The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Been reading about rear seat removal, air mattresses for camping and got me thinking(okay I know that is dangerous). What about a rear seat with zippers on the upholstery that could hold a nice ground pad for sleeping on? Maybe even lighten up the cushio s a bit. The ground pads would be comfortable to sit on and would look like regular seats.

Sounds like an interesting do-it-yourself project. It would fall under "preventive maintenance" rules since it's interior upholstery refurbishment. Keep us posted.

We have two foam pad inflatable camping pads that roll up tight and are very light weight.
Inflated they are about 1.5" thick.
If you took the springs out of the rear seat and put in some webbing for support, the pads could be used for the cushions with a few pieces of velcro.

http://www.cabelas.com/pads.shtml

What's the right material to use for the seat base once the springs are removed?

I was thinking 2.9oz Dacron glued over the frame but I don't know if it's strong enough or fireproof enough.

I've been tracking on a similar project; how to make the original Cessna rear seat servicable without being such a weight penalty. I am looking at the foundation used by Sport Aircraft Seats in Wasilla, Alaska and waiting for a response to an email requesting info. Check out their Zero Down-Time Seats video for an example of the foundation they use beneath the finish upholstery. I've already converted my seat back from bolts to pins at teh hinge point for quick removal.

http://www.sportaircraftseats.com/sport ... /Home.html

Those Sports Seats look really cool. And if you wanted to keep the original lower cover I'll bet you could order some fabric and glue it on then reattach the shirt after the seat cushion is installed.

http://lakevueaeronautics.com/id2.html wrote:The seat frames are covered with the strongest grade of Poly-Fiber fabric for durability. They can be used as-is, or covered with a secondary lightweight upholstery to match the rest of your aircraft's interior.

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/ ... rheavy.php

Hmmmm. That's interesting. I don't think of Dacron Polyester cloth (Polyfiber and Ceconite) as fire resistant. As a aircraft covering this material is nearly always covered with something the won't burn. Couldn't be any worse than the original seat foam I just removed from my seats though.

Been reading some stuff about fire proofing chemicals in beds and the off gassing that can cause some bad effects on the body. Probably should try to avoid chemical fire proofing as much as possible and try to use materials that are fire resistant without the chemical additives.

CAR 3 only required a horizontal burn test of mat'ls. (Wasn't it 2-inches per minute?) The modern rule Pt. 23 requires horizontal and vertical burn tests and the material must not be self-propagating. Of course, our airplanes must only meet the old rule, but modern interior shops almost always conform to the latter rule. (That's why those airline seats are so damned hard these days.)

As for myself, I ain't gonna sit in it while it burns...I'm gettin' out! (The most dangerous part as far as I'm concerned ... is the smoke and noxious fumes. Wool, leather, cotton and natural fabrics are far better than synthetics, dacron, etc..)

George, read

23.853 Passenger and crew compartment interiors.
For each compartment to be used by the crew or passengers:

(a) The materials must be at least flame-resistant;


Then tell me what "Flame Resistant" means >

From FAR 1.1
Flame resistant means not susceptible to combustion to the point of propagating a flame, beyond safe limits, after the ignition source is removed.

What does that mean.?????

But you are right, I love wool and leather.