Chapter 22/26 – Seats & Cable

Or rather new seat CORES and new Trig TT22 Transponder ANTENNA cable….

As I’ve stated before, I may not currently be physically building my airplane, but I’m certainly in the game mentally and I’m really good at BUYING STUFF! ha

Well, today is certainly a milestone day. By taking a few measurements and shamelessly writing a check, I’ve wiped out half of Chapter 26 – Upholstery. And certainly the bigger half: the cushion fit, as my Oregon Aero seat cores arrived today!

Actually, not just the seat cores, but the headrest and the armrest cushions as well… the whole kit.

I was in the middle of working on the air compressor closet when the seat cores arrived, and this was just too exciting not to take a break and see how these babies fit!

I found 3-4 minor tweaks that need to be made (which is the point of this test fit phase) but I am overwhelmingly tickled pink with these seat cushions and accessories.

Here’s the front pilot seat . . .

I would like Oregon Aero to make the cut out around the fuel valve a little more vertical so that it hugs the aft curved wall of the fuel valve a little closer. Again, nothing major… at least anything that if it didn’t get tweaked it would affect seat cushion fit or comfort in any way. Just a stylistic preference.

And the GIB seat.

I gave Oregon Aero measurements at different heights for the GIB headrest, so it came out a bit more “angled” than I prefer, so I’ll have them round it out it into a smoother curve all the way around.

Below is the front seat again.

The big tweak that is significant in my book —that I’ve had a lot of feedback on from current EZ pilots— and a requirement that they missed my instructions on, is to taper the front of the thigh supports on the leading edges of the lower seat pad. If these pads are thick near the bottom of the panel leg holes, then it really messes with your ability to extricate yourself from the airplane gracefully as the heel of your shoe will catch that thick seat pad.

An over-the-shoulder view of the front seat pads. Again, I’m super happy with these seat cores… and honestly, it feels great to see the build moving forward again.

The next step on the seats is take a good 30-60 minutes to simply sit in the seat while making airplane noises, check the view out the canopy of course, and triple check the feel of the seat cushions. Then I’ll send the cores back with my list of demands <grin>, my color choices for the upholstery covering, and (let’s not forget!) my electric seat warmer pads. They will finish all that up back at Oregon Aero and once done, I’ll virtually be finished with Chapter 26 [a little velcro will need to be added about the cabin of course].

Moving on…

One takeaway from last week’s test fitting of the Trig TY91 com radio and the Trig TT22 transponder on the TriParagon’s top avionics shelf (which they both barely fit) was that with the transponder getting installed back into its original spot behind the panel AND the transponder antenna getting mounted in the forward NG30 pocket, I was ready to pull the trigger on the cable.

Normally for com or nav antennas I would simply make the cable, and I do hold that option in reserve. But Mode-S transponders are reportedly known to produce a good bit of noise if steps are not taken to mitigate it (especially in older ANR headsets). The biggest way of reducing this noise as much as possible is by using RG-400 cable for the antenna. So, instead of me making the antenna cable, I left it to the experts and ordered it from the WiFi Experts out of California.

Here’s the Trig TT22 transponder-to-L2 transponder antenna cable, with a 90° TNC connector on the transponder side and a 90° BNC connector on the antenna side.

Again, slowly inching forward to eventually get this bird in the air.

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