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Seat time, which one ?

petersb

Well Known Member
Need to order seats for my RV7a. Looking at Classic Aero "Sportman" or their CA1.

Price almost doubles between these two options. Any thoughts, any other options ?
 
Classic Aero Sportsman

I did 6 hours or so of transition training this past July in a very nice -7A with Van's cushions. After I got over the "WOW...so this is what it's all about!?", I started to realize the seats were not the greatest part of the experience. Our Sportsman seats just came in this past Friday and I have been starting up my panel. Of course I have to "use" the seats while I'm sitting there going through the paces. After being in the seat for about 2.5 hours on Sunday I can tell you they are fantabulous. :) Very, very comfortable and excellent form...lumbar support movable and just right...density excellent...leather...well who doesn't like sitting on a soft leather seat? And best of all is that "the boss" really likes them. The color and feel is exactly what she wanted. Major important to me to keep her happy if you know what I mean. Get them. You won't be disappointed. Just like when you wrote the check for the first part of the kit...it only hurts for a moment. You live with the results forever. Steve
 
Oregon Aero's seat cushions are definitely the best on the market. Hands-down winners above any other IMHO.
Buy once, cry once.
Your "empennage" will thank you for it. :D

My friend's RV-8 which I flew to Oshkosh and back two years in a row has Oregon seats. My RV-6 has plain, flat seats from another popular vendor... After only one trip to/from Oshkosh in my new-to-me RV-6 last summer, I was longing for those Oregon Aero seat cushions. Someday when I can afford them, I will upgrade.
 
Oregon Aero fan here. It is not just about how they feel today, but how about 500 hours from now. Mine are like new, and still support and feel like new.
OA covers the final foam layup with a non chafe material to insure the foam does not get chewed up by the upholstery over time. I have not seen this from the raw foam kit suppliers. Perhaps the better seat companies are doing this too but it is not apparent.
Of course everyone tries to justify what they chose and why. Given the cost of OA seats, you need a lot of justification!
 
Thanks for the input. I tried to check out Oreganaero ,however , their website is difficult to negotiate, the only reference I could find was for RV7 foam cushions, no pricing, I gave up
 
OREGON AERO

I made my own seats and flew in them for the first 2 years. They were fine, I was 30, tough and didn't know any better. I just put in an Oregon Aero Seat. If somebody were to take my cushions, I would go back and buy some more, they are worth every penny. Those folks know their stuff. $350-400 per seat for the foam, RV 7, roughly double it if you want them to cover it. Oregon Aero is in the middle of upgrading their website, give them a call. 503-543-7399
 
Not sure if this is true for the tandem seats or not, but for the side-by-side seats the major difference I see between Oregon Aero and Classic Aero is that Oregon makes a full seat (bottom) cushion and the back cushion sits on top of that cushion. Classic makes a full seat back, and the bottom cushion sits in front of that. I've heard arguments why each configuration is superior.

In practice, I have sat in both and don't notice a difference. When a used set of Classic Aero Sportsman seats came up here on VAF, I jumped on them. Been extremely happy with the upgrade, I might add. It no longer feels like I'm sitting on a basketball after an hour of formation.

If you can, find some people near you with each style. Sit on them yourself and decide.
 
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