I am posting this for a friend who isn’t on VAF, but agrees that the community should know about this. He was on take-off, full throttle, when the lower part of his aftermarket seat back buckled, allowing the top to slip UNDER the cross-bar, and putting him halfway into the back seat, with his head below longeron level. He told me he was doing about 50 knots at the time, ended up going off the runway, and damaging a wheel pant - fortunately, that was it (as well as the seat back, which is trashed). Imagine if this had happened a few seconds later!
He bought this -8, and is not a builder, and is not sure who did the seat backs - but they appear to be aftermarket, and when he pulled the upholstery off, it is obvious that this is not a stock seat back design. I’m posting the pictures of the seat back with the upholstery as well as the picture of the failed frame for reference, in case it looks familiar. This, to me, is somethign that anyone with a similar seat frame should look at carefully - there appears to be a weak point which could get bent with age.
In aircraft after incident:
With upholstery removed, bottom of seat back to left:
If you have something other than a stock seat back - take a look, down in the lower six inches to see if you have any sign of bending or buckling!
Paul
He bought this -8, and is not a builder, and is not sure who did the seat backs - but they appear to be aftermarket, and when he pulled the upholstery off, it is obvious that this is not a stock seat back design. I’m posting the pictures of the seat back with the upholstery as well as the picture of the failed frame for reference, in case it looks familiar. This, to me, is somethign that anyone with a similar seat frame should look at carefully - there appears to be a weak point which could get bent with age.
In aircraft after incident:
With upholstery removed, bottom of seat back to left:
If you have something other than a stock seat back - take a look, down in the lower six inches to see if you have any sign of bending or buckling!
Paul