N724DT's seats were created from a mold lifted from the seat of a cousin's sea kayak during our 2014 Spring Break. Why? Because Rachel's back didn't hurt after paddling the kayak 3 hours in the Florida Keys, during our Spring Break the previous year! That Sparkle (God-generated set of circumstances & resulting insight) was critical for our around-the-world plans!
After lining the Kayak's front seat with silver duct tape, I laid up 2 layers of BID fiberglass and let the layup cure for 12 hours. Any longer, and it would have been almost impossible to pull the mold from the Kayak!
At home the mold was inverted and a layer, the thickness of the foam seats, was laminated to the underside of the mold.
Then a thin foam sheet was bent with a heat gun to the shape of the laminated layer. Three plies of BID Fiberglass were then laid up, cured and flipped over to repeat on the other side. A second thin foam sheet was glassed with a cutout for the gas selector valve for the pilot's seat. The great news: Both seats fit perfectly in N724DT!
Yesterday, June 26, I UPS'd the final cardboard templates along with foam cores to Oregon Aero, the company with which we chose to fabricate and upholster our cushions 2015 at Oshkosh, WI. They will upholster the foam cores with tan leather and golden tweed cloth. The finished cushions are to be shipped to us in August.
Total time from idea (ocean Kayaking) to reality (completed seats): ~4 years! Actual building time, which includes two (2) road trips to the Florida Keys: ~124 hours!
