Seat cost

[redbowen]

Having a hard time swallowing the price on basically 4 seat cushions being $1500-$3000. I visited classic aero today and they make a great product, but I would expect the cost to be 1/4 what they charge. My question is to those that have gone to non-aviation upholstery shops for either just the covers or for the cushions and the covers, where you able to keep the cost down. About how much?

[Neal Trombley]

Marine upholstery folks??

My wife works for a boat company with an upholstery shop

She does leather on 600k and up boats and she estimated 200 bucks for hides and foam. Not sure on labor but hopefully not 1000 for the 9A

[N941WR]

I took mine to a custom auto interior guy and provided the cowhides to him. He did a great job sewing everything up and his labor still cost me just under a grand and that was 10 years ago and for only two seats.

The good news is that after 750+ hours the seats still look brand new.

[crabandy]

I too had a hard time stomaching the cost of seats. Riding in various homebuilt seats that left me sore and cramping after a hours ride I decided the expense might be worth it. I just did a trip with my 76 year old dad in my Oregon Aero seats, over 13 hours in a couple days up to 3 hour legs with no seat discomfort from either of us.
As home builders I think most of us could make really nice seats our 3rd go around if we want to experiment, for a good first time around the various seat vendors have the comfort built in the first round.

[roadrunner20]

FWIW,
My classic aero leather seats have 10 1/2 years, 950+ hours. I believe I paid around $1350.
I just had my first issue where a seam has split on both leg arms on the pilot side.
I was able to do a patch job on them to extend the life before committing to new covers. They no longer have the colors I had when built.

With hind site, since 90% of my flying has been from the left seat, I would recommend rotating them on each condition inspection.
All in all, I believe it was a good value when you consider the number of hours & the hundreds of time I've gone in & out for maintenance ...

[cccjbr6]

I had the same experience. I bought $150 worth of foam, built my own and flew it for almost two years. Anything leg over an hour left me in pain that eventually became intolerable. I bit the bullet and bought an Oregon Aero seat at Oshkosh last year at a discount. I have flown many 3-4 hours legs since with no pain whatsoever. When I pay off my mortgage, I will buy the second seat.

[Luke D]

Hi Bryan,

I'm sitting at home trying to get over the flu, and I happened to see your post. Sorry I missed you at the shop today, but it's better I don't pass this along to anyone else

I know you're looking for input from those who have used non-aviation upholstery shops, and I don't mean to butt in on that conversation, but I wanted to shed some more light on the pricing of our products. It's easy to compare apples to oranges here.

We do offer a lower cost seat option that starts at $786 for a ready to install set of seat cushions covered in vinyl ($831 for cloth etc.). That is our Sierra line. We don't have this option for your RV-6 at the moment, but we could adapt it if you wished. I feel that price is very competitive for what you get. It still features materials that are certified to FAA specs, same top quality that is used on our more expensive seats, cnc contour cut foam parts, highest quality foam available (including 1" memory foam), and made by an experienced shop.

There are a few benefits you get from working with an experienced shop. Over the last 14 years, we've made well over 2000 sets of seats for RVs. In that time we've made some significant improvements to our seats more than once. We've also stocked almost the exact same materials for about the last 10 years. Many customers have contacted us years after their seats were made asking us to repair something, or make some other interior accessory to go along with their seats. In most cases, this was no problem (I'm sorry you were an exception Dan).

The last thing I'll mention is that our profit margin is very modest. I don't know of many companies that are getting rich making seat cushions. If I wasn't a pilot and an airplane nut, I would have gotten out of this business a long time ago. Anyway, I hope I didn't rattle on too much. Feel free to drop by again (I'm almost always there during any week day). If not to talk about seats, I'd like to hear about your Kitfox. I'm slowly working on an old Avid Flyer.

[climberrn]

I have classic aero seats in my -7 and have flown for over 8 hours in 1 day, and many legs up to 3 hours. The seats are wonderful. Very comfortable and worth the money for me, although the price is hard to swallow at first. If I had it to do over again, I'd get the same ones.

Bret here on the board repurposed some seats for his RV. The look great. I have not sat in his plane, but I am sure he can chime in. After hearing how much he has into his, it definitely got me thinking.

[JKevin]

I have been pondering this choice as well. I have been leaning towards using the Van's foam for my -6. My mother in law is retired from owning an upholstery business and would be happy to sew covers for this foam.

Any thoughts on the quality / comfort / durability of the foam seat cushions that Van's sells?

[6 Gun]

Go to Lowes on the Aviation isle in the patio chairs cushion department they have some nice temp cushions for $70.
Bob