I all practically (and legal by weight) the manor in which I utilize my 170B she's a 3 seats at best. So to that end I intend to remove the rear bench and reconfigure with a single, folding seat in it's place. Has anyone ever seen or aware of a seating configuration where the rear seat is oriented sideways not forward facing. If any of my fellow BCP brethren are aware of such a configuration a pic or two would be great.

Thank you in advance

That's a great idea from a comfort standpoint, but it's impossible to safely secure a person in that orientation in the event of a hard landing...g-forces exerted sideways on the spine are particularly unhealthy.

Are you wanting to try and field approval something? I think that would be pretty difficult to get past the FAA. Your best option might be to buy a single atlee dodge seat.

http://www.fadodge.com/removable-folding-jump-seats/

Or a single LakeVue, formerly BAS, jump seat, http://lakevueaeronautics.com/ .

Rod

I've taken a bit of a shine to the Lakevue seats so now looking for "real time" experience with this product.

First though is that they provide a bit extra leg room over the Cessna bush seat and Atlee Dodge is this observation valid ?

In addition they appear to be a reasonable easy, simple install it this also valid ?

Lastly, before I run off to Lakevue to purchase one is there a single one drifting around the BCP community ?

I have the Atlee seats and they are awesome. Found them used in Alaska where I am guessing most/many Cessna 100 series aircraft have them. If I did it again I think a single would be plenty.

Thanks, I’m only planning a single seat for my needs four seats will never be required !!

Mapleflt wrote:I've taken a bit of a shine to the Lakevue seats so now looking for "real time" experience with this product.

First though is that they provide a bit extra leg room over the Cessna bush seat and Atlee Dodge is this observation valid ?

In addition they appear to be a reasonable easy, simple install it this also valid ?

Lastly, before I run off to Lakevue to purchase one is there a single one drifting around the BCP community ?

Both the Dodge and Lakevue seats offer a bit more leg room than the Cessna "jump seats". The Dodge seats are adjustable somewhat, fore and aft.

Bear in mind that, depending on your insurance company, they may still insure the plane as a four seat airplane, even though it only has three seats, simply because it's certified as a four seat plane.

MTV

Roger, not an insurance issue just the reality of the nature of how I enjoy the airplane, its either on straight floats or wheel skis. The combination of three seats with a little extra space for other odds & sods serves my operational needs nicely.

I totally get what your trying to achieve. I put the Lakeview seats in my last 185 and absolutely loved them. The price was less than the Dodge seats and the installation was far more straight forward. They are super light and surprisingly comfortable. I never personally sat in them, kind of hard to fly from the back. This is based on the comments of the folks that sat in them. I probably took 300 people for rides in them at Burning Man over the years. Nobody found them anything but comfortable and they did the seat thing apparently excellently. They really are compact and fit with minimal space. I suppose you could negotiate with them for a single side. However the STC is for two. So you could do the install, and just slide one out with a logbook entry and W&B adjustment.

During install of the Lakeview seats:

Yes, I'm sold on the Lakevue setup, install, comfort, functionality etc. I have questioned my need for a folding seat and briefly considered a single Cessna bush seat. I don't like the installed position of the Cessna seat, to far forward for my liking as are the other non-folding options so by default it will be a folding seat.

I put a single Cessna 185 seat in my old C170 via field approval.
Not as handy as a folder, but since the backrest slid right out and the bottom was so easy to remove / reinstall,
it was pretty close.
Mounts pretty far forward, as noted by others, so not as much legroom as a BAS or Dodge folding seat.

I have BAS folding seats in my current 180.
I've always liked them a little better than the Dodge seats,
more comfy seating for one thing unless you add padding.
But the Dodge seats may be a bit more versatile, with a little fore-and-aft adjustment available,
plus the Brownline type rails they use on the floor and sidewall also fit readily available cargo rings.

The old BAS seats are now made & sold by Lakevue Aero,
a single seat costs $1300 and a pair costs $2300--
not including seat belt mounting parts. That's another $250 for two seats worth (not including belts).
http://lakevueaeronautics.com/id2.html

Atlee Dodge also sells single seats, $1500, or $2950 for two.
This appears to include seatbelt mounting hardware (but no belts).
http://www.fadodge.com/removable-folding-jump-seats/