Built a bomber seat

[Sean in CT]

Spent about 8 hours making this bomber seat this weekend. It a lot of fun: used lots of skills, but each one was very do-able. Needs mounting plus some upholstery. I used some pics of actual WW2 B17 seats for inspiration. The hot rod bomber seats are cool but seem to have drifted away from the look of the originals.

The center is 0.062 1100 aluminum. The sides are 0.125" 3003 aluminum. The rivets are 3/16 AN from Aircraft Spruce. They are also 1100 aluminum which is easy to work with. It is very strong and lightweight.

[KB58]

Will head rests be added later?

[Kinetic Research]

Rapid results that look great, well done.

[kabuku6]

Any chance you have plans/intention to create? I was always thinking book seat for my build, but these would be cool.

[Lonnie-S]

Nice job, Sean. I like the metalwork around your gear shift & E-brake too.

Don't you wonder how those pilots did the bomb runs in WWII? 16-17 hours in such a seat would kill you. Didn't they sit on their parachutes too? I'm not sure if that would be a benefit,or make the problem worse.

Cheers,

[Miatav8,MstrASE,A&P,F]

They look great.
Adding some snaps and squabs?

[Sean in CT]

Thanks for the compliments. It is actually comfortable. I made plywood mockups to get the sizes and angles right

The bombers did use a parachute for the bottom. Ill prob made a weathered brown leather bottom plus some extra pads for the bony parts.

I don't have plans but I can document the drivers seat much better (prob in a few weeks), if anyone is interested

The sides are 1/8" 3003 aluminum. The center is 1/16 (0.063) 1100 aluminum. It is very rigid. There is a big gusset behind the part with the holes. I am going to gusset the seat belt holes too. The plan is to hinge it at the front (there is a crossmember there) so it will tilt forward like an original Mini Cooper. This will give access to the small space behind the seat plus make installation and removal easier.

No headrest, tho the driver has one from the fairing, which will be padded (see pic)

I tried to make it look like a real B17 seat. All the hot rod bomber seats seemed to have visually drifted away from the originals. They are cool but not what I wanted.

[kabuku6]

I don't have plans but I can document the drivers seat much better (prob in a few weeks), if anyone is interested

I know I'm interested, I'm sure there are others too. That is of course if it's not too much of a hassle for you.

[Dismantalus]

Outstanding! I've been kicking this around for a while as well. Make the seats myself, and have a local Interior guy do the cushions in a nice pleated Brown UltraLeather for durability. This kind of cements this approach in my mind.

[Sean in CT]

Ill def document the drivers seat. Waiting for the 1/8 aluminum I ordered from Metalsdepot a week ago - still hasn't been shipped. ughh!

Spent most of the weekend finishing the seat mounting and starting to figure out seatbelts mounts. Seats are pretty tricky in these small cockpits - not a lotta wiggle room. I ended up hinging mine a the front, with no rear mount - it was very sturdy. I have some soft, 1/2' urethane rubber that I put on the floor under my butt that will hold it in place and add a little extra cushioning. There is room behind the seats that I can stuff the tonneau cover into, while leaving it attached at the back of the cockpit.