N247BR

Back Seat & Baggage Area

Rear Seat Back These photos show the rear seat back.  I took these to show the bracing used and how placed. There is a 3 inch wide extension added to the top of the original panel to extend the back up. I then added the extension for the head rests. (It was done this way because I didn't have a prepreg piece wide enough to get the required width with one piece.)  These were glassed over on the front and back side with two ply bids strips. A two inch wide plywood hard point was added to the bottom with one inch extending beyond the prepreg and one inch bonded between the sides of the prepreg. This was then glassed into place with a 2 ply bid. This hard point served to raise the whole panel for a better fit against the flanges and provide for a full width piano hinge for mounting.
The bracing shown is balsa wood with the edges rounded and covered with a two ply bid. The result is a seat back that is strong and ridged both vertically and horizontally. It might be a bit of overkill but the only thing I would change if I did it over would be to remove the center horizontal brace as I don't think it is needed.  (Note the photo was taken before I had glassed the horizontal bracing.)

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The final glassed rear seat back is show below with the bracing covered in glass.  The attachment to the bulkhead with the piano hinge is also shown.
The seat back was covered in memory foam as were all of the seats.  Prior to adding the foam I had decided to put an opening near the bottom of the seat back between the two seat to allow access for a seat back release mechanism.  I didn't know what the release was going to look like at that time but had an idea of how it would work.
The completed and upholstered seat back was changed yet again during the final installation when I decided to add a removable hinge system that would allow the entire seat back to be removed.  The removable hinges can bee seen in the photo on the right.  The pins for the hinge are spring loaded and can be removed by squeezing the two pins in and pull the back up.  The pins will lock in place both in and out.
Final seat back release uses a very neat release with a handle in the center of the opening that when pulled down pulls in two pins on either side of the seat.  The pins when released go behind the seat bulkhead which has a metal plate installed to keep the seat in place.  It works great and is really easy to release but keeps the seat upright.  The completed seat back can be seen in the photo on the right.