Standard auto/marine vinyl would not pass burn tests. It would have to be sent off to some place like Skandia or Texas Flameproofing to be treated. That's why I buy from aviation supplier. You get the burn certificates with the vinyl. P.S. I never use straight vinyl on airplane seats. It gets way to hot to be comfortable. I use a combination of cloth inserts with vinyl on bolsters and sides or leather.

I just noticed that you live in Belize. In the USA we have the FAA to deal with as far as regulations. You would have to contact your government agency in charge of your federal flight rules and ask them to send you a copy of rules and regulations concerning upholstery for aircraft. It may be different than here in the states. We here must use and provide certification for all materials used in aircraft. It must pass FAA burn specifications. Also, you half to get familiar with how aircraft interiors are put together. DON'T vary from it. It can get you into a lot of trouble. Be aware that if the screw you install through the panel hits a fuel line or even a hidden electrical wire, very bad things can happen. And it's not a case of just pulling over and getting out when or if a fire occurs. The process of doing the re-upholstery is basically the same as autos. I would got to your local airport and start a friendly relationship with the mechanic there that works on planes. ask him for help in your removal and installation for the first few planes. That should get you started. Good luck and enjoy. It can be very rewarding.

I do a lot of aviation interiors. About 80% vs auto. What specifically did you want to know? Or did you just want to start on aviation. and need the basics? I don't do training as such but can offer some limited advice.
www.recovery-shop.com
for some pictures and such.

Jack

Back way off of tension on thread and bobbin. Make sure you're using the right needle size for the thread. Eliminate extra threading plates on your machine so it slides through easier. You still have to go slower, at least on my Juki you do.

I've done several things including banding material (I've got a plastic banding roll and tool for banding) and I band both ways three times. Then cover with canvas and glue to frames rails. The material you speak of is Cessna's own and is similar to Denier or the covering used on rag wing airplanes, only stronger. If it's still in OK shape, I've pulled it off completely and reglued with contact cement. Be sure to repaint the frames when it's off as you can get the whole frame. Regular canvas won't hold or last without some support. Please make sure you're using CERTIFIED aircraft material (must have burn certs with it) or a mechanic can ground the plane without them.

Just got one in, tried it out. BINGO, works great. See, you still can learn new stuff even after 40 years.Thanks guys. And as a plus, works good for taking those sharp edges off the foam too.

Makes sense, In my airplane seats, I always use 2" Q61 foam. A medium hard density so I can keep a low profile and still give good support. I do sew my pleats on 1/2" scrim but don't think I could add anymore foam to the seat before we run into clearance issues and the headliner of most planes. I suppose I could use layers of 1" Q61 instead and that would work like what you do, thanks.

Nice idea for cutting the two grooves in one stroke. I was thinking of how to cut out the bottom piece so you can lay the velcro down into the foam. What you have there is great to adjust your depth of channel that you want. Thanks for that. For those interested, Keyston Bros does sell Millock listing that is loop side of Velco and cloth instead of the harder 1" Velcro that most of us use. It sews on and around bulky seams and corners of seat covers, like the factory uses.

That fancy razor foam cutting tool you made. Thanks

Interesting. Anyway to post a picture for us?

That happened to me, both on the training side, ( trainee up and left after 2 years to open up in his garage) and as an employee. When I started about 40 some years ago,a competing shop down the road used to call my boss and ask to speak with me. He would then offer me at least $1.00 more an hour to come work for him. Remember that in the late 70's-early 80's, we only made $10 hour if you were good. My boss would get so mad at him for trying to steel me away, he would give me a raise right then and there and beat his offer. After about six months of this back and forth action, in the end the other shop won and I started there at over $15.00 hr. When I moved up to the rural town I live in now, I decided not to have employees and have run the shop on my own since the mid 80's. I'm now training my son to take over, (he's finally shown sincere interest in the business) and he will vastly out-do me with his younger generation thinking and restying ideas. As I'm now 65, I kind of look forward to retiring in a few years.

You're right Naseem, that's where the money is. Although most of my business is aircraft, I still love those one day "fill in" jobs. Make better money, and easier to do.

It's not a Juki. It's a Kingmax GC1560. A Juki look alike that uses all Juki parts. I believe it's a Chinese knockoff. Much cheaper though. So far no problems with it.

Hi Sander, I've had my shop for around 40 years and like you always did my French seams on a single needle machine. About two years ago I came across a "generic" Juki double needle machine on Ebay for around $1500 and thought " why not"? So I bit the bullet and because I do a lot of aircraft upholstery and most all use leather, I really use this machine a lot. I'll never look back. It makes my job quicker and more precise. If there is a draw back (other than the original price) it would be that you generally have to buy two spools of each color of thread that you use. Also, if you need color coded bobbins, you have to load two of those as well. A little more time but still worth it IMHO.

Keith, when sewing headrests to foam, ALWAYS leave the front and back loose. The headrests have such a sharp radius that the foam can bunch up around the top. If you leave at least one end free, you can reach up and pull the foam down to get that wrinkle smoothed out.

I have an "old" Steamaster HPJ 2 gal one that I bought about 30 years ago. I don't think I even plugged it in for over 20 years. Ha,ha. I see that they are still making the same one but the price sure went up (about $1900 now) Once in a great while I will use some old plastic hand held steamer that I bought at a garage sale for $5.00. Just because it heats up quickly and only need it for small jobs. I find that as I get older, I've gotten slower. But the good thing is, I'm a little more accurate in my patterning and therefore don't need to steam the final project very often. A little heat gun application is usually all it takes. I still love them for convertible top plastic windows though. I used them a lot for those. Just lay a topper pad on the window and steam between the topper and plastic. Works great to take out stubborn wrinkles.

Nice work. You sir, have lots of patients.

My business is mostly aircraft and street rods and several years ago I built my own web site to mostly have a gallery of pictures I could refer my potential customers to. It worked quite well, especially for the airplane work. I have since then had a professional web designer re-do the site and it has paid for itself in short time. I can add of delete photos on the gallery anytime. I have a small 1 man shop myself, but being specialized, it still pays to have a web site. All my work is word of mouth and I have the smallest one line add in the local phone book so I save a great deal there. I don't need or want dealer work and the locals all know me around my community so I stay busy enough there as well.
This web site was basically taken from a generalized template so I'm sure if you decide to go that route you can have it built fairly cheap. Worth every penny, if you ask me.
www.recovery-shop.com

You all do some real fine work. Here's a little sample of my latest:
First is an old school vintage racer. Had to build everything from scratch. Customer had the seat frames done by a master craftsman who did these by hand. All material is ostrich leather.





Next is a 40 Ford PU that I freshened up with all leather and wool carpet. A little added touch in the headliner. On a side note, the customer has owned and driven this PU for over 27 years and it was only reupholstered to make it a bit more comfy, and it used to be black.







I know this is mainly an automotive forum but if you care to see some aircraft work I've done just comment below and I'd be happy to share.

I have an aircraft uph shop here in No.CA. I'd be glad to help if you still need advice. Shoot me a phone call. Jack@ 209-770-3852. I hate trying to explain things via email and messages. There are a lot of consideration you must be familiar with so please don't attempt without good knowledge before you start.