Confor foam cushions - firmness?

At 12:43 21 March 2017, wrote:
I bought all 3 types after a back injury a few years ago. and I try
to
convince anyone who will listen to use this stuff.

I use 1" blue over 1' green in the seat bottom and 1' blue on the
back. I
gave the pink away (it is pretty useless for back protection).

If you begin to use it and it is cold out - you will think it is too
stiff,
BUT it is NOT - your body heat will soften it up quickly - just
bring it in
your home at room temps and you will see.

I would not fly a glider without this stuff - I made is do I bring it
with
me when I use other gliders just google "glider back injury"
....... you
will be convinced. We sit in a position that required very little
impact to
create a huge back problem.

my $.02

WH



The British Gliding Association advice supports you!

There has been a lot of work done in the UK over the past several
years to explore the use of foam cushions to protect pilots.
Comfort issues come second to the need to protect users from
spinal injury.

The current BGA advice is he

https://members.gliding.co.uk/librar...y/safety-foam/

Read - and take note.

Jim Thomson

Comfort is good, but safety is primary. I received a back injury from a hard landing; at that time, there was only one inch of Blue Foam under me. Cumulus-Soaring's website promotes proper cushioning by using a mix of colored foam, with specific thicknesses.

Raul Boerner
DM LS6

I used extra firm green under the thin cushion that came with the glider. Confor needs its own cover to protect it from abrasion and UV, though that can be a single layer of cloth.

Green Confor is hard as a rock when cold, but warms with body heat to shape with no pressure points while providing the highest level of protection compared to the less dense favors. If you have extra room, then layering with less dense Confor is good, but if all you have is a an inch or two, for maximum protection I'd go with green alone - this won't compromise comfort save for the first few minutes.

I shaped the Confor in my last two gliders to evenly support thighs as well, this also reduces load on the butt and spine.

Confor cuts and shapes using an electric carving knife, and also shapes with a belt sander when cold (use caution, as frozen or very cold Confor is brittle and will snap if bent or bent quickly). Sanding will have you covered in it, but it blows off easily.

Easy to make thicker slabs by bonding sheets together with 3M 77 or 90 spray adhesive . . . much harder to make a thick slab thinner (though a hot wire would probably work nicely - used that on other foam but not Confor).

If it's to be the primary cushion (no cover cushion), it's common to bond a thin layer (1/4" ?) of polyfoam onto the Confor so it fits within the upholstery nicely without wrinkles (the polyfoam rebounds quickly to hold the upholstery snugly) and has a better initial feel.