What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Aircraft seats & uphostery

vlittle

Well Known Member
Any opinions out there about the best way to go for seats and uphostery?

'Best way' = best combination of weight and comfort and ease of installation.

Any experience with Cleaveland? Orndorff? Flightline?

Thx, Vern Little
 
I used Cleaveland on my RV6A and was very pleased with their product and services. I'm having Flightline do the seats and interior for my RV10 now and have been pleased with their service and attention so far. Abby even tracked down some additional fabric color choices for me. She hopes to have the complete RV10 interior available sometime this year.

Went with fabric in both cases and glad I did. I find it much more breathable than the vinyls and leather choices on long flights. I went with the visco type foam seat cushions. These are far superior to standard foam.
 
Best Seats

Well, I can only comment on what I have experience with so Classic Aero Designs has my vote. I received my leather seats last week and I couldn't be happier! Quality and workmanship appears to be very good, installation is a breeze and they are extremely comfortable, memory foam is used. I bit the bullet and just bought the seats. I could have had a complete interior kit including cloth seats for the price of the leather seats but the rest of the interior will come later.
 
Last edited:
I have had Cleaveland seats in my RV6 (Sheepskin and cloth) which fit great and were very comfortable. Experience showed that over several years, the sheepskin got stained/discolored from sweat. Other than that they have over 800 hours on them and held up well.
I have also used the foam seat cushions from VANs and took them to a local auto/boat upholsterer and had them covered with vinyl. They also looked good and fit great, in the RV6.
I purchased an in progress RV8 which included a new cloth Orndorf interior. It looked really good but I don't have any experience in flight with them, since the plane isn't done yet. Workmanship looked great and they fit nicely in the plane.
I sold the Orndorf interior because I wanted leather and purchased from Aero Classic. The seats were pricey but are beautiful and fit nicely in the plane. My wife even like them...and she's PICKY!!! Again, no in flight experience, yet.
Overall, I would say that the interiors from any of the above are worth their price and you'd be safe going with any one of them. The big concern would be the type of material you want. My opinions on that are as follows: Cloth - very comfortable but could stain and may wear quicker since you will be stepping on them, Sheepskin - very comfortable but the sheepskin stains and they do get matted, so regular cleaning is in order, Vinyl - a good compromise between cloth and leather...wears well, easy to clean and in m ost cases people can't tell the difference between vinyl and leather, leather, to me is the way to go...wears like iron and is easy to clean.
To me, the weight difference between all of the above is negligible, at least as far as the seats go. If you start doing a lot of side panels, etc. I think cloth is the lightest.
 
Wives and interiors

sf3543 said:
My wife even like them...and she's PICKY!!!


That's how I got my leather seats. I showed my wife a picture of the cloth seats I was looking at purchasing and then I showed her a picture of the leather seats from Classic Aero. She said the cloth seats looked like "Gumby seats". I said, "If you insist". The rest is history....
 
I don't step on my seat cushions to get into my -6A. Prop the cushions vertically, step on the floor either side of the sticks and squooch down, taking seat cushion with me. Takes some arm strength but really saves the upholstery and a dirty butt if it's wet or muddy. If you are going to stand on them, go with leather or vinyl.
 
Flightline Interiors going in my RV-9A.

I get my RV-9A out of the paint shop TODAY. I will begin putting the interior in the airplane today. I fly to OSH tomorrow. I may still be installing it while I am in Home Built Camping. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get it all secured in the airplane.

Jerry K. Thorne
N2PZ RV-9A
www.n2prise.org
 
Back
Top