Chuck and Ryan's Build Tips

[PBY Catalina]

Rear Seat Part II. ...

Beautiful modification and beautiful work. Very interesting to follow !

[Andy]

I'm waiting with interest to find out what seat you plan to mount on this base. If a CC front seat then how much of a King's ransom will that part be? It's over $1,000 just to upgrade the foam in that seat.

[jump4way]

Hi Chuck. I see reference in an earlier post to making a template for D windows from a document on the webiste with dimensions. You mentioned using graph paper to scale it up. Any chance you recall where that document with the dimensions might be?

[Daveembry]

it’s in the Dropbox files under CCK Pictures/Paint

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Hi Chuck. I see reference in an earlier post to making a template for D windows from a document on the webiste with dimensions. You mentioned using graph paper to scale it up. Any chance you recall where that document with the dimensions might be?

[jump4way]

Thank you!

[ceslaw]

Rear Seat, Part III. The rear section of the frame needed to be tied to the cross piece in a way that it could be easily removed. We opted to use a pair of locking pins like those used on sides of the seats.

Quarter inch holes were drilled in the square cross tube. A round tube, ¼” OD and 0.194 ID was welded in place to provide a secure location for the locking pins.

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A connection plate was added to the rear of the frame and the holes match drilled to assure a precise location. It is held in place with screws rather than welding so that the fit can be adjusted if necessary.

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A pair of Cub Crafters luggage tie downs matching those on the aft end of the extended baggage were added to the square tube.

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Remaining to be done are final welding and paint. The complete seat frame weighs around four pounds.

[Dan L]

This is an intriguing project. Looking forward to seeing the end result.

FWIW here are a couple of Cessna seats I bought for a project I’m working on. These are the two common styles. The frame on the left is 6.25 pounds and on right 10 pounds.

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[ceslaw]

Dan:

Yea, building the seat base for the Cub is only half the project. Coming up with the seat itself is the other. I have a used CC seat but finding one at a reasonable price could be challenge.

[ceslaw]

Rear Seat, Part IV. Welding is done. Eastwood Under Hood primer and paint were used. It is a lacquer-based product that is durable and has a nice sheen. In retrospect, powder coat would have been preferable.

To better support the leading edge of the thin metal on the top of the frame, a piece of 3/8” aluminum angle was riveted in place after the frame was painted. It added a bit of ‘bling.’ The side aluminum supports are the same Cub Crafters pieces used on the front seat. In retrospect, they were not necessary.

The rear locking pins are the same brand as used by Cub Crafters but longer.

The seat frame is ready to be installed.

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[ceslaw]

Rear Seat, Part V. The rear cross piece was put in place, the socket head bolts passing through the rear seat belt connection. It remains in place permanently. In addition to supporting the rear seat frame, it also creates a low barrier for any items in the luggage area that may want to slide forward.

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A used Carbon Cub front seat was used. The seat was mounted to the frame before being placed in the plane. We opted to use screws rather than pins to hold the seat to the frame giving up the ability to adjust it fore and aft since there is no real reason to make the rear seat adjustable.

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The seat frame and seat can be set in place or removed in a matter of minutes. The same cross tube used on the front of the sling seat pops in place easily. The two pins securing the rear were inserted from under the seat. No holes or connections were permanently added to the Cub, so this is completely reversible.

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The position of the seat is ideal. The rear passenger sets significantly higher than in the sling seat providing a much better viewing position and much more comfort. It is a bit of a stretch to reach the pedals but it is rare that the plane is flown from the back seat. (Note that Cub Crafters uses a rear seat with a shortened seat bottom to move the passenger forward a bit.)

Designing and fabricating this project took around forty hours’ time. But it’s a hobby. Right?

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