Project I am trying to get going. A rear child seat for the Luscombe 8 was a factory option. I was designed for 2 kids and had a max weight of 80 or 100 lbs, depending on who you talk to. I'm working on getting the factory drawings and installing the seat in my plane. Because I will be following factory drawings it will be a simple logbook entry The seat is a sling similar to the rear seat of a Stinson. It is easy to collapse providing a large baggage area.

I've heard from several people that the seat actually works quite well. One guy remembers flying around with his Dad, Mom and two other siblings all in the plane

Pic of a factory install:


Pic of install from drawings with some safety updates and for only one kid:

That's pretty cool looking. Must be 1950's size family though. Looking through my old weight and balance data for the Luscombe, the sample problems showed two guys. Each at 140 lbs.
Not too many pilots that light these days. Maybe the depression wasn't so bad for health after all!
This morning, 34 degrees out.... almost full tanks.... took my overweight Bro in- law up for a ride.
Damn, barely climbed... cyl heads got hot. 6000 feet up and I am thinking, this guy has got to go on a diet or no more rides.
Anyway, you must have wing tanks only in yours... so the hat shelf would get removed. Is the battery box under the sling seat after you are done? A little battery box up on the firewall would be a cool mod like they do on the 182's. Small battery just to crank over the little Cont.
Keep us posted on how you do- recreating the factory option.
PS- I just put ski tubes on mine, instead of stainless wires between the gear. Now I can ride along on one wheel in any kind of wind without much worry.

Yeah I do have 12.5gal wing tanks. The hat shelf gets removed. The battery box in my 8E is behind the baggage compartment so it won't be an issue. It would be nice to put a lighter battery in; when this one fails I probably will. My CG is already a little forward so I don't want to move anything to the firewall.

When loaded heavy they sure climb slow but the O-200 crank in my C-85 sure seems to help. Thought about getting a flatter pitched prop but the 7151 I have now seems to be a good compromise. If I backed off to a 7149 I think it'd climb better but would over-rev pretty easy.

I've wanted to do the ski-tube install on mine but never have. Couple times I've taken off in a turn and just prayed the gear stayed attached...been lucky so far.

Have you ever had the landing gear tubing x rayed? Or do you just "ice pick" it at annual?
Just did the annual on mine... and banged on it with a sharp steel.... didn't go through so IA said let's leave it alone!!!
Did find the drain hole on one tube blocked. So, I cleaned it and sprayed ACF50 up there.
Cross my fingers.

Never had them x-rayed. When we had the plane apart for restoration a few years ago we checked the legs over real close and treated them with some sort of corrosion inhibitor inside and out. They looked real good and clean. Ever since then we just check the drain hole and inspect the leg for signs of corrosion. Never done the ice pick thing.

whee wrote:..... It would be nice to put a lighter battery in; when this one fails I probably will. My CG is already a little forward so I don't want to move anything to the firewall. .....

The lightweight Odyssey (aka Powersafe) battery is an easy install in a G25-size battery box. You just need to make a spacer of some sort to take up the extra room. My IA didn't like my 2x4 so I made an aluminum hat-channel & fastened it to the inside of the battery box. No problem with a field approval from our local PMI since I used the SBS J-16 model that's approved for the PA-18. Saved an honest 8# over the Concorde RG25 it replaced, plus got superior cranking power. $160 from Spruce 2 years ago.

hotrod150 wrote:

whee wrote:..... It would be nice to put a lighter battery in; when this one fails I probably will. My CG is already a little forward so I don't want to move anything to the firewall. .....

The lightweight Odyssey (aka Powersafe) battery is an easy install in a G25-size battery box. You just need to make a spacer of some sort to take up the extra room. My IA didn't like my 2x4 so I made an aluminum hat-channel & fastened it to the inside of the battery box. No problem with a field approval from our local PMI since I used the SBS J-16 model that's approved for the PA-18. Saved an honest 8# over the Concorde RG25 it replaced, plus got superior cranking power. $160 from Spruce 2 years ago.

Very cool! Thanks for the info.

Got the factory drawings today. Doesn't look like it will be too tough but would be much easier if I had some sheet metal tools.

What is the rule regarding interior panels? I don't want to put side panels or a headliner in the back at all.

Look at www.SuperCub.org and look up Kydex interior panels.
Light weight .060, durable and pretty easy to form/install.
Kydex website will send a sample of thickness and colors to
experiment with.
Dave

Hey Whee,

How did you obtain the drawings? They look good!
Looks like the project is off and running....

I got them from a friend. They are available through the Luscombe association if you are a member. The association has a bunch of cool info but you have to be a member to get it.

I'll take a look at that Kydex stuff but I'm pretty set on no interior panels in the rear of the plane.

Went out to the plane to make some measurements and started wondering if I really could cutup my plane. It is far from perfect but it is a reasonably clean, mostly unmolested plane. Not sure I can go through with this mod. Gonna take some time and determine if I should just sell and by a four place or go through with adding a rear seat.

Good second thought. Buy what you need and buy the best example
of that one. Will save you money and headaches in the long run.
Dave

Even with a stroked 85, it's still a 2-place airplane IMHO. If you need more, you should buy more & leave the Luscombe as it is. My 2 cents.