Replacing the stock Murphy Seat cushion with 'Confor Foam'

As I was building Rebel #687 I debated whether I should purchase Murphy Aircraft's leather seat upholstery, or purchase 'Temper Foam' cloth upholstered seats from Oregon Aero. My decision to purchase the Murphy seats (approximately $600.00 USD/pair at the time) was pretty much made for me when Oregon Aero quoted $700.00 USD per seat.

I purchased the Murphy leather seat upholstery, but upon receipt found them to be of poor quality, poor fit, and poor design. The foam cushions were very soft & compressible, the stitching of the leather was sloppy, and the adhesive backed velcro attach tabs failed quickly. I wished I had purchased seats from Oregon Aero.

Upon complaining to Murphy Aircraft I was told I could return them at my cost for exchange. After a full 2 seconds of thought, I elected not to dump any more money into them and decided I would make them fit. Apparently the design was changed to fit the new seat frames of the Super Rebel or Moose, and were no longer specifically made to fit the Rebel seatframe. Or some excuse like that. Anyway I cut here, and cut there, and was able to fit them so that they stayed put.

I was satisfied for the moment, but I knew from my hangar flying that the seats were much too soft, and that I would need some additional padding to sit on for the first flight. I subsequently sacrificed an old stadium seatpad for an additional two inches of foam to bolster my derriere on the first few flights.

Since then I have found a local source for 'Confor Foam' memory foam. I believe this is the same, or very similiar to the 'Temper Foam' brand memory foam. I decided it was time to replace the original seat cushion.

I removed the seats from the aircraft and removed the seat cushions from the seat frame. The stock foam was easily removed from the leather cover. It was only glued to the leather along the rear edge.

The salesperson at B&H Upholstery Supply Inc. (775 Wilson Street Eugene, Oregon USA, Ph: 541.485.1442) suggested I use a two inch pad of standard high density upholstery foam as the base pad. On top of that I glued a one inch thick pad of medium density (blue) 'Confor Foam, topped by a one inch thick pad of low density (yellow) 'Confor Foam'. He let me know that they had supplied 'Confor Foam' to other experimental aircraft builder's and it was not an issue for them.

The photos describe the process I used in building a 'Confor Foam' seat bottom cushion to replace the stock cushion. Click on the thumbnail photos for a larger photo. Most of the large photos will have a narrative attached.

As of this writing I have a single flight of 1.9 hours duration on the new seat cushion. It is very comfortable and gave me enough added loft that I did not need to use any additional booster seat pads. I am very pleased with the outcome. For an additional $60 USD (1 seat) in 'Confor Foam' and other materials, I now have very comfortable memory foam seat upholstery.

Roger Hoffman
Eugene, OR USA
Email: rognal@dcsol.com