removing Mooney bravo rear seats

[amekler]

I removed my rear seat bottom cushions. Then removed the seat back cushions. folding the seat back forward they do not lie flush  but stick up an inch or so. Are they supposed to fit completely  into the seat bottom cutout?

Alan

[PT20J]

There should be a lynchpin holding the seatback frame to the reclining mechanism. If you remove that you can remove the frame. The bottom of the frame has two locations where the reclining mechanism can slip into the tubes. Reinsert the the frame on the reclining mechanism using the rearmost position. The POH should explain this, but it is pretty cryptic until you do it a few times.

[Marc_B]

@amekler Not sure if your hinges are similar to mine?  There are essentially 3 female "tubes" that the hinge can fit into.  When the seat back is upright, you use the longest one which pushes the seat back a little farther aft to give more room; but when I take out the seat backs I use the one closest to the top of the seat back so that it sits flush.

[amekler]

Yes that was the trick moving the frame and pulling the lever!thank you!

[IvanP]

4 hours ago, amekler said:

I removed my rear seat bottom cushions. Then removed the seat back cushions. folding the seat back forward they do not lie flush  but stick up an inch or so. Are they supposed to fit completely  into the seat bottom cutout?

Alan

Yes. My seetbacks fold flush with the cargo floor after removing the headrests and releasing the latch.

[Marc_B]

Interesting enough, in the 252 the hinge is fixed position, screwed in place and doesn’t have the option to move forward or aft. This pic is from an 86 M20K 252…

the issue I have is that I don’t really like the gap the folded down seat back leaves. So I had two foam “plugs” made with a carpet cap made by Hector at Aero Comfort. He even sewed a leather pull tab in the center when he did my interior. 

[PT20J]

44 minutes ago, Marc_B said:

Interesting enough, in the 252 the hinge is fixed position, screwed in place and doesn’t have the option to move forward or aft. This pic is from an 86 M20K 252…

the issue I have is that I don’t really like the gap the folded down seat back leaves. So I had two foam “plugs” made with a carpet cap made by Hector at Aero Comfort. He even sewed a leather pull tab in the center when he did my interior. 

I think the gaps are suppose to be for stowing the belts, but I agree they can be a nuisance. 

There was a discussion here a few years ago and I believe we determined that some Ks have the two position seat backs and some don't. I don't even know if all the Js have both positions. Probably everything later than the K does.

[Marc_B]

9 minutes ago, PT20J said:

Probably everything later than the K does.

Mine is a 97 Encore/M20K.  So my guess is sometime in the 1990’s Mooney changed it but no clue what year specifically. 

[Patrick Horan]

On 9/25/2024 at 1:46 PM, amekler said:

Yes that was the trick moving the frame and pulling the lever!thank you!

Wow, I learned something new today about my Bravo!!! I just thought I fold the seats forward and I was left with that. This is so cool!! It feels like these long bodies have a bigger 'truck' bed than most modern trucks

[Fritz1]

taking the rear seats out of the Bravo makes loading luggage much easier, also gives you another 30 lb of UL, think I have used the rear seats 3 or 4 times in 7 years, heavy stuff always goes in the back, you will never reach aft cg limits in a Bravo, no matter how you load it, max load in the luggage compartment is 120lb, rest goes into the back seat cavities,