Now that the interior is painted I can focus getting the interior back together.

On the C170 I had Ron Matta in AZ do the upholstery. As he did such an amazing job on that A/C, I decided to ship him everything and take a stab at the Skywagon. Even though I pretty much want the exact same thing he did on the 170, he asked me to do some prelim sketches so we could get on the same page.

Im going with grey graphite leather with an Ivory insert. He is also going to use the same Italian double knit stitch in Ivory. I scanned the "SKYWAGON" logo from the parts book and made file for him to use for the embroidery. I pretty stoked.

He is also doing the FA Dodge and 3rd row. I want to make sure to be able to fold the jumps and keep them as snug to the sides as possible, so we will be using minimal foam.

His website is a bit on the lame side and I keep teasing him about it, but I think he's just old school and is too busy working. (I dig his work so here is the shameless plug: http://www.aviationscreations.com/cessnainteriors.htm

I asked him to send pics as he works so I will share em as they come in.

(I've shared this pic before, but...) Here is what he did for the 170



And my sketches for the Wagon.

I'll go along with the "Shameless Plug".
Looks nice, but....

Spending money is easy, let us know if it flies better, lands shorter, uses less gas, hauls more weight, has any impact on Polar Bears, or increases the value of the plane

Having been there, and all....

Mostly, the "Shameless Plug" though....

SkyTruck wrote:Spending money is easy, let us know if it flies better, lands shorter, uses less gas, hauls more weight, has any impact on Polar Bears, or increases the value of the plane

It is indeed... But you cant take it with you.

That said, I shaved almost 6lbs per seat on the 170 by tossing the metal springs and going with Ron's nylon blatters which is not nothing... If I had opted for cloth and not leather, it would have been more. And FWIW, in selling the 170 I got every dime out that I put in. IMHO the seats were the best move as they made the airplane. I would def say they were worth it, which is why I didnt hesitate to do it again.

As far as the plug... what can I say. Ron is a friend (also does amazing work)

As far as polar bears go, well......

Shit, if it's YOUR airplane, set it up the way YOU want it. To me, that looks awesome! Would I do that? Heck no, I got a set of in stock forever and on sale leather seat covers from Airtex and even that super sale price took my breath away.

As to the plug....plug away! The more resources we have the less research we have to do. You watch, in the next year or so, somebody will be looking for upholstery advice....

Keep up the posts.

MTV

Please keep showing us progress pix of how you spend your money... I love it. Those 170 seats are pimp The next best thing to Overhaulin' on BCP!

Bitchin' Dude That will be one kick-ass nice airplane. For sure, do it the way you want it. That is why you are going through all this effort after-all, isn't it?

Thanks for bringing the rest of us along on the ride too. Great stuff

Nice work Big Renna! Hopefully I'll get to see your 180 in person some day. Always enjoy checking out your posts!

SixTwoLeemer wrote:Please keep showing us progress pix of how you spend your money... I love it. Those 170 seats are pimp The next best thing to Overhaulin' on BCP!

X2

Looks fantastic! I had my upholstery done by jack purdue of the recovery shop pioneer ca. I had it done 9 years ago and it has held up well. Search recovery shop jack purdue on web to find.

Are they comfortable to sit in for hours? And they look good. Win Win

Looks awesome, I hope you don't mind if I shamelessly copy your design when time comes to redo my seats. If I can ask an indelicate question, what's the budget to get the front seats rebuilt/upholstered and the FADodges upholstered?

Tom,

Yeah... super comfy! I'm sure its not top secret or anything and others do the same thing, but he layers two or three different types of foam where its needed. I could sit for hours in the C170. What I love is his detail work. The Italian double needle stitch is kick ass.

Vic,

Not sure about his prices for each individually. He bid on the entire job as a flat for me, which is the fronts, FA D's and third row. I know he has different standard prices for each step. Recover is one, recover w/ removal of springs another, powdercoat subs a third, etc... Actually, I think if you use your existing foam and all he does is the recover, the price is pretty comparable to Airtex. I know that I priced the job locally and Ron was a bit cheaper. With the outbound shipping it was basically a wash. (of course I gotta ship em back) I know $$ is $$, but I am done with crappy vendors, and in my experience you get what you pay for, which is why I justified having him do the work.

We stripped the subs down here and had them powdercoated locally, then shipped everything. Ron would be a better person to quote cost.

Looks sweet and thanks for documenting this stuff...

Here is a shot of all the subs freshly powdercoated. Ron is doing pilot/copilot + headrests, FA Dodge jumps, 3rd row bench and back pad, arm rests for doors, and map pockets for a custom kick panel.

Been super busy, but thought I'd update this thread w/ more pics that Ron sent last week. As I mentioned, I am using the same grey and ivory leather I used in my C170B. I love how it looks in contrast with the black subs. I also scanned the Skywagon logo from the parts book and created the artwork for the embroidery. (I have the digitized file if anyone else needs it.)

I had him make the cushions for the FA Dodge jumps pretty thin so they can fold up as flat as possible. They are thin, but still comfy.

There are also arm rests, head rests, and the third row seat.

They are out with FedEx on their way back to me. (chomping at the bit to get them installed!)

Got the FA Dodge jumps installed with the new upholstery. Im diggin em. Super light and really comfy.

Looks great man. Can't place what's different about your atlee backs.. Are they built up higher or did you just run the upholstery all the way down an cover up the gap that is usually between bottom and thr top? In the pics it gives an appearance of a taller back. Either way, looks awesome man. What did you use to strip the frames? Media blast?

Yes. The frames are the stock frames. I just had Ron make a full seat back that goes down to the bottom.

The prob I found with a lot of FA Dodge upholstery is that when installed, its too thick and you cant fold em up flush and out of the way. The bottoms are made from high density foam and are attached with two large strips of Velcro. They are comfy, but very thin so you can fold up the seat flush.

The backs have a sleeve on the back so they slide on and off. You slide the backs off, flip them around to the other side (the back) and then fold em up flush. This way there is only 1" of cushion between the back and bottom. Works well.

Posted this elsewhere... but here are finished/installed photos. Thanks Ron! http://www.aviationcreations.com