Chapter 26 Interior
Since I have no clue on how to use
a sewing machine, I figured I would farm this portion of the project out. Fortunately for me, Lincoln Skyways, a highly
rated interior shop, is right on the same airport. After getting a quote from Mark, I did shop a
few custom upholstery shops in the
After sitting down with Mark and
pouring over books of swatches, I opted for a two tone light gray/dark gray leather
interior. It will match the gray Zolatone interior paint well. I wanted to have a rich looking interior, but
also knew that a full interior can add a lot of unnecessary weight. I chose a
balance of nice materials and using a conservative amount of upholstery work. I opted to only cover the outside armrests,
leaving the side walls and inside strake areas painted. I also painted the center armrests. I will only have the back half of the canopy
and turtle back upholstered with a lightweight ultra suede material. I painted
the front half of the canopy. This should be a good combination of a rich
looking interior and lightweight installation. We will see when it comes time
to weigh the plane.
Mark was waiting for the avionics
shop to finish up their work on a new panel for a pressurized Cessna 210 so he
had some time to start on my plane. I
walked it the .5 mile across the field to his shop on
I stopped by and shot these photos
of the progress. The foam seats were almost
complete with some small fitting to be done.
Rear seat back Front seats
Builders may ask why I didn’t opt
to use Conforfoam.
Mark gave me a piece to try and I wasn’t really impressed with it. It is very heavy and much more expensive as
well. The reclining nature of the front
seatback is very comfortable; I didn’t see the need to add the additional
weight and expense.
Here is a shot of the headliner
work as well. They use a thin piece of
ABS plastic that is shaped to hold the headliner in place. This will prevent any sagging of the material
as the material ages.
I had to be out of town most of
the next week on business so this has worked out well. The plane is still progressing despite my
lack of time to work on it. I stopped
back a few days later and Mark had made what looked like hundreds of template
drawings off of the foam pieces for the leather coverings. Here are just a few……
Next, he cut the leather out using
all these templates and will soon start stitching them all together. I told you there were A LOT of pieces!!!!!
He had also completed the covering
of the ABS plastic for the canopy headliner as shown below. The glue was still drying, hence the need for
the tape to hold it in its proper shape.
They also had the
rear bulkhead covered as well……
Lastly, he had just started
laying out templates and cutting the carpets…..
That’s all I have to report for
now, but will continue with progress reports shortly.