AKKen07]

image_6390.jpgA8D3A440-3C84-4E90-8CEB-D861A77A98BF.jpeg I just had my seats done locally (AK) and am very happy with the result. The company is Sport Aircraft Seats and he would be happy to do more Bearhawks. Cost was similar to Oregon Aero but he uses more cold wx friendly foam (I.e. not memory type foam.) I requested a fairly utilitarian design so the seat frame is visible, but he can make it different too. Notice the seat pad difference for the pilot and passenger was customized for my sitting height and my wife’s. Cost was similar to Oregon Aero but no shipping costs since it was here. He has a nice website too.

[alaskabearhawk]

I got NORAL cushions. Light, very easy to clean, inexpensive, meet FAA requirements and just sit on the seat pan with a bit of velcro. The advantage is you can take them out and use them as camping seat cushions too. I have two sets, 2 inch and 4 inch. Easy to swap out for different people. Rob Taylor has them and loves the support they offer and the comfort on long flights.

http://www.noralenterprises.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=35_61

[rodsmith]

I got NORAL cushions. Light, very easy to clean, inexpensive, meet FAA requirements and just sit on the seat pan with a bit of velcro. The advantage is you can take them out and use them as camping seat cushions too. I have two sets, 2 inch and 4 inch. Easy to swap out for different people. Rob Taylor has them and loves the support they offer and the comfort on long flights.

http://www.noralenterprises.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=35_61

Thanks for that reference. My front seats are leather upholstered. I've been struggling with the cost of doing the rear seats since they will so seldom be used, these cushions should work fine.

[schu]

I got NORAL cushions. Light, very easy to clean, inexpensive, meet FAA requirements and just sit on the seat pan with a bit of velcro. The advantage is you can take them out and use them as camping seat cushions too. I have two sets, 2 inch and 4 inch. Easy to swap out for different people. Rob Taylor has them and loves the support they offer and the comfort on long flights.

http://www.noralenterprises.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=35_61

After sitting in Rob's airplane, I went ahead and got the NORAL cushions. They are super light, comfortable, and I can take them out and wash them.

I figure it was a quick way to get into the air. If I don't like them later, it's easy to have the seats covered.

schu

[svyolo]

I did a little looking around at SNF with some of the seats on similar kits. Several had slung seats, with aluminum frames. They looked pretty light. I might start out with the Noral seat cushions.

[alaskabearhawk]

Looks like NORAL changed their web address: https://noralpilot.com/shop/page/4/