Sheepskin Seat Cover added to Weber Captain-side Seat

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sheepskin seat cover added to oem weber seat

Sometime ago I acquired a pair of Weber pilot seats which came with the correct Boeing diamond-pattern, grey honeycomb seat covers.  However, one of the seat covers was slightly damaged.  The lower cover was also a tad on the small side and kept popping off the rear section of the lower cushion when you sat on it.  Not a major problem, but it was slowly becoming irritating having to repeatedly attach the cover back on the cushion.

The small size was probably caused by the previous owner washing the seat cover;  Boeing covers are renowned to shrink substantially when washed in hot water!  To rectify these minor problems, I decided to have the captain’s side upgraded to a sheepskin seat cover.

A friend of mine has access to high quality Boeing-style sheepskins and being a wizard at sewing, agreed to retrofit the cover for me.

It should be noted that sheepskin covers are not attached to the seat like you would do on an automobile.  Rather, the sheepskin is sewn directly onto the existing fabric of the original seat cover.  Colour varies somewhat depending upon the manufacturer awarded the Boeing contract, but in general they are grey to tan in colour.

I think you will agree, that the final outcome looks, and certainly feels, much better than the original damaged and too small seat cover.

Video - Weber Pilot Seat Adjustment Capabilities

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A short video clip to follow up on the installation of two 737 Weber pilot seats (Captain and First Officer) that have been installed into the simulator. The seats were retrieved from a South West 737-400 that was destined for the wrecking yard. This video demonstrates the various positions that the seat can be adjusted.

To read additional information on the seats, see these other Journal entries.

 
 

Installing Weber Pilot Seats to Platform Base

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oem 737-500 weber claw feet and platform mount

The Main Instrument Panel (MIP) is an integral part of the flight deck.  Now that it is installed, other components can be measured and fitted to the floor platform.  I wanted to install the eats correctly, even though the platform is a interim platform and will be replaced with an aluminum box platform sometime in the future,

The two Weber seats would take considerable time to attach to the platform, as unlike Ipeco seats they do not use a J-Rail system, but use claw feet. The feet must be positioned correctly onto the platform floor.

Attachment Stress

oem weber seat mechansim

In my earlier posts, I mentioned that to manipulate the various levers which move the seats results in relatively large amount of stress being placed on the attachment points of the seat to the platform floor; there is reason Weber seats have 16 attachment points to the flightdeck floor. 

To minimise the chance of the seat moving when adjusted, I fabricated a mount that sits beneath each seat.  The mount, constructed from wood, is 16 mm in thickness and is bolted to the 16 mm thick platform floor (36 mm total thickness).  Rather than use wood screws to attach the seats, I decided to use 55 mm length bolts with washers; my thinking is that the bolts will provide far stronger attachment points, when installed through the seat mounts and platform floor, than wood screws. 

Attaching the Seats

The first task was to cut and paint the seat mounts which was straightforward. Each seat was then attached to its mounting base and then secured to the platform in the correct position with bolts. The biggest problem was actually lifting and moving each seat into position on the platform, each seat and segment of flooring weighs over 50 kg.

Correct Positioning

The correct positioning of the seat and seat mount is very important.  Boeing specification states that the distance from the front of the seat to the MIP is 340 mm, however, this depends on where you are measuring to and what type of MIP you are using.  The measurement if using a FDS MIP is from the front of the claw feet to the forward edge of the lower kickstand.  This measurement is 440 cm.

wooden platform mount connected to claw feet of weber seat. the seat and mount are them positioned correctly on the platform and secured using bolts

The seats move forward and aft, by pivoting over the secured claw feet (see video); therefore, if the measurement is out by a cm or so it is not really an issue as the seat movement can take up the difference. 

It Works….

With the platform floor secured to the base it was time to trial the seats.  Both seats work well and there is no movement or flexing at their attachment points.  There is also no movement where the seat mounts join the platform floor.

I think it was overboard using 16 bolts and bolting through 36 mm of woo!  But, I wanted to make sure the seats did not move on their base as I didn't particularly want to remove them and start over again. 

Next on the list is installing the ACE yoke and throttle quadrant.

The wooden platform has since been replaced with a modular aluminum structure.

