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RV-10 Front Seat Removal

tom_AZ

Well Known Member
Removing the front seats from my -10 is a significant PITA, with the rear portion of the seat track touching the torque tube covers just before the front of the sliders clear the tracks. The obvious fix is to remove the torque tube covers, per instructions in the plans for installing them, but the design of my interior complicates that--side panels need to be removed; carpet (some of which is glued) must be removed, etc... to allow access to the machine screws holding the torque tube covers in place, and the covers themselves to "clear". It's certainly doable, but makes an already cumbersome job (removing the latches with minimal clearance from the sidewall interior panels) even more so.

I'm giving some thought to modifying the seat sliders--very slightly. Best would probably be to radius the front of the slides (concave, just through the nylon, but even a 45 degree angle would probably be adequate. Allowing the front of the seat slider to release when sliding the seat just a half-inch less currently necessary would make a huge difference.

Has anyone faced a similar issue and used this or another approach to resolve it?
 
That's a modification several have made. Sometimes, you can just modify the nylon insert at the front of the seats to give yourself enough play to remove the seats without hitting the torque tube covers.

But... Without thinking about it too hard, I've kinda decided that there isn't much of a reason to pull the seats. Note - I have not lived with the airplane for very long, so I reserve the right to change my mind on this. ;-)

What access are you looking for that requires seat removal?
 
Seats

Pulling the seats allows inspection of control linkages, fuel lines and filters and any related wiring that may be there.

The mod for seat removal is really easy; cut the front of each plastic slide at a 45. That will allow you to remove and install the seats easily. The other mod is to install nut plates for the seat stop bolts. It is easy to remove and install them as well.
 
Cut 1/2" off the two front nylon blocks. It is now removable leaving the flap cover on.
 
You can

Can't you slide the seats all the way aft and pull the under-seat access panels to see all of that?

The problem is not so much that you can't pull the under seat cover and look at what is down there. If you have to do anything at all, change filter, access anything or uninstall or reinstall something, the seat will be in your way.
Removing 8 screws from the torque tube cover is a 2 minute job and reinstalling might take up 5 minutes of your time. If you are doing a condition inspection you should take a look at that assembly anyway.
For any other purpose I would agree that a modification seems like a good way around having to deal with the torque tube cover. For those who have carpet glued in place, I feel your pain, it's not something I would do.
 
Can't you slide the seats all the way aft and pull the under-seat access panels to see all of that? I know I can.

To each his own. I did the seat mod, and removal of the seats can be done in less that 5 minutes, giving full access to that area.

Also, pretty sure I wouldn't want to change fuel filters on top of my nice leather interior...
 
I can pull my seats out with no mods. They do touch the torque tube covers, but I leave my carpet on the covers and the carpet acts as an antichafe. Easy peasy.

Although I could leave the seats on for the inspection, I pull them because in my process I remove all the interior and access panels and do the inside inspection in one go starting aft and moving forward.
 
Thanks!

To each his own. I did the seat mod, and removal of the seats can be done in less that 5 minutes, giving full access to that area.

Also, pretty sure I wouldn't want to change fuel filters on top of my nice leather interior...

Thanks to all for the info, and especially the old thread. Sounds like the approach I was thinking of is similar to what several others have done. I hadn't considered trimming just the UHMW plastic glides, but can see how that may be sufficient--and easier. We'll see.


Ernst--I agree that in many cases removing the torque tube covers would be quick and simple. I also agree that they should be removed at CI, and do so. However, for my plane, it's not a quick and simple job, due to interference from parts of the interior. Maybe that's why the company that made my interior components is no longer in business (kidding).
 
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