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Seat Adjustment

G

Geeman

Well Known Member
I recently purchased a flying RV-6 and have been using extra cushions behind the seat to reach the pedals. The lower seat hinge is as far back as possible and the original builder did not put any hinges further forward.

My question, can I put an extra hinge further forward? Can you get below it to back up the rivets or do you use pop rivets? Do you add anything to the upper seat back so that it does not lean back too much?

Is it difficult to move the rudder pedals toward the seats? I have not studied that too much yet but looking for advice.

Thanks.
 
Kyle, if your seat floor is riveted in, you won't be able to buck rivets. I would think pop rivets would hold the piano hinge for the seat, but I am not sure it's wise to drill holes into an area where you can't remove the aluminum chips. It's a lot of work, but it may be better in the long run to drill out the rivets holding in your seat floor, remove it, and install the hinge(s). You would then have the option of installing nutplates to keep the floor removable.

Moving the pedals is doable, too, but may not be too comfortable for you. Good luck.

Jim Bower
RV-6A flying
 
It's actually very simple!

No problem at all adding seat hinges with pulled rivets.
You will introduce a minimum of chips under the floor if you generously apply grease to the drill bit. Most of the chips will come out above the floor pan.
You also have access to vacuum the area from the removeabe floor pans forward of the "fixed" portion.
 
Thanks Mel, I am going to add some hinges with pulled rivets. I did see where I could take the floor panel above the stick area out with the screws.

Mel, is it a very difficult task moving the rudder pedals? I think a combination of both would be better.
 
6A seat

My 6A has three hinges in the floor pan so a shorty like me (5' 6") can fly as well as my tall buds.

I also have an extra 16" square of 2" thick comforfoam under the seat cushion. I've always had better landings when I'm higher in the seat.

My father, who is at age 87 and 5' 4", was a T-6 instructor in the USAF and used 5 cushions in the back seat of the T-6.
 
Geeman said:
Mel, is it a very difficult task moving the rudder pedals? I think a combination of both would be better.
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on which pedals you have. I have the floor mounted pedals. It's not real easy working under the panel.

If you have the original batter box inside and floor mounted pedals, you will have to remove it and modify the rudder pedal cut-outs. Other than that, you will need to drill addition holes in the stringers to mount the outboard blocks, and make new cable "links".
And again if you have floor mounted pedals, you will have to move the master cylinder mounts.

Probably be at least a FULL weekend job.
 
Kyle, depending on what the original builder did to connect the rudder cables to the pedals, there are usually two steel strips per side, that connect the pedals to the cables. On our -6A, we had several holes in them so that the pedals could be moved closer...take a good look at yours and you could possibly fab shorter steel plates there.

Best,
 
If memory serves me right, the pedals are mounted from above. I am going to the hanger this week and get a better idea and some pictures on what I have, then I can make a game plan. Sounds like the seat back should be pretty easy to move. Thanks for all the info.
 
Your seat back should also have a hinged panel high on the back rest that allows you to adjust the seat back angle. The panel slides into slots formed into the back brace. Many builders leave off these panels and let the seat rest directly on the brace to give more angle, and more room.
 
seat modifications

If you ask, someone can give you a pdf of the plans pages with the seats and the rudder pedals. It will be a lot clearer.
There are a couple of parts that go into the upper seat standoff - a hinged plate and a place to capture the edge of the hinged plate on the structure mid height behind the seats. These should be reasonably easy to make once you see the plans.
When you drill, keep a vacuum cleaner hose near the bit in addition to the grease. You shouldn't have any problems. Use structural pull rivets.
Good luck
 
Your signature says you have a partial RV7. Look at those plans for your seat backs to lean them forward also.
 
Kyle,

Have the same issue. Haven't corrected it yet.

Been awhile, so you might have already completed the seat project. However, one additional problem that will need to be worked is the length of the lower seat cushion. When the seat back is moved forward the lower seat cushion will not fit in the allowed space between the seat back and the control stick.

Anyway, you might have though of the cushion issue already......but just in case.

Jack
RV-6A 5AD
Yuma, AZ
 
Kyle, if you have the overhead pedals, it's easier to remove them than the floor mounted ones, but it might take some fancy twisting to get the pedals out past the control cables for your throttle/mixture/etc.

I suggest pulling them out anyway, or at the very least crawling down in there and looking to see if the rudder pedal SB has been complied with. There should be reinforcements where each vertical tube meets the top tube. My previously owned -6 didn't have this mod when I bought it, and on inspection we found cracks.

Oh, and all of the piano hinges on the cockpit floor are set with pop rivets in my -6. Never been a problem.
 
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