Removal of 201 back seat

[flyby201]

I have a 1977 J model and I am flying to Houston in 2 weeks with my son. We need to bring 2 bicycles (road bikes) with us. I've done this trip by myself with one bike... no problem, but I'm thinking I may not be able to get 2 bikes in there. I remove the wheels and put them in the luggage compartment and put the frame on the back seat. I'm wondering if the back seat is removable. I know the seat bottom comes out fairly easily, but I'm wondering about the seat back. Back when I first bought it an A & P friend and I were going to Oshkosh with a LOAD of camping stuff. We discussed removing the back seat then but he was concerned that the plane might not have been "approved" to fly without it. (Thinking the rod across the top of the backseat might be a structural component of the aircraft).

Anyone know anything about this?

Steve

N201HL

[KSMooniac]

I removed the bolts on each side of the back, remove the bottom, and fold the back down. Not elegant, but it works.

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[N201MKTurbo]

There are spring loaded pins that hold the seat backs in. They should be easy to remove, but in reality it is a PITA.

[Bob - S50]

If the '77 is like our '78, there are bolts on each side that are hard to reach, have numerous washers, and as you said are a PITA to remove.

 

Bob

[dcastor]

I once saw a how to for modifying the backseat to allow it to fold down. The first half of the instructions should tell you exactly what to do and might have some tricks for removing those PITA bolts. It's online, maybe search for "Mooney folding rear seat".

[NWMooneyDude]

I simply pull out the seat bottoms, creating a void. Then the seat backs fold forward after pulling a release lever. As the seat backs are at a 45 degree angle, I pull them (the cushions) off of the back support, which then folds completely down to allow a flat cargo compartment behind the forward seats. 

[mooniac15u]

I simply pull out the seat bottoms, creating a void. Then the seat backs fold forward after pulling a release lever. As the seat backs are at a 45 degree angle, I pull them (the cushions) off of the back support, which then folds completely down to allow a flat cargo compartment behind the forward seats.

That works great if your M20J is 1982 or later. Earlier J's have a non-folding bench seat. The OP said he has a '77.

[kortopates]

I owned a '80 K model with non folding rear bench seat that I was able to install a STC'd folding bench seat in that is likely also approved for the J model given that they are the same airframe. If interested, I'd call around the bigger MSC's like LASAR, Don Maxwell, SWTA, Dugosh or Premiere. One of them is bound to know about availability and applicability to the J.

FWIW I am able to load 2 29er MTB bikes into the back of 252 w foldable bucket seats.

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