Skalywag wrote:Hmmmmm....just removed a set of dodge seats for the Skalywagon from a friends wrecked 180. I'd be shocked if the rails and other components weighed more than 3-5 pounds, not counting seat belts or rivets but.......will weigh stock bench vs Dodge with all hardware when I get back to em in a week or so.

Great work Rob, keep it up and thanks for the photos and updates!!!

Unless the kit includes a bunch of extra parts, 25 lbs is exactly how it weighed out, including seat belt fittings, rivets and everything. I would love to be wrong about this, actually. I wish I was.
-DP

I found this in the installation instructions "Folding seat weight (complete kit) is 8 lbs. with upholstery, 6.5 lbs. without upholstery." That's for one side. I'm curious what the actual weight is. I'll be weighing the whole kit when I get it.

Sorry for the thread drift Rob (I know its kind of a bummer when your project thread walks away from its focus) I was wondering myself what the real weight of the install was so I popped into the hanger for a quick weight. I was able to weigh parts that haven't been installed yet from another project. This is pretty damn close.

For those of you who have never seen the Atlee Dodge seat install, here is the breakdown: Two seats, four Ancra tracks (one floor, one sidewall) two angle backing brackets (under the floor to support the floor tracks) four gussets (support the ends of the sidewall track) four Ancra quick release rings, fastners/washers/nuts, solid and 16 cherymax rivets. Kit also has seatbelt ends that are not used if you order BAS/AmSafe belts.

As mentioned, my old 170 had an exceptionally heavy rear seat (had two layers of upholstery) and it weighed 42lbs. I have weighed a couple others and it seems the median weight is about 35lbs. In the Skywagon project, I removed C206 seats which weighed in at 16.5lbs per side upholstered, plus the Cessna seat rails that were removed. (lets just call that 35 lbs)

So, what does one side of the Atlee install weight?

(note: weights gathered in haste with angry girlfriend outside hanger door sitting in running pick-up truck wondering why she is at the airport on Christmas day rather than being on-time for family meal)

Ancra side track, gussets, floor track + backing angle - 2.2lbs
Ancra quick release rings (2) - 0.32lbs
Siderail center support bracket (painted) - 0.2 lbs
Atlee Dodge jump seat (powdercoated, foot fittings installed) - 6.19lbs
fasteners, washers, nylocks, solid rivets, cherymax - 0.22 lbs
Aviation Creations Upholstery (incl leather, 1" hi-density foam, extra back flap to slide onto seat and all velcro) - 3.05 lbs

Total weight for single un-upholstered - 9.13 lbs.
Total weight for single upholstered - 12.18

Left and right seat install incl leather upholstery - Aprox 24.4

Net net is an aprox savings of 10lbs (over factory bench) with both seats installed including leather. Fly with just one seat (my plan) for almost 20lbs savings. But then again, at around $120 per lb that can get ridiculous...Pay someone to do the install and be around $225/lb (preposterous.) Seems like the common sense move would be to do as suggested and just put the bench in as needed. But what the heck kind of fun would that be???

Happy Christmas my friends!

Thanks for taking the time on Christmas Day to clear thing up for us Greg!

Dear Greg,

you are an inspiration, you do everything so well - even weighing seats. I love the image of the girlfriend in the car, think of it as part of the interview process.

I have just bought a pair out of Alaska and will be putting them in my 170 after Christmas. I will probably only keep one in the plane, and keep my foldable bike in there too.

Do I need these - no. Do I think they are really cool and will allow me to keep more flexible - you bet.

Charlie

We own and fly aeroplanes, it's the economy of weight that really counts, I try not to look to hard at the $ economy. Love it that there are folks like yourselves to vicariously live life through, enjoy watching these refits.

My Dad drove down from Vancouver to help me out with the plane. We've been getting a lot of stuff done but never as much as we would like to. Greg was right when he said take whatever you're thinking for time and triple it!

This was on sunday, we got most of the tail stripped and pressure washed all the gunk out.


Today we took out the windshield. It will be a lot easier now to install the V-brace and prep and paint parts of the interior. A strapless one piece will be going back in.


The top of the panel cleaned up nicely. There was a lot of dead bugs and dirt stuck in those seams from the last 60 years.


Now back to work...

Great progress Rob!

Wow, that's looking great.

robw56 wrote:A strapless one piece will be going back in.

Googling that sure gets plenty of eye-candy.

Great job bro. Just keep on chugging! Its a long ass road!!!

Don't wanna harp on the dodge seat thing but man I wouldnt trade mine for nothing! If it was a weight wash I'd still have em. The ease and utility is unbeatable. Mine are usually always folded up. Never know when someone will want or need a ride and it'd never fail your factory seat will be at the hanger.
Looking great and stay with it man.

Don't worry, I'm sold on the Atlee Dodge seats. I think It will be one of the most important things I do to the airplane for the flying I do.

I didn't take any pictures but we got a lot of work done today, mostly with the rivet gun. There were many holes we plugged from old antennas, venturis, back seat arm rests and ashtrays, useless brackets I took off, random holes in the belly ect. We filled over 60 holes in total!

We went ahead and removed all the tail feathers today so we can do the job right.



It's disgusting how much crap was in the tail!


Also, here is a aluminum for the new panel

You may want to consider switching to an L 19 tailwheel spring main leaf. This requires getting rid of both the 170 main leaf and also the shortest leaf (the L19 main leaf is thicker than the 170 leaves).

I did this under a field approval, and it REALLY improved tailwheel characteristics. The stock spring is too wimpy, interfering with steering and I've seen them break in not that rough a country.

The L 19 main leaf is available from Univair, I believe.

MTV

A new tailwheel spring is on the list of things to do. I've heard of the L-19 spring, is it just the mainspring that is different?

Maybe I missed it in previous post's, did you weigh the airplane before starting? With all that gunk you have removed from the tail and other places it would be interesting to see how much weight you were hauling around needlessly. Looking NICE!

Kurt

G44 wrote:Maybe I missed it in previous post's, did you weigh the airplane before starting? With all that gunk you have removed from the tail and other places it would be interesting to see how much weight you were hauling around needlessly. Looking NICE!

Kurt

Zane had the airplane weighed before I bought it. It was 1349 with the rear seat in, I did several mods to it and had a calculated weight of 1400. Hoping to get it below the 1300 mark in the end.

robw56 wrote:A new tailwheel spring is on the list of things to do. I've heard of the L-19 spring, is it just the mainspring that is different?

I'm not sure...can't remember. But I believe the full stack of L19 spring leaves wouldn't fit anyway, and in any case would be way too stiff for the 170. Replacing just the main leaf with one from the L19 and eliminating the smallest spring in the 170 stack produces a spring rate that I think is about perfect for the 170.

MTV

mtv wrote:

robw56 wrote:A new tailwheel spring is on the list of things to do. I've heard of the L-19 spring, is it just the mainspring that is different?

I'm not sure...can't remember. But I believe the full stack of L19 spring leaves wouldn't fit anyway, and in any case would be way too stiff for the 170. Replacing just the main leaf with one from the L19 and eliminating the smallest spring in the 170 stack produces a spring rate that I think is about perfect for the 170.

MTV

Talking tailwheel springs and 170s, there is the recommendation by TIC170A and others to ease the trailing edge of the main spring where it could otherwise result in a stress point with the next spring below it.
-DP