Anybody know much about drilling seat rail holes?

[Skywarrior]

Hello, all (again) -

I gotta sit farther back in my plane - the control wheel hits my left leg, so I can't turn left. Also, my feet press on the brakes, and I can barely operate the rudder without tapping the brakes. I've already nearly crashed the plane on takeoff once because of that.

Was told I need to have an A&P drill out the holes at the rear end of the seat rail.

?????

It looks like holes are already there, to me. Are these holes only partially drilled through?

???????

 

Chuck M.

[roundout]

I know at the factory they charge like $1700 for this mod on new aircraft. 

[DaV8or]

I have sort of a similar question. I would like my passenger seat to slide all the way back until it hits the rear seat to make getting in and out of the pilots seat even easier. Does anyone know if this is possible to move the stop?

[knute]

Caution!  Drilling the seat rails without the associated engineering drawings effectively grounds the plane.  (Can't arbitrarily drill a structural component)  Ask me how I know!  OK, actually ask me how my brother knows- at 6' 6", he was the prior owner my plane and had new holes added to the pilot side rails when he bought it.  The solution involved drawings from Mooney and the effort of a DER to certify the change, and a 337 (approved).

This was done to a '66 E model, approximately 2000 (10 years ago).

OK- here we go;  I knew I had a link somewhere...

http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/samurai/N5774Q/archive/seat_rail.pdf

This has scanned images of the engineering drawings and the 337 filed to support new holes for a further back seat position.

Hope that helps!

-Knute

'66 M20E - N6066Q - KSQL (San Carlos, CA)

[DaV8or]

Wow! Way to go Knute! Spelled it all out and showed what was needed. Got to love these forums!

[Skywarrior]

I need to look closely at my existing conguration. It *looks* like I'm sliding over the tops of nice, receptive, existing holes that are just *waiting* to embrace the seat's plungers.

But the seat just slides over them. I asked the broker what was going on, and he said that those 'holes' I see are not really holes, they're just 'starter' holes. They need to be fully drilled out.

That doesn't make any sense to me.

I just don't know what the hell is going on, frankly.

I am obviously very short of knowledge about Mooney seats. But, I simply cannot fly this plane until I secure that seat in a further-aft position.

 

Chuck M.