Arm Rests Usable?

[f1rocket]

I'm doing the interior design on my -12 and I'm wondering if the arm rests are useful or not? I don't want to go through the trouble of providing them in the design and then have them unusable. They look similar to the arm rests in my Rocket and RV-6, neither of which were of much use. Thanks.

[Dave12]

They are just for looks.

[rvbuilder2002]

I would say it it largely dependent on how tall you are.

Shorter people that adjust the seat cushions so they are sitting high in the seat (they way they should be) probably wont ever reach the arm rests.
Taller people, who are sitting on a thinner bottom cushion for additional head room, and have longer arms because of their height, will be able to use the arm rests.

Shorter people are likely to have more trouble fitting in all dimensions than a taller person will, because unlike many airplane designs, the RV-12 was designed to fit a larger range of body sizes than is typical of most light aircraft designs (height, not necessarily width).

[engineerofsorts]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

I would say it it largely dependent on how tall you are.

Shorter people that adjust the seat cushions so they are sitting high in the seat (they way they should be) probably wont ever reach the arm rests.
Taller people, who are sitting on a thinner bottom cushion for additional head room, and have longer arms because of their height, will be able to use the arm rests.

Shorter people are likely to have more trouble fitting in all dimensions than a taller person will, because unlike many airplane designs, the RV-12 was designed to fit a larger range of body sizes than is typical of most light aircraft designs (height, not necessarily width).

I think the RV-12 can be "massaged" to fit various height folks, but is probably good in its standard configuration for the 5'8" to 6'2" dude or dude-ette. My petite-but-not-that-short-for-a-woman 5'3" favorite wife required a combination of a four-inch back pad (supplied at a reasonable price from Abby @Flightline Interiors) and a couple of inches of rudder pedal extensions (home-brew variety shown elsewhere in the forum). The two stock selections of seat back position give all of about 1-1/2" of effective rudder pedal adjustment--adding additional hinge points to move the seatback closer moves the seat pad closer, interfering with the control stick a bit. Worst case I see is the short/rotund dude who can't move himself forward much via seatback cushion due to belly button-to-stick clearance issues, and would therefore need a considerable amount of rudder pedal extension.

In contrast, the rudder adjustment used in various gliders (and all Pipistrel aircraft) give a good 6" or thereabouts of rudder pedal adjustment--granted, at added expense.

Added edit: Maybe I'm misinterpreting the comment: by "designed to fit a larger range of body sizes" do you mean "designed to fit a range of larger body sizes"?

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by engineerofsorts

Added edit: Maybe I'm misinterpreting the comment: by "designed to fit a larger range of body sizes" do you mean "designed to fit a range of larger body sizes"?

Your right I guess I didn't word that very well...

I meant it was designed to accommodate people on the tall side of median height which does impact people on the shorter side somewhat

[Dave12]

Originally Posted by Dave12

They are just for looks.

What I should have said is "mine" are just for looks. At 5'10" my elbow does not rest near the armrest.

[gasman]

In my 6A, I never did like the arm rest.... you can't really rest your arm on it, and it really takes up valuable wiggle space. So I cut it down to only about 1 1/2" where the elbow would rest. Gave me more usable space to reach things and still supported my ELBOW.... after all, it's just an elbow rest.

As far as fit, install it in the proper location, and then use foam and cloth to get it to your desired location. Make the airplane fit you.

It is really just a side skin stiffener..... at least on the 6.