N247BR

Back Seat & Baggage Area


Rear Seat Cup Holder and Console

Gee, what is this world of homebuilt aircraft coming to with Cup Holders in an aircraft?  Well, why not?  If you have the room and you have no other purpose for the area then put in some cupholders for you back seat passengers.  The center section between the front seat and the rear seat must have a cover to protect the control rod for the elevator and the rudder cables so adding a cupholder was a natural.



Rear Seat Console Rear Seat Console
What better form for a cupholder than some large drink cups.  Now I know why I hadn't thrown out those old Astros Baseball cups.  I cut the bottoms off to get the depth I wanted and added a bottom plate of prepreg.  One end will go against the back of the front seat and the other end is some scrap multi-ply glass cutout from the wing spar assembly. 
Rear Seat Console Rear Seat Console


The basic installation can be seen above.  The back facing the rear seat will contain the connections for the headsets and for oxygen outlets.  The center console between the rear seat will have a very small storage compartment to hold the oxygen system supplies for the back seat.  The next step was to build up the areas around the cups and to glass in around and inside the cups.  The cups are just for providing the forms.  The whole unit will slide down over the lower divider and be screwed into place.  The final result can be seen in the two photos below.  The Console and Cup Holder were padded with a dense fire resistant foam and then upholsterd with Ultra-Leather.  I still need to find a cup insert that doesn't show the upholstry.
Rear Seat Console Rear Seat Console
Rear Seat Console The rear seats flip up and allow a small amount of storage beneath the seats.  The center console between the seats covers the flap controls.  The cup holder has been completed but still needs some inserts to hide the upholstry.