Removal of back seat?

Dave Butler wrote:
In fact, it might be prudent to update the weight and balance section
of the POH with seats-in and seats-out weight calculations, unless
your POH has some other provision for flying without the seats.



Please don't shoot me if this is a stupid question. G

Couldn't you simply calculate the weight and station (of the center of
the weight) of the seats, do the same with the replacement items, use
them in the CG calcs, and be good to go?


Yes, exactly. I'm just saying you might want to have that calculation in
the aircraft POH rather than on the back of an envelope. Seems to me the
aircraft was (probably) certified with seats in, and you are making a
modification by removing the seats, and that should be documented on the
W&B section of the POH.

Maybe I'm just over-cautious, but I'm pretty sure I've heard of doing
exactly this.

Probably no difference as far as safety of flight, just a documentation
difference.


The key is to see what the certification standard is for your aircraft.
I don't know about Arrows but in the 182 I had and the Bonanza I have
now all seats except the pilots seat are standard items, the pilots seat
is a required item for certification, it cannot be removed and then
legally flown. The equipment list from Cessna showed all items and a
column that had either an R, S or O, for required, standard and
optional. Only the required stuff has to be in the plane. I carry a
weight and balance sheet with three configurations for my Bo. First is
the standard one with all seats in, second has one rear seat removed and
third has both rear seats removed. I weighed the seats myself and use
actual weight, in the case of my Bo each rear seat weighs 22 pounds. In
the 182 I also had three configurations on the W+B. All seats in, rear
seat out and rear and copilot seat removed. To be legal a logbook entry
has to be made but I never bothered with that.

They would probably need a 337 to remove the seat since the plane was
not certified without a seat (just like only some planes can fly w/o
the doors). However, some planes are certified to fly w/o the back
seat. My Mooney POH specifically talks about flying with the rear seat
out. I'm not sure about the Piper.

-Robert

It doesn't matter if the POH talks about it, what does the equipment
list say?



Robert M. Gary wrote:
They would probably need a 337 to remove the seat since the plane was
not certified without a seat (just like only some planes can fly w/o
the doors). However, some planes are certified to fly w/o the back
seat. My Mooney POH specifically talks about flying with the rear seat
out. I'm not sure about the Piper.

-Robert