[JordanGrant]

Floating the beginning stages of an idea here. My 2-yr-old daughter has outgrown the car seat that we've strapped into the passenger side of the RV-6. The main problem is that her feet now hit the instrument panel and randomly change our transponder squawk. While that makes for interesting conversation with ATC, it's not a good solution when we go flying. So I'm considering designing/fabricating a toddler booster seat so she can safely and comfortably ride in the RV-6. My concept is illustrated below (note that this was all eyeballed so the scaling and dimensions are not correct - just a conceptual thing at this point). The idea would be to have this install in place of the normal right-seat back, and probably even get a set of custom cushions made for her. Hopefully, she can use the Hooker Harnesses 5-point that is already installed. The right stick is also removed.
Comments welcome!

 

[TroyBranch]

The only concern I have is a child under four and maybe even older, depending on their size, does not strap into the seatbelts alone very well. I always found them to be much more secure in a car seat. The car seat belts fit well around the child and only the lap belt is used around the seat. The seat and child stay put. Without the car seat the shoulder harness is just about useless if the child is to small. A booster seat will allow the should seat belts to fit into the back of the seat making them work better. I am only starting to feel confortable with out a car seat or booster for my youngest now and he is five. If we travel, I take the booster as it is required to be used in a car when we rent one at our destination.

I would plan for this to be used only until they are 4 or older. As for kicking the panel, she will grow out of it. My son use to push the stick forward in the 10 with his feet while in cruise, kicking out the autopilot. It always gave everyone a bit of a surprise.

 

[JordanGrant]

Troy, thanks for helping me think this through! I'm also most concerned with ensuring she can be strapped in securely. I'm thinking that raising a child up in the seat by building the booster I can get her up into a position where the standard 5-pt harness can fit snugly around her. It might take putting some slots in the seat back as well, so the shoulder harnesses can go through the seat just above her shoulders.

I have yet to experiment with it, of course. If the adult-size harness is too big for some reason, then I might see what I can do with a child harness out of a standard child seat. Just looking at them, I really don't think it's going to be terribly difficult to engineer an anchoring solution that is just as secure as the mass-produced Chinese plastic construction of those seats.

Cheers,