Seat repairs

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 12:43:50 GMT, "John McFarlane"
wrote:

Airtex? see TAP

Did you have to spam every aviation newsgroup with this question?

MikeM




Recently I found an Interior/Seat refurbishment company that dealt with
replacement seat cusions/covers for most GA aircraft - USA based. They were
different in that there was no real need to remove the seating, as there
product could replace the old gear in place.

Simply replace take off the old, replace the cushions/foam with the supplied
and zip the new covers back over the top - or something close to this - no
apparent need for an A&P ?

Could someone please supply the company's web link if it known or point me i
the right direction, tried google and dogpile far to many links.

Thanks in advance
John

Simply replace take off the old, replace the cushions/foam with the
supplied
and zip the new covers back over the top - or something close to this -
no
apparent need for an A&P ?

Having observed and participated in my recent (actually, ongoing) interior
refurbishment, I can tell you that there is far more to quality seat
reupholstery than what you describe.

Simply "taking off the old" covers is a major chore in itself, requiring
removal of the seats from the plane. Then the foam padding inside,
especially if it's original, will most likely NOT be in great shape -- and
removing the seat cover tends to wreck it even more. Re-using the foam may
be possible, but putting in new is preferable -- but it must be contoured
correctly or you will not have proper lumbar support, or you will have "hot
spots" where the foam is too firm.

And you can't just "replace the cushions/foam with the supplied" new
stuff -- there's a lot more to it than that. It's got to be glued and/or
stitched to the frame or webbing properly, which requires a knowledge of the
seat design, positioning of the foam, and how thick to make it. Again, do
this wrong, and you'll have uncomfortable seats.

More importantly, the webbing underlying the foam padding will probably be
degraded in some way. (The webbing on my co-pilot's seat was completely
detached from the metal seat framework, underneath the foam, resulting in a
"toilet seat" feel.) Re-doing the webbing is quite a task, and MUST be done
properly or the seat will be either too firm or too soft. It takes a real
pro to know how tightly to tension it, and how to properly attach it to the
frame. (My guy used glue AND stitching, using a special tensioner.)

To get at that webbing naturally requires the removal of ALL foam -- which
may (or may not) destroy it, depending on the condition of the foam and the
glue used to attach it. In my case, we were able to re-use a fair amount of
the specially contoured backrest foam, but all of the seat foam had to be
completely re-made.

Then there's the matter of scraping/blasting/sanding the seat frames, and
repainting them. (After many years, they invariably look like crap -- and
you sure don't want nice new leather seats on top of cruddy, chipped
frames.) This is no mean feat, and requires a large work room and a place
to paint them without worrying about over-spray.

Reassembly is quite a chore, since the upholstered seat covers are designed
to fit over the foam very snugly. And, of course, there are those little
details that make the seat cover stay firmly attached to the foam -- things
like stitching, and very strong tie-downs that pass through the foam and
attach to the bottom of the backrest cover and the seat frame.

And then there are headrests. If your plane has headrests, you've got a
pretty major job just recovering each of those little puppies.

If you can find a place that advertises that you can just 'zip new covers
back over the top" of some foam they supply, you will perhaps have found a
solution to your cosmetic problem -- but the seat will not last long, and
will most likely be uncomfortable. IMHO, comfortable seats are a critical
requirement in my plane -- at least as important as good headsets -- and
it's worth a few extra bucks to get it done right. We just got new leather
seats, and they are fabulous. Comfortable, great looking, and obviously
built to last.

If your seats are just cosmetically bad, get yourself a nice set of
sheepskin shearling seat covers. We found a very nice, very high quality
set at Wal-Mart, believe it or not, that Mary "nipped and tucked" to fit
perfectly. These looked very nice, were very comfortable summer or winter,
and bought us a year's worth of time, which enabled us to find a good
aircraft upholstery shop.

(I've still got the seat covers, if you're interested. They're in excellent
shape -- drop me an email "off-line" if you want 'em. Just eliminate
"NOSPAM" from my email address.)

Good luck!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Can't go wrong with www.airtexinteriors.com.

Sandy Mustard

mikem wrote:

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 12:43:50 GMT, "John McFarlane"
wrote:

Airtex? see TAP

Did you have to spam every aviation newsgroup with this question?

MikeM

Recently I found an Interior/Seat refurbishment company that dealt with
replacement seat cusions/covers for most GA aircraft - USA based. They were
different in that there was no real need to remove the seating, as there
product could replace the old gear in place.

Simply replace take off the old, replace the cushions/foam with the supplied
and zip the new covers back over the top - or something close to this - no
apparent need for an A&P ?

Could someone please supply the company's web link if it known or point me i
the right direction, tried google and dogpile far to many links.

Thanks in advance
John