hotrod180 wrote:I struggled along for years with the stock bench seat in my old C170. Using hitch-pins to attach the back to the bottom made for a (relatively) quick removal, but both Atlee Dodge and the Lakevue folders have that beat all to hell. Mine are BAS, now sold by Lakevue-- I think they're a bit cheaper, plus they use ceconite for the bottom & back which is easier on your ass than the metal Dodges.

Easier on who's ass? I have never sat in mine when the airplane was moving. If you are the guy buying them, you probably aren't the one who sits in them.

That said - no complaints about comfort from the kids even on a trip to Oshkosh. BAS seats with 1 inch tempur foam on the bottom, half inch on the back.

Not sure which I would go with if I bought them today.

c170pete wrote: Easier on who's ass? I have never sat in mine when the airplane was moving. If you are the guy buying them, you probably aren't the one who sits in them. ....

I've sat on (unpadded) Dodge seats for a short ride, and sat in my (unpadded) BAS seats for a few minutes to get a feel for them. The ceconite on the BAS seats has more give and therefore seems more comfortable to me. Enough padding and you probably couldn't tell the difference. I think a throw pillow off the hangar sofa is a quick and easy solution to padding & upholstery, and would probably be OK for relatively short flights in the BAS seats. With the metal Dodge seats, not so much.

hotrod180 wrote:I think a throw pillow off the hangar sofa is a quick and easy solution to padding & upholstery, and would probably be OK for relatively short flights...

Dude, you have throw pillows for you hangar couch. [emoji15][emoji2]

Oh yeah, my hangar has deluxe accomodations. But they're throw pillows in that they were raggedy enough to get thrown out of my house.

I need some hangar furniture

Here are my Atlee Dodge.
Will post some pics tomorrow with the seats up and with the cushion.

I think that brown carpet on the bottom needs to go, what other options are there instead of carpet?

Nice touch with the straps to keep the seats folded up, most that I've seen (including my own) just use bungees. Did you come up with that? The good thing about the bungees though is that 1) when seats are folded down you can completely remove them, and 2) they can also be useful for lashing stuff into place both in the airplane & in camp.

Re floor covering, it's probably not up to the standards of the rest of your airplane but cardboard is the ultimate utility floor covering. When it gets too muddy bloody or whatever, just shitcan it and lay some new stuff down. I'll admit to some nylon (?) carpet in mine though. I had some funky old 1970's shag carpet in my old 170-- wiped my muddy feet on it etc and when it got too dirty I just took it out and gave it a good shaking . Worked great and was still going strong when I sold the airplane after 10 or 11 years.

Is this a 206?

182 with extended baggage compartment.

What year/model?

182 P, year 1973.

I finished the install of my Lakeview seats a few weeks ago. I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. The kit from Denny included everything need for install including rivets and hardware. My local mechanic was willing to work with my on owner assist for the install. I spent an afternoon laying out the side rails and floor rail locations.





The stainless side tubing needed to be trimmed to length.



My rear seat belts were attached to the bench seat. I was able to use the belts but I had to order the Cessna seatbelt attachment parts. The center belts attach to the hard point where the rear support of the bench seat was. A simple bolt on installation. The side points consist of two plates that need to be riveted between the bulkhead and the aircraft skin. The parts are standard 185 parts and sold by Lakeview.


In the end it cost me 5 hours of shop time to compleat. I figure that was reasonable.



Someone asked about leg room with the seats in the forward position. Due to the thin backs of the seats compared to the bench, the seating position is a few inches farther aft. There is plenty of leg room with the front seats in a normal flying position. In this photo the seats are in the position I use for my seat when flying.


The seats can be completely removed with 2 bolts. All that remains are the floor rails and nut plates that are riveted inside the bulkheads. If I were to up grade to a 180 I could easily take the seats with me and reinstall the bench seat.

Total weight is 11lbs for both seats, that does not include the weight of the seat belts. That saves 15 lbs over my 26lb bench seat.

I plan to run the seats uncovered for a while, eventually I think I will make some light weight removable covers.

FWIW there's a similar thread running on the supercub.org site right now.

Thinking about installing the Atlee seats in my 180. Does anyone want to recommend a shop in Idaho/Washington to do the install?

Thanks!

I am using the Lakevue also, I like them. Everyone that has sat in them say they are very comfy. They also use Cessna type seat rails so if you have hardware that can attach it's a plus. No AD's involved also. They come covered with Poly fiber and I took them to upholstery shop and covered that with fabric. They stow (fold up easy). And they were $400 cheaper than brand X.

After about a year of use, I am exceptionally pleased with the
LakeVue seats in my 182. From riding Young Eagles to hauling big stuff, they excel. One of my better purchases.
Best,
Tommy

I know this is an old thread, but I am on the fence of buying jump seats as well. After reading I think I am leaning toward the Lakeview/BAS seats since if needed I could still use the rear bench for a long family trip. We are a family of 3 and my son is currently 17 months old. I have a few questions in regards to putting a car seat on the Lakefview seats? I imagine I could make a bracket to connect the car seat clips to the tracks below if the seatbelt method did not work well or even as a redundancy. I have a 1973 C182P. I also read in the thread of someone making a bike fork mount to attach to the seat tracks and I had planned to do the same, but curious how big a bike I could fit. 29r mountian bike? Ebike? Any pics of the bike setup? Also considering 2ea folding Ebikes and a small baby trailer that also folds. Wonder if I could fit this with one seat folded up plus my baggage area.

In regards to rear passenger comfort, its likely just going to be a car seat for a while and then when he is bigger I could add a cushion. However I fly young eagles and don't see a problem there, but I often do sightseeing flights with visiting family. Say an hour long flight for a full sized adult. Do cushions go a long way or would it be worth it to install the bench seat.

Does the seat track come in the Lakeview kit?

I use car seats with Lakevue seats. I forget the brand, but my car seats sit nicely on them and using the lap belts to the floor makes for a safe and very secure setup. I also attach the top anchor strap to my rear shoulder harness.

Daniel at sport aircraft seats made nice covers that are comfortable to sit on. Definitely comfortable enough for greater than an hour in my opinion. I think having fabric seat bottoms makes all the difference.

My kit came with the rear tracks and was easy to install.

Addicted2climbing wrote:... I often do sightseeing flights with visiting family. Say an hour long flight for a full sized adult. Do cushions go a long way or would it be worth it to install the bench seat. ...

I have throw pillows on the hangar sofa which I can use for the backseaters (BAS seats) on longer flights.
Nice because you don't have to have them along all the time, only when you need them--
you can also use them as sleep pillows when camping.
Of course, they could be used with Dodge seats also.
FWIW my C180 came with the jump seats installed, along with the (uninstalled) stock bench seat.
I sold the bench seat off, I didn't see the need for it as I rarely have people in back.
If I was a family man with people in back all the time, though, I probably would have kept it.

Thanks for the info on Carseat compatibility. In regards to the covers I emailed the same aircraft seat guy and he sent me some pics. They look very nice, but I imagine the added thickness affects the folding. Can you verify this? Maybe on a widebody 182 I have a bit more room to fold as when I spoke to the lakeview guy he said with a widebody there is a spacer to get the seats closer to center giving more elbow room on the sides. I also considered tie on seat covers like on a dinner chair and if it affected the folding, I just remove them when not needed.

Any pics of an installed carseat on your Lakevues you can send?

Thanks again,

marc