I have owned my RV-10 for seven years now and I am doing a complete makeover of the aircraft. Last summer I had an all Garmin high tech panel built by Aerotronics and installed by Synergy in Eugene, a Van?s builder assistance center. Next week it is going for new paint in Southern CA and yesterday I ordered a new interior from AeroSport products.
During this time, I have removed and replaced the interior more times that I have fingers and toes. The processes would not be so bad if the front seats were not so hard to remove and replace. The latch on the side of the seats that holds them in place is bolted onto the seat by (4) 3/8 inch bolts. When I first bought the aircraft the latches were on the outside of the seats, just like it shows in the aircraft plans. This made it almost impossible to attach the latches to the seats do to the limited space between the seats and the side of the aircraft interior upholstery. After doing this a few times I decided to switch the seats around so that the latches would be on the inside of the seats with the latches up against the tunnel. While it is easier it is still very difficult and time consuming. I found out just today from talking to the builder assistance folks at Van?s that they ended up doing the same thing with the company aircraft.
There has to be a better and easier way. I called Vans because I wanted to know if it was possible to buy just the latches that go on the seats. I figure if I have a spare set, I can go to a machine shop and hopefully someone that can think outside the box will be about to come up with some way to ?capture? the lock nut on the latch itself which would make the install a piece of cake and take only a few minutes each time it is necessary. While I was talking to Vans about it they said ?try the forum, other guys have done the same thing?. I did try the forum and searched for ?seats? and while I did get a lot of hits, none answered my question, has anyone found a way to install the latches on the RV-10 seats that makes them easy to remove and replace? I would be most grateful for any suggestion along this line.
During this time, I have removed and replaced the interior more times that I have fingers and toes. The processes would not be so bad if the front seats were not so hard to remove and replace. The latch on the side of the seats that holds them in place is bolted onto the seat by (4) 3/8 inch bolts. When I first bought the aircraft the latches were on the outside of the seats, just like it shows in the aircraft plans. This made it almost impossible to attach the latches to the seats do to the limited space between the seats and the side of the aircraft interior upholstery. After doing this a few times I decided to switch the seats around so that the latches would be on the inside of the seats with the latches up against the tunnel. While it is easier it is still very difficult and time consuming. I found out just today from talking to the builder assistance folks at Van?s that they ended up doing the same thing with the company aircraft.
There has to be a better and easier way. I called Vans because I wanted to know if it was possible to buy just the latches that go on the seats. I figure if I have a spare set, I can go to a machine shop and hopefully someone that can think outside the box will be about to come up with some way to ?capture? the lock nut on the latch itself which would make the install a piece of cake and take only a few minutes each time it is necessary. While I was talking to Vans about it they said ?try the forum, other guys have done the same thing?. I did try the forum and searched for ?seats? and while I did get a lot of hits, none answered my question, has anyone found a way to install the latches on the RV-10 seats that makes them easy to remove and replace? I would be most grateful for any suggestion along this line.