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Folks,

Our new to us M20K is amazing, but at 6’ tall, I wish I had the seat back about 1”. I am currently locked into the rear-most set of holes. Is there anyone out there with aftermarket seat rails that will allow us to move back an inch from the yoke?

Thanks,

Mike

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Welcome aboard, Mike!

+1 on Lance’s suggestion... mine came with pedal extensions...

I’m 6’ as well...

Could be the short legs I’ve got...

Another thing to Check on... there is a way to get another set of holes drilled properly.  New holes is a lot less costly than new rails for some reason.

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

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Thanks Guys. I actually need the space between my right knee and the center console, but the rudder extensions might help a little.

I spoke to my mechanics about drilling a couple new holes. They said it would take an engineering drawing and approval....or a night in the hanger with a tape measure, drill bit and careful measuring. Looks like that might be my option. The plane is perfect other than that, so if we could get that sorted I am all set.

Thank you for the quick responses, great community here

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Folks,
Our new to us M20K is amazing, but at 6’ tall, I wish I had the seat back about 1”. I am currently locked into the rear-most set of holes. Is there anyone out there with aftermarket seat rails that will allow us to move back an inch from the yoke?
Thanks,
Mike


Exactly how long are your appendages?! I’m 6’4” with a 36” inseam. If you need to move back 1”, it sounds like your legs are 38” inseam. Never heard of a 6’ person having an issue with seat positions. Just curious...


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There should be an engineering drawing around here somewhere... for adding the extra holes....

It has been a long time since this came up...

If nothing else, Expect that an MSC or Mooney can supply the drawing?

Try a search first...

Best regards,

-a-

There is a drawing linked in the thread....

That was just the first of many threads I came across.

-a-

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Thanks very much. The equivalent requirements to get a field approval of this by Transport Canada my be the sticking point. As we have very few inspectors, they are not usually very interested in doing this type of work for us up here.

Mike

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15 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

You might check to see if you have rudder extensions on the airplane that you could remove. I think there were 1.5" and 3" extensions. Removing those may give you the extra leg room you need.

 

14 hours ago, mwilton1 said:

Thanks Guys. I actually need the space between my right knee and the center console, but the rudder extensions might help a little.

Mike, you may not have caught @LANCECASPER's intention for you to see if there currently are extensions on the rudder pedals and remove them which would give you much more leg room.

@Marauder and I are about the same height (36+" inseam), and I can use the next to last holes with comfortable space between my knees and the console or yoke. Removing any rudder extensions should give you more than enough leg room. But if there are not any installed, it may be you seat was built up by an earlier owner to get them closer to the pedals. Don't know.

Best of luck, and welcome aboard.

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Thanks @Oldguy. I will have to check the rudder pedal extensions. The previous owner had the seats re-done, and they are amazing, so I don't want to bugger those up. If I do have the extensions, the would help, but it tends to be my distance from the Yoke. I will have a look at them and report back. Anything specific to look for or are they pretty obvious?

Thanks,
Mike

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3 minutes ago, mwilton1 said:

Thanks @Oldguy. I will have to check the rudder pedal extensions. The previous owner had the seats re-done, and they are amazing, so I don't want to bugger those up. If I do have the extensions, the would help, but it tends to be my distance from the Yoke. I will have a look at them and report back. Anything specific to look for or are they pretty obvious?

Thanks,
Mike

Should be fairly obvious, but you might have to crawl down there to make sure. There are some drawings in the Downloads area showing how they are fitted.

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I am not as tall as you guys, but I wish my 252 had a setting that was further back not for when I am flying but when I am loading the front seat with back-seat passengers in.  In the unlocked position, the front seats always slide back onto the back seat-passengers.

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With an inspection mirror and a flashlight (and a somewhat younger body than mine), I think you can see whether extensions have been installed, without removing the seat. Look at the pics of the extensions that have been posted on MS before, to know what the pedals look like with and without them. 

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I would expect the seat to be built up and possibly rudder extensions.   The holes are 1.5 on center.   If someone were to put a couple more holes, they would probably build a jig that has proper spacing and ensure the drill bit went to the proper depth and remained perpendicular to the rail.   Al Mooney was 6' 1" or 6' 3 tall

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We are out in Alberta @carusoam. Good AMEs out here, but TC is pretty tough to deal with. I don't think I have excessively long legs, but it is again not an issue with the rudder pedals. It is the distance from the yoke and glare shield. The seats were built up I am sure, but they are super comfortable so I am unwilling to mess with them. When I pop the handle up, I slide a bit forward and then release it, so I expect the first hole I contact is the one furthest back from the yoke. I will verify but there do not appear to be any holes behind the one we lock into.

