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A case of tall pilot/short pilot

Girraf

Well Known Member
Friend
The lady and I both have separate partnerships in certified aircraft but are thinking of selling off and getting our first plane together, an RV-6. Thankfully, we live in an RV rich area with an active EAA chapter. We were able to do a fit check in a local RV-6 to gather more information on whether this platform will work for us. We came away with a few A-HA items.

1. I am 6’3. She is 5’4. The a/c we sat in had about 3” of fwd adjustment on the seat to get her closer but even full forward, she would need the pedals closer to her feet. We could put an extension on the pedal, but we’d also be swapping seats regularly. Anyone dealt with an issue like this? A back cushion might help but then we would need to ensure the ability for full aft stick deflection. Perhaps not a major issue since she is small.

I was told the placement of pedals are one of the design decisions made by the builder and can vary between airframes. The builder of this test bird was tall like me so perhaps this example was ideal for me?

2. Canopy headroom. We sat in a slider. Does the tip up provide anymore clearance? My guess is not. Fortunately I wear a halo headset instead of an over the top, but I probably wouldn’t be able to wear at hat.
 
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Why swap seats? Learning to fly from the ?wrong? seat just takes some practice. Then customize each seat/pedals for that occupant.
 
My wife and I both fly our 6 with similar issues. She sewed up a pillow case that fits a custom piece of foam we sculpted to put behind her back. It boosts her forward far enough to reach the pedals fine, yet allows full aft elevator.
 
Swap seats

Judie and I swap seats regularly. I have a long torso, so I have a one inch pad for a seat, gel cushion. Good for over three hours. We slip the bottom pins and move full forward for me. You can custom fit the bottom cushion so it doesn't interfere with the stick. A deep cutout in the bottom seat crotch will do wonders.
 
Our 6A has has 6'3", 5'10", & 5'4" pilots moving back and forth between seats. The taller ones use pedals as installed and seats at furthest back position. Tight but not terrible for the taller with about a 2" memory foam seat cushion, perfect for 5'10" pilot (how tall is Van?:)). For 5'4", there is a second half of a piano hinge on each side to move the seat back base forward about 4", and I added another two inches to the upper seat back extension that wedges into the cross member. Our interim set of seat cushions 'work' with the stick for all pilots, but are not optimum, we'll make a scaled down cushion for the short pilot on the next set.

See post #11 in this thread for pictures.

There is also an archived post about using PVC pipe for removable brake pedal extensions, sorry, I JUST deleted it this weekend from my RV bookmarks since the above setup works fine for us.
 
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Also consider the AS Almost -14 mod. I am 5' 8" but have tall friends that are not comfortable with my setup.

This mod allows for more aft seat adjustment versus trying to push the pilot more forward.
 
That’s great feedback. I hadn’t considered having dedicated seats, but I’m not one to shy away from a challenge! Sounds like there is a plethora of other options to pursue to get the fit correct, some more invasive than others. That keeps the -6 on The top of the list then. Thanks!
 
Also consider the AS Almost -14 mod. I am 5' 8" but have tall friends that are not comfortable with my setup.

This mod allows for more aft seat adjustment versus trying to push the pilot more forward.

We just installed this in our -6. I'm 6'3 and my partner is "less than 6'" :) Haven't flown with it yet but, when fit checking it yesterday, will make swapping at lot easier and maybe even possible without removing the seat back.

Otherwise, I hear Tom Cruise uses some extra tall boots when he's filming next to tall women... perhaps he has an extra pair?
 
Our 6A has has 6'3", 5'10", & 5'4" pilots moving back and forth between seats. The taller ones use pedals as installed and seats at furthest back position. Tight but not terrible for the taller with about a 2" memory foam seat cushion, perfect for 5'10" pilot (how tall is Van?:)). For 5'4", there is a second half of a piano hinge on each side to move the seat back base forward about 4", and I added another two inches to the upper seat back extension that wedges into the cross member. Our interim set of seat cushions 'work' with the stick for all pilots, but are not optimum, we'll make a scaled down cushion for the short pilot on the next set.

I'll try and get a picture and put it here later.

There is also an archived post about using PVC pipe for removable brake pedal extensions, sorry, I JUST deleted it this weekend from my RV bookmarks since the above setup works fine for us.

I would like to see these pictures. I am at a point to make these changes you have done and a couple pictures would be great! 5' 3.5" :eek:
 
I would like to see these pictures. I am at a point to make these changes you have done and a couple pictures would be great! 5' 3.5" :eek:

Finally got some today, here's the base, aft looking forward, seat back installed in the forward position. You can see there is an interim set of nutplates as well, should we ever have a 5'7" pilot, I guess. :)

VQPfH5Hl.jpg


Here is a picture of the top of the seatback with the extension I riveted on to the plans-specified extension. Tried to rotate it, Imgur fail on my part.

6gNoJRXl.jpg
 
Finally got some today, here's the base, aft looking forward, seat back installed in the forward position. You can see there is an interim set of nutplates as well, should we ever have a 5'7" pilot, I guess. :)

VQPfH5Hl.jpg


Here is a picture of the top of the seatback with the extension I riveted on to the plans-specified extension. Tried to rotate it, Imgur fail on my part.

6gNoJRXl.jpg


Thank you! It looks as though the hinge is in the reverse of the other stock hinges. How does that affect the overall seating of the sea back? Or does it...Must not or it would be like the others.

How many inches forward is the short person hinge?

Thanks again!
 
Thank you! It looks as though the hinge is in the reverse of the other stock hinges. How does that affect the overall seating of the sea back? Or does it...Must not or it would be like the others.

How many inches forward is the short person hinge?

Thanks again!

The mounting holes for the plane side of the hinge are three inches apart. I flipped that hinge half 180* relative to the rear hinge half in order to get another 3/4" forward shift in the hinge pin. Installed with the flat part of the hinge half still against the seat pan, so the seat back base moves forward a total of 3 3/4" with no ill effects.
 
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