Fuselage

A helpful tip from a US builder pointed me in the right direction, and I chamfered the top corners of the bulkhead flange and the seat rail so the seat could tip back all the way to the bulkhead. Once this was done things started to fall into place. The major difficulty was the quality of the fiberglass part. It is far deeper than the canopy rail. I cut it and re glassed it.
Everything pretty much fell into place after that, though the seat is perhaps a little tighter than I intended at the top. I am not sure why, since I had a 1/8th " spacer in place throughout at the 12:00 position. Still better tight than flapping about, when flying solo in turbulence.
While my wife likes flying as a pax she would much rather not touch the stick! For this reason I wanted secure storage for it, out of her way. Once the seat went in, its home became obvious. It hangs on a pip pin, and is held at the bottom by a spare flap block. It is clear of the rudder cable also.














Postscript 19th March '09
Some interest in the finished rear seat has prompted me to post this picture. The cushions are by Becki Orndorf, and she did a great job.

This area is subject of an SB from VANS some 10 years ago. SB 97-05-1.
I think the SB caused the steel triangular brackets to be added, and they were not there before. They are standard on my plans. I think the purpose of the bracket is to stop the bulkhead collapsing backwards, and letting the seat, and buba, fall across the elevator pushrod. It is less than clear, because the SB refers to several figures which are not included.

I am a bit confused though, as to how the weight of the passenger is to be transmitted from the seat to the bulkhead itself. It appears very crude if the intent is point contact like you see in the second picture. I wonder what others have done?