Seat mod

Anyone with a RV 10 knows how nice it is to have seats that slide front/aft and recline.

And, they also know the particular PITA that is removing the seat adjustment stop.

Today after fighting the tight access to get to the bolt head, I decided to do something about it.

Half an hour of scrounging and 15 minutes of work and I have this.





I have not tried them out yet, but I can not see any reason for there to be an issue----------just a much simpler and easier way to install/remove the latch.

Mike S said:

And, they also know the particular PITA that is removing the seat adjustment stop.

Today after fighting the tight access to get to the bolt head, I decided to do something about it.

Click to expand...

Don't you still need access to the bolt head?

Since my seat cushions are just velcro'd, I've never had any issues with removing the stop.

Bob

Interesting Mike that you choose to access the bolt from the inside of the seat. I have Flightline seats, and the seat cushion is difficult to remove because the velcro is way under the seat, where access is difficult. I was thinking of putting nutplates on the seat. But, access is better your way, once the cushion is out.

I really, really like my RV-10, but would say that the biggest design flaw is that I have to spend a couple of hours disassembling the interior just to lift the tunnel cover, and then a similar amount of time to get it all back together (someone is sure to point out that I am slow, I already know that). Mods like this are needed to make maintenance easier.

Andy

I did this about 4-5 years ago, and it has worked well. I had previously tired of trying to get a wrench on the nut side, so drilled and tapped the plate for a -4 bolt. That didn't last long as the threads in the al. plate were easily damaged. Drilling out the threads and going with nutplates is a much better solution.

BobTurner said:

Don't you still need access to the bolt head?

Since my seat cushions are just velcro'd, I've never had any issues with removing the stop.

Bob

Click to expand...

Yes, the cushion is just held in with velcro----- simple lift us the seat bottom and remove the bolts from the inside.

At least that is the plan.

I have my stops on the outboard side, so there is very little room between them and the sidewall. Even less now that I have finished out the interior.

For those with the stop inboard, there should not be as much of an issue.

aturner said:

the biggest design flaw is that I have to spend a couple of hours disassembling the interior just to lift the tunnel cover, and then a similar amount of time to get it all back together

Click to expand...

Andy-------did you by any chance split the front part of the cover????

Makes removal much easier if you do not have to remove the very front part up under the panel/between the rudder pedals.

The best mod I've seen is nut plating the aft track stop bolt holes in the seat support cover. . Since the bolts are vertical, they are easy to R&R once held by nut plates, and with the aft stop removable, you don't have to mess with the adjustment pin assembly at all, just leave it on. The other mod is to shorten the forward part of the seat borne tracks so that the seats can be removed easily without having to remove the flap torque tube cover.
Between both these mods, which have been described in previous threads in great detail, you can remove both seats in just a few minutes.
Both mods are no brainers and should be integrated by Van's into the plans IMHO.

woxofswa said:

The best mod I've seen is nut plating the aft track stop bolt holes in the seat support cover. . Since the bolts are vertical, they are easy to R&R once held by nut plates, and with the aft stop removable, you don't have to mess with the adjustment pin assembly at all, just leave it on. The other mod is to shorten the forward part of the seat borne tracks so that the seats can be removed easily without having to remove the flap torque tube cover.
Between both these mods, which have been described in previous threads in great detail, you can remove both seats in just a few minutes.
Both mods are no brainers and should be integrated by Van's into the plans IMHO.

Click to expand...

This is what I did during the build. I can have both seats out of the plane in about 5 minutes using a 7/16', 1/4", 6 point drive socket on a long extension. I modified the socket to a thin wall so it fits easily next to the stop protrusion on the forward bolts. I reversed my seats and rails so the adjuster handles are on the tunnel side.

woxofswa said:

The best mod I've seen is nut plating the aft track stop bolt holes in the seat support cover. . Since the bolts are vertical, they are easy to R&R once held by nut plates, and with the aft stop removable, you don't have to mess with the adjustment pin assembly at all, just leave it on. The other mod is to shorten the forward part of the seat borne tracks so that the seats can be removed easily without having to remove the flap torque tube cover.
Between both these mods, which have been described in previous threads in great detail, you can remove both seats in just a few minutes.
Both mods are no brainers and should be integrated by Van's into the plans IMHO.

Click to expand...

I did the same mods, with great luck. As far as the tracks mod, I just ground down the AFT ends of the tracks themselves, so the seat would lift up sooner - avoiding the flap torque tube cover.
The biggest issue in removing the seats is disconnecting the seat heater power cords...

>>The biggest issue in removing the seats is disconnecting the seat heater power cords... <<

I agree! In fact I found some great connectors at Fry's that snap together and pull apart easily so that if I forget to disconnect them before removing the seat, they will separate without pulling off.

Just to "close the loop" on this----------the seats have been in and out 3 or 4 times in the last month, and the nutplate mod has been everything I had hoped/expected it to be.

Very glad I did it, really sorry I waited 4 1/2 years to do so.