RV-10 Seats
This is an open letter from me, Mike Dennis, CEO, President, and founder of Oregon Aero, Inc. I'm concerned about what I'm hearing about delays in building RV-10s due to the lack of pilot seats. Oregon Aero, Inc. is a major seat supplier, and we annually ship approximately 16,000 seat cushions for all types of military and civilian aircraft including cushion kits for ejection seats, and crashworthy seat frames for some bespoke aircraft.
We’ve supplied pilot seats for the RV-10 since the aircraft was first designed to fit around a pair of them. The apparent seat supply dilemma has been characterized as a supply chain failure. As a matter of fact, we received our last order from Van’s on 1/26/2023, after which Van’s called us on 7/6/2023 to inform us that they were going to design and build their own seats. We’vereceived no RV-10 seat orders from Van’s since the last order for 30 ship sets on 1/26/2023. In fact, there were still supply chain issues at that time, and those 30 ship sets took longer to deliver than we would have liked.
I’m writing this letter due to my concern that the seats that have recently been supplied for the RV-10 may not achieve the crashworthy performance and comfort standards of the Oregon Aero supplied seat.
The seat that we’ve designed for the RV-10 is a version of our modular High-G crashworthy certified seat complete with all the same comfort and safety features as tested in a certified laboratory. 2,800 hours over the course of a decade in the crash lab resulted in what is still the only certified lightweight non-stroking crashworthy seat. Every piece of the overall structure is patented, including slides, locks, extrusions, and seat pan, and all are necessary to achieve both comfort and safety.
The human form is not flat, but a combination of inverse compound curves that must be maintained by the cushion and the upholstery to provide comfort and safety. The materials selected for the cushions and their inverse compound shape are necessary to keep you first comfortable, and in any sort of high-energy event, instantly transform their molecular structure into one that will enhance your survivability.
Sorry for the lecture, I can’t help myself.
We’ve no control over the cost of materials. For obvious reasons of efficiency, our normal process is to manufacture cushions and seat frames in bulk. However, for the RV-10 community, we’rewilling to take orders for a single ship set. To advantage the builder, we will include two seat frames, four seat rails, and two bottom and back seat cushions, upholstered in either standard aircraft quality woven Mordura nylon fabric or leather, assembled, and ready to install.
This package establishes a cost for the seats that's known, but also avoids the possibility of an unknown local upholsterer with no background in crashworthy seats who may butcher the cushion design in an effort to facilitate his or her work.
The retail price of this package with standard fabric upholstery is $18,913.00 for a complete ship set. There is nothing left to assemble or buy. Alternatively, the seat cushions can be supplied with certified, aircraft quality leather for an additional $1,000 or whatever the current market rate for leather happens to be.
As an incentive intended, obviously, to expand production to something beyond one ship set, we will offer the RV-10 community a 10% discount off these prices.
We will get you flying.
Mike Dennis
CEO, President, and Founder, Oregon Aero, Inc.