Cup Holders

[Sebastian]

I have finely finished all phase one and now my wife and I are going to try to make some short trips. She asked me this morning about cup holders. While it has crossed my mind I haven't given it any serous thought about where I could put cup holders. Thought I would reach out to y'all that have been flying your planes longer to see what you came up with.

You know how it is "Happy wife happy flying"

[JoHo]

I plan to attach bike bottle cages behind the seatbacks, but haven't started the fslg yet so the idea is only half baked right now.

[AKKen07]

A buddy of mine got a setup with a RAM mount. - they make a nice cup holder. I would look at Sporty’s or ACS or the RAM site.

[Bcone1381]

A nice cup holder design will get you a Bronze Lindy award at OSH!

[alaskabearhawk]

I guess my only question would be: “Do I really want another potential obstacle in the cockpit?”. For me the answer is no. YMMV

[whee]

I’ve considered putting a Scotty mount for a cup holder on the door sill by my left knee.

[Bdflies]

I put one of these in the Patrol;

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-folding-drink-holder?ds_e=MICROSOFT&ds_c=Shop%7CCAB%7CTopPerformers%7CHunting&msclkid=2b4b5da707a81fc0b74c3cc6db845f75&gclid=2b4b5da707a81fc0b74c3cc6db845f75&gclsrc=3p.ds

Bill

[svyolo]

I thought the wife was the cupholder, but that might be why I am not married anymore.

[Sebastian]

Could be. LOL I really don't want to get hit. LOL

[svyolo]

Making fun of myself aside, I would probably put them on top of the instrument panel/glareshield. I can see them, and will stow them for takeoff and landing. There are some cheap ones that fold down, and would be out of sight. Other than that space is tight. I would only use them in cruise. I will probably have on on each side.

[Chewie]

I would be paranoid to have anything in the cockpit that needs to be held upright to keep from spilling. Then again I'm paranoid about lots of things.

[Battson]

I would be worried about the travel cup getting loose in bad turb, and getting jammed into one of the many exposed controls (rudders, sticks, and bellcranks to name a few). 
You would want a nice snug fit or safety catch I think.

[svyolo]

When you live in an airplane for 25% of your life you expect cupholders. When you do it much less, you still want them. For me, only for the cruise portion of the flight. Maybe a Patrol has a bunch of extra space. A 4 place not so much.

[Nev]

When you live in an airplane for 25% of your life you expect cupholders.

And a coffee machine.......

[Bcone1381]

Hey!!! All I get is a thermos!

[nborer]

I'm exceptionally far from being there, but I like the ones in the door of my cars. They are pretty snug and perfect for the screw-top water bottle I put in them. I suppose they'd work for a cup of coffee as well. May be a bit easier to secure them, but there may not be enough room in the Bearhawk. In my mind, this is what I'm thinking (much smaller and more simple, but enough for a water bottle and maybe some chart/checklist/map storage).

[Rollie]

I went with simple, cheap plastic cupholders available at pretty much any auto parts store or online. They came as a set of four. They are made to hang on door but I cut off the hook part and attached it with a couple screws. They are flexible so they don't break easily. I expected to have to replace them but the originals are still in the plane. I made sure to mount the one in the pic forward and high enough not to be in the way of the backseater's knees. Now and then if there is something tall, like a liter bottle, in it I will bump my elbow on the bottle when I reach back/up to adjust the trim lever.

I have the same cupholder in the front mounted to the cover on the avionics rack that I have mounted to the floor forward of the stick. Since most won't have that there, I would suggest a simple cupholder mounted directly to the floor forward of the stick and the fuel selector valve. It's and easy reach and it is out of the way. Just make sure it's a design that will hold whatever you put in there from falling over and interfering with your feet. That is a distraction nobody needs on landing. Of course this location is only good for tandem seating- it would be a terrible location on any of the side by sides.

[Sebastian]

Like your idea and your co-pilot

[Bcone1381]

Yeah, what Rollie said about The Elbow Bump has spilled a lot of liquids. Keep it out of reach of it.

[Rollie]

She is becoming a pretty good copilot. She isn't in love with flying yet but she never complains about my landings.

[robcaldwell]

Camel Back Bladder in the seat back pocket...