It is not enough of an issue to be of a huge concern, just a preference for my right knee. We do a lot of long leg flying. @milotron I cant imagine the seat guy put in enough padding to move us 2 notches back and the plane is a 1981 M20K just like yours, but perhaps.

Thanks,

Mike

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The panel is closer in a Mooney than in a Cessna, just like the seating position is different. If you're in the last hole back, your only choices will be to drill another hole, or get used to it. Or redo the seats with less foam in the back, but I'm not sure I'd do that myself.

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On 6/5/2018 at 6:22 PM, gsxrpilot said:

Something doesn't seem right here. I'm pretty sure @Yetti is on the stock seat rails and he's quite a bit taller than 6'. Mooneys are famous for accommodating tall pilots and 6' isn't exactly all that tall.

 

10 hours ago, mwilton1 said:

We are out in Alberta @carusoam. Good AMEs out here, but TC is pretty tough to deal with. I don't think I have excessively long legs, but it is again not an issue with the rudder pedals. It is the distance from the yoke and glare shield. The seats were built up I am sure, but they are super comfortable so I am unwilling to mess with them. When I pop the handle up, I slide a bit forward and then release it, so I expect the first hole I contact is the one furthest back from the yoke. I will verify but there do not appear to be any holes behind the one we lock into.

It is not enough of an issue to be of a huge concern, just a preference for my right knee. We do a lot of long leg flying. @milotron I cant imagine the seat guy put in enough padding to move us 2 notches back and the plane is a 1981 M20K just like yours, but perhaps.

Thanks,

Mike

Like Paul, I am still wondering how a guy your size using the last holes is too close to the yoke, and the rudder distance is fine. I have been in probably 30 Mooneys over the years and never saw this phenomenon. If the plane had rudder extenders, it would explain why you would be back further. It doesn't explain how the yoke is too close. The other thing I thought of is you have some sort of articulating seat and the back might be crank forward. That might explain it. You got to send us a picture of this seat, the rudder pedals and most importantly you in the pilot seat... 

I am not as tall as Yetti and I would think anyone who could fly from the back seat it would be him and he isn't doing that.

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M,

I’m thinking that the seats may have been upgraded with a couple of layers of fancy foams...

A couple of inches of foam added for comfort... next thing you know, you are running out of holes in the tracks...

Definitely would want to...

  • check all the seat adjustments...
  • have the rudder pedal extensions removed...
  • Call the prior owner and ask what the label says on the back of his Levi’s...
  • Compare to the label on your set of Levi’s...
  • 32” may use the middle set of holes...  28” may use the first set of holes... (numbers i’m Familiar with)
  • 36” may be typical of the last set of holes (estimating only)

Yeti and EB must have some pretty specialized pedal cranks on their X-country bicycles... :)

 

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic...

Best regards,

-a-

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On 6/4/2018 at 11:29 PM, LANCECASPER said:

You might check to see if you have rudder extensions on the airplane that you could remove. I think there were 1.5" and 3" extensions. Removing those may give you the extra leg room you need.

UPDATE: Ironic that we have been talking about rudder extensions. The original owner of my airplane, being smaller than me, had rudder extensions installed at the factory - they are on the invoice. Since I'm 6' I've have been thinking about removing them . . .  until yesterday. Let me explain . . . 

Completely my fault for not making sure my seat was completely secured, but after applying full power on take-off yesterday my seat slid all the way back. The only control I had was the rudders until i could reach up and pull the throttle - not fun. Two things saved me from something really bad happening: (1) the rudder extensions kept my feet in contact with the controls keeping me on the runway and (2) while I was all over the place, the 80' wide runway at my home field kept me from exiting at full throttle..

I am keeping the rudder extensions

(This experience also reminded me why we are supposed to keep our hand on the throttle during take-off. If the seat slides back, the throttle gets pull back also.)

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3 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Wow, Lance, that is scary. Glad it worked out OK.

Thanks. To make it even worse my elevator trim was set a little nose high also. After getting it under control I exited the runway and started my checklist all over again and gave myself a chance to collect my thoughts. Very easy to get complacent. I did not feel ready for that.

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