Weber Seat Mechanics - They Are Built To Last

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The under seat workings of the Weber seat: Heavy duty chassis, the smaller of two heavy duty springs, two of three cables and the cylindrical hydraulic/pneumatic cylinder

In a earlier journal post (Weber Captain & First Officer Pilot Seats), I discussed the purchase of two Weber pilot seats.  What I didn’t discuss was how these seats function.  Weber seats, although constructed from aircraft rated aluminium are not light in weight; each seat weighs approximately 40 kilograms.  Most of the weight is associated with the robustly constructed underside the seat.

The seat has four movements:

  • Forward and aft movement;

  • Vertical rise;

  • Recline of back rest; and,

  • Under leg rise & fall.

Mechanics

Each movement is initiated by moving one of three solid lever on the pedestal side of the seat.  The lever operates a push style button connected to the end of a cable.  As the lever is moved the button is pressed or released with a corresponding press and release from another button at the opposite end of the cable.  The compression needed to allow these movements is controlled is by a very heavily constructed tensile spring that is contained within a cylinder.  This in turn is connected to a hydraulic/pneumatic piston that allows for greater ease in movement.

The mechanics control the subtle movement of the rear seat recline (like in an automobile) and the under leg rise and fall of the portion of the seat, that can be raised under the calves to allow more or less reach to the rudder pedals.  When the desired position is reached and the lever released, a heavy duty ratchet / cog is engaged locking the position in place.

The two most aggressive movements of the seat are the forward and aft movement of the seat and the vertical rise. This and the non use of J rails are two reasons that Weber Seats are attached to the flightdeck floor by 16 attachment bolt points by eight claw feet (duck feet) for each seat.

Weber manufactures a number of different variants: hydraulic, electric, spring or a combination thereof – there are several variations in use throughout aircraft fleets. The seats I am using are spring and hydraulic controlled. 

Weber Captain & First Officer Pilot Seats

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weber seats on trailer

A call from DHL Freight logistics alerted me to the fact that another large crate had arrived at the local airport for pick-up.  It was too early for the consignment to be the MIP, so the next contender was cockpit seats.

I wasn’t going to purchase pilot seats until the project was nearing its final phase.  However, genuine B737 seats are becoming more difficult to find in good condition, and when I was offered these seats, I decided to purchase them. 

Boeing aircraft use for the most part two types of aircraft seats: Ipeco and Weber; the former being the more modern seat design with adjustable J-rails.  Personally, I find the Ipeco seats to be rather uncomfortable and the configuring of J-rails can be painful.  Weber seats bolt directly to the floor, so as long as you have the correct measurements for the bolt down locations, there shouldn’t be any further problems.  Both the Ipeco and Weber seats have several seat levers to allow for correct and comfortable positioning.

Weber seat cushions are either manufactured from cloth, which are the seats I have, or they have sheepskin covers sewn over and into the cloth.  At some stage in the future, I may have sheepskins installed over the seats, but at the moment this is a secondary issue.

Apart from some very minor cosmetic issues associated with the plastic molding on the rear of one seat, both seats are in excellent condition.  You have to remember that seats are always in used condition and probably have flown thousands of hours.  Before their new home in the simulator, they were fitted to a 737-500 series aircraft belonging to South West Airlines. 

Minor Overhaul of Flight Officer Seat

Although cosmetically the seats look OK, the right hand seat (flight officer) didn't seem to be operating correctly.  Inverting the seat, I was shocked to see a built up of dirt, grim and dust over the mechanism that controls the movement of seat.  Disassembling the components, I also discovered a broken split pin which was stopping the connecting cable, which controls the vertical rise in the seat, from working.  After cleaning and replacing the broken split pin, I lubricated all the areas requiring lubrication.  PRESTO, the seat now works as it should.

Leg Attachment Points - Four Seat Movements

Each seat has 16 attachment points to secure the seat to the floor.  One reason for this is that when you alter the position of a Weber seat, especially forward and aft, the pressures exerted on the seat legs are very high.  The seat has four movements: back reclining (like in a motor car), vertical rise (upwards lift of about a foot or so in height), under leg lifting and forward and aft seat control.  The last movement is needed as Weber seats do not use rails.

CASA Approved?

I was inspecting the seat feet (called duck feet because of their shape when my wife came into the room - she commented ’I hope their CASA approved’.  The first snipe - no doubt more will come  :)  I dare not try the seat harness.... (CASA is the Civil Aviation Safety Authority in Australia)

Oh and before you ask - yes the seats are very comfortable.