As a result of flying my Express for several years and not being as comfortable as I would like in the seats as designed, I began thinking about the "change".
The following is a series of pictures and comments pertaining to the re-design and re-upholstering of the front seats. My dissatisfaction was primarily the "curve" at the buttock area and the method required to upholster the odd shape.
I began by removing my "expensive" leather upholstery (which was always too hard and not really comfortable, "but it looked great") and reshaping the seat frame. The following pictures show the marked area, the cut out and the installation of "flat" panels to make the seat frame an "L" shape so I could have separate back and bottom cushions.
The lambs wool was used on the sides of the new cushions for maximum comfort. I also had my hinged armrest done in the lambs wool. "Solid comfort now"!
The new cushions are a combination of 2 foams (not temperfoam) and are about 1 3/4 inches thick for the back and about 2 inches for the cushion. I purchased the 3 densities of temperfoam and tried every combination I could and never came up with one that I liked better than what I had. I re-worked the my foam cushions, left the sculpture at the sides as can be seen in the pictures, covered the seat frame in naugahyde (to match the interior) and had new cushion covers made up in the best lambs wool from "Rams Head" in Sonoma, Calif. I took the seats to them and they made the necessary templates from which the final covers were made. The covers were made to slip over the cushions using velcro as a closure (rather than a zipper). They used my supplied matching naugahyde for the bottom and back. The completed cushions are held in place by velcro (special high temp aircraft grade) and a flap over the back of the seat back held by screws. I opted to only have a strip of velcro at the front of the seat as the cushion fit into the seat frame tightly othewise. The back is held in place by the wool flap over the seat back, under the upholstered panel, and then by screws through both.
One of the big advantages of this design is the simplicity of the cushion design and their installation. They are easily removable and the foam cushion material could be changed if desired with very little effort.
Again, I did not use the temperfoam for the following reasons:
The material is very hard when cold and takes a while for the weight and form of the pilots posterior to "settle in". I was doing my experimenting during the winter months trying the various combinations on flights between Mariposa (my base) and Livermore (a 45 minute flight each way) and found the cushion material I had was still the best. I also know that the temperfoam is great if you can live with the temperature problem and the time it takes for your rear end to "settle in".
The cost of the lambs wool covers was $600 for the 2 front seats. I do not intend to do the rear seats as they do not get used much and the leather on them looks great. I was fortunate to find a lambs wool color that matched my interior perfectly.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the proceedure or the materials used.