The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Had the seatbelt stop put in a few weeks ago. Took about a day, and no charge at a local Cessna Service Center. Takes a bit of getting used to, but works good.

DEM

I had some of those but sold them along with my surplus inventory a few years ago. I've not seen one installed, so no opinions from me.

I had one of those things in my 210. Very annoying, but I can't remember why! It worked, so it won't necessarily be a paperweight.

I have the new belt-style seat stop and like it. That is, I don't notice it's there at all.

Aryana,
I have a seat stop that is probably like the one in your pictures. In my 52B model it is attached to the floor just inboard of the inboard seat track, and just aft of the tunnel and fuel valve. To slide the seat fully aft you just hold the latch back out of the way with your finger. It doesn't interfere with fore and aft seat adjustment in the normal range, but keeps you from unintentionally winding up in the back of the plane on takeoff. Much as the original little strap over the track does. Simple and it works. It was in the plane when I got it, so I don't know anything about the history of the safety latch itself.
Bill

We used to install these in our rental airplane fleet, about half the 14 172s 3 172RGs and 5 182’s ended up with them. We stopped installing them because the carpet would get balled up in the rack, they would jam the seat. Then you could not get the latch to move and people would end up injuring their fingers by having it unlatch while they were wrestling with the lever trying to get the seat to move. I found them completely annoying. We started removing them later on as the spring would become damaged from carpet getting jammed in the lever mechanism. The rack is supposed to attach to the seat rail housings on the outside of the inboard seat rail though the axle bolts of the roller. Then the latch and cover mount through the floor and engages the rack as the seat is moved back, you have to reach down on the right side of the seat very close to the seat and hold the latch open as you slide the seat back. The plastic covers would get torn loose and be floating around the cabin between inspections. Our 172”s were flying about 50 hours every two weeks at the time and many renters did not understand them or would then get in an airplane even though the explanation of which was posted in the newsletter and ops manual and would end up having to climb out over the seat to get out of the airplane because they thought something was wrong with the seat. But then they were rental pilots. I assume Cessna quite selling these because of the problems such as we encountered. A private operator may have better success with them.
Jim

Aryana, don't put a 27% version in your new plane

When these Cessna supplied seat stops became available I was a doubting Thomas myself. I was concerned that that strap would interfere when getting in or out of the plane. Finally, about two years or so ago, I looked at several in vrs Cessna's and decided to give one a try. Took all of :45 to get it installed and I have been completely satisfied with its operation. The only thing I had to adjust to was pulling the seat lock pin lever completely up, which we all should be doing to prevent wear on both the locking pin and seat rail/holes. There is no issue getting in or out of the plane associated with the seat stop and while I also have some of those seat stops with the thumb screws to tighten where you put them, its nice not to have to use them any longer unless I choose to put one on the passenger seat rail. I would say have one installed (the cost is right--FREE) and after using it if you don't like it you can remove it and sell it to someone for either their pilot seat or passenger seat. I wish I had one for my passenger seat, but I'm not willing to pay what Cessna sells them for to get one.

170C wrote: The only thing I had to adjust to was pulling the seat lock pin lever completely up, which we all should be doing to prevent wear on both the locking pin and seat rail/holes. .

The thing I had to get used to was that when you let go of the lever, the belt locks and seat stops there....not at the next pin hole. (This only happens going backwards, forward is fine.) In reality this is probably a good thing as you can't slide back and rely on the pin popping in the hole to stop the seat, which I imagine puts a lot of stress on it. Took a few flights but I got the hang of it and don't even notice it anymore.

IMHO sooner or later the FAA is going to make this an AD, and then Cessna will have no more incentive to give them away. In other words, might wanna get one while the gettin' is good.

DEM

Be aware that the service lit that Aryana in discussing in this thread is not the same as the current seat stop kit that uses a inertia real and a seat belt strap that attaches to the floor and seat frame. It is an older kit which I am pretty sure is no longer in production and was available before Cessna started producing single engine airplanes again.

Metal Master wrote:Be aware that the service lit that Aryana in discussing in this thread is not the same as the current seat stop kit that uses a inertia real and a seat belt strap that attaches to the floor and seat frame. It is an older kit which I am pretty sure is no longer in production and was available before Cessna started producing single engine airplanes again.

Correct Jim. That's how I understood it.
From some description here it seems this type might not be so bad once you get accustomed to it. Especially if you did not have carpet, and did have a utilitarian type floor like Greg

wingnut wrote:

Metal Master wrote:Be aware that the service lit that Aryana in discussing in this thread is not the same as the current seat stop kit that uses a inertia real and a seat belt strap that attaches to the floor and seat frame. It is an older kit which I am pretty sure is no longer in production and was available before Cessna started producing single engine airplanes again.

Correct Jim. That's how I understood it.
From some description here it seems this type might not be so bad once you get accustomed to it. Especially if you did not have carpet, and did have a utilitarian type floor like Greg

Agreed, I think that for a private individual that does not have some 100 different pilots operating the airplane this unit might work fine. It did stop the seat from sliding back. Our installation was complicated in that we had a halon fire extinguishers installed between the seats and that caused access issues getting to the lever. In some cases you could not even see it. I have to wonder how it would work with the fuel selector handle on the Hump between the seats such as in 180's and 170's as there is no such thing on the 172 N's and P's and later model 182's that we operated.
Jim

delete

Regarding the "book labor" to install the Cessna seat stop. What does Cessna allow shops to install this unit?

I know mine too all of 45 minutes, but a shop who is going to install one in a fellow 170 members' plane told him it would take 4-5 hours! Obviously the 170 member won't be charged anything, but I can't imagine Cessna allowing anywhere near that amount of labor. The shop is (in my opinion) just running his mouth off (which he has done before) or he is trying to overcharge Cessna.

I had mine installed in late December. It took about an hour and a half. Works well. Spanafight is a Cessna shop. I have later model 172 seats, so it was easy for them to install.

Ron

When mine was installed it took 3 hrs. They did a beautiful job.

John

It appears that it may take longer on some models than others to install the seat stops. Mine are later model C-172 seats without the trim panels on the sides & front. I was discussing these seat stops with a friend who has a C-206 and he had the local FBO to order him a seat stop for the passenger/co-pilot seat (which makes sense in some cases as many passengers will definitely grab the yoke if the seat stop fails). The FBO charged him something over $1,100 to install the unit