Ch. 4 - Rear seat - Part 1

Gina's seat (3.1 hrs)

The rear seat, in my case, is what will make this project successful (or not), because “if mamma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy” or so I’m told. 

In an effort to sell the idea of this project, I might have slightly overstated the accommodation and comfort part of the story, especially for the GIB (Girl In Back), but I secretly promised myself to do everything in my power to approach first-class-like seating.

In my experience, what makes for a good passenger is either a busy one, or a sleeping one, so my improvements will be in the area of entertainment, and comfort.

As for the former, I am hoping that an iPad on a swivel mount might take care of most of the in-flight entertainment.

The latter will require a more substantial structural and logistical commitment. I am thinking Tempur foam seat wrapped in soft leather, 2” wider seat-back, thigh support, foot rests, and deeper elbow slots, to name a few.

We are going to start here with the wider seat-back.

Because it is easier to scribble on paper than on foam, I again laid down some paper tape, took careful measurements, and drew the external shape of the seat.

Next, I cut the foam to size with my Japanese saw, ...

... I then mixed up some micro-slurry, and applied it to the foam, ...

... spread it out with a squeegee, ...

... and removed the excess.

Because I started accumulating pieces of scrap BID, I decided to use a few here, with the usual 1” overlap.

On top of those pieces I placed a full size BID ply, then peel-ply, and let it cure overnight.

Lastly, the next morning, I used my vibrating cutter to trim the edges of the piece.