REAL bomber or other aircraft seats and belts

Anybody got a line on some REAL bomber or other aircraft seats and belts, besides Ebay and new overpriced semi-replicas? Django and Appleseed, I'm looking your direction...

 

I looked for a while, and came up empty handed. There are a few airplane "junkyards" and salvage places that have some once in a while. The real ones I did randomly come across were REALLY expensive. Do a google search and you will find some help--good luck.

 

Say, where were these "junkyards"? The only boneyards I've found online have been strictly off limits to civilians. I'd love any leads you can give to getting my mits on random bits of aviation history. Thanks.

 

I found a place that has TONS of NOS war era seatbelts. I just received my first pair from them. I'll dig up the contact info when I get home.

 

The real ones like in the Pierson Bros coupe are BIG money unless you have an incredible bit of luck. I have never been able to afford one, so we are going to start making them at the shop, early war with rivets. I think we're going to start the first pair next week.

Some of the repops are cool but they don't look authentic enough for me. Now that dude that makes the bench seat version... he is a bad ass.

I got a seat for a couple hundred bucks last year. It's cool, but not the P-40/B-17 style. There was someone on here selling a B-29 seat. Don't know if they sold it or not.

You would "think" that a P-51 seat would be THE one to have, but they also came in T-6s, and IMO, aren't that attactive.

We had a customer come in all exited that he had a bomber seat from his Dad's plane from the war. I was stoked! He pulls it out of the truck, and it may have been military, but it was not WWII.

Where to find them... do a search on warbird salvage. The odds of them having any aren't very good though. Seems like the ones I find, I just luck into them. Ask 3wLarry where he found his collection.

Plowboy found some at a swap meet this weekend, but I haven't seen them yet to know what they are out of or what era they actually are.

 

B-29 Bomber seat w/ original seatbelt.......Only have one though..

FOR SALE contact: [email protected]

 

I would have to agree with Django, the real deal are really, really expensive. I'd try to find some good pics or take some of my own snaps of a seat and fab up one of my own. Example, At Oshkosh this year, the Fly-market had an old seat for sale. My guess is that its out of a cargo plane from the 50s or 60s, as most everything else had ejection seats. My guess is its out of a C-123, you know, that trash hauler that they use in every Veitnam movie. Here's the killer, the dude wanted $500.00!!! I think you could make or have someone make you a seat for far less. The seat is in the top right. Its a swiveling navagator's chair. And it was in scabby condition.

 

As a side note, and non traditional, but de-armed ejection seats in a rod would flat rule.

 

The truth is, real Bomber seats are way too big for most hot rods. what looks best IMHO, is WWII Fighter or Trainer seats(shown here). These are the type that everyone is trying to reproduce because of their good looks and small size. The Navy used the stainless steel ones because of saltwater corrosion, and the aluminum ones(fuzzy green seat pic) were used on everything else. I have both kinds cause I like to collect WWII Aircraft stuff, but I'm using the stainless ones in my coupe cause after you polish them once, you can forget them. The downside to these seats is that most Fighters only had one seat, and given how many different manufacturers the Gov't contracted to build seats during the war, trying to find a matched pair is difficult and $$$. I was lucky and found 3 matched pairs and a few orphans (including the B-29 seat Django spoke of), but they lightened my wallet some and took a couple of years between auctions to find. All of my seats came from ebay. So did all the matching seatbelts(another pricey item). I'm not trying to discourage you from having the real deal for your car, I just want you to know what you're up against. Prices for aluminum seats have kinda stabalized for now at around $350-$500 each.(I check 'em regularly). The stainless ones are bringing stupid $$$...I saw a matched pair go for $2184.00, but they normally bring between $500-$1000 each depending on condition. I sent the stainless one pictured to Django to use as a template for their new seats, so you know they will be correct. Hope this helped you.

 

I have these seats - this is before I trimmed the legs - there was oil weld sealed in the legs to prevent corrosion - the legs are steel.

 

hey bubba, put me down for the contact info on those belts too, please.

 

me too please..

 

I'd like the info on the seatbelts as well. I need some.

I 'may know' who has some.....but I'll let them tell ya for sure.

 

I made this one from mild steel sheet with a 1/4" dia. rod brazed around the perimeter to stiffen it. Easy to do and it will look a lot better after sandblast and new paint.

It has been getting knocked around my shop for 20 years.

 

The British Spitfire (what a beautiful looking aircraft...) had a seat made from Bakelite!
If an original were available, copies would only be a mold away.

Wonder what the composition of Bakelite is exactly? Is it a laminate of some sort?

Planes weren't the only interesting thing with potentially interesting seats....how about TANK seats? Half-tracks or APC's?
Or seats from various rapid-fire AA guns...Bofors etc? Did U-Boats...British or American Fleet class subs have seats? PT boats???

The reproduction possibilities are endless if you SIT down and think about it...

 

Here's the email I got back from the surplus guy. You have to call and order them. He deals in purely military aircraft surplus and asked me what plane I was restoring. The guy is VERY long winded and confusing to deal with but the belts I got are CHERRY!


WWII Military Aircraft 2" Quick Release Seat Belts
Various types and condition, from $25.00 - $79.00
Thank you for your inquiry,
We have too many items to take the time
to research what we have available.

In the 2" variety, we have the cam-lock type
(with the flip up), and the approved type.

We have them new and used, and in various colors.
In the 2" surplus military heavy duty belts we have them
new and used. We can't quote prices unless we know what you
want.


Sincerely,
Allan Bass
Please check out our website for more items at
http://www.flyboyplus.com
Or call us at 732-349-7730
Or leave your phone number and we'll call you.

Allan Bass / Aviation Etc. / Flyboy Plus


Here are the ones I got from him. They are NOS and were $110 each, I think, because they are 3" wide.. I believe he told me that used ones would be around $50. Don't quote me on those prices.









The red tipped air fitting is a special automatic pneumatic buckle release.

 

Supposedly the guy has pallettes full of them. He also has a blueish grey color.

 

with only two examples i know of that are flying, and the limited number on static display that are probly without interiors. . . gonna be a BITCH to get one to copy,

i DO know a friend of a friend who owns one of the two that are airworthy, and the guy is pretty aproachable from what i have been told. if there would be SERIOUS interest in pulling a mold from one, and someone that would honestly make the things i could talk to the guy

 

- Were ya having Chilli? I fell under the lucky as hell category to get some. I think I got his second to last set - he still has two that you don't want to know what he is asking for them. I think they were out of some old Alabama crop duster.

 

A little off topic...
These ejection seats are way too big for a car, but I thought they were pretty cool seating for a waiting area. This is in the lobby at Oakley headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA.


Sorry about the huge photo.

 

Now THAT would be cool. Maybe with a little trimming here I could squeeze those into my sedan ... but I probably couldn't chop the top then.

 

Thats real cool...I am going to check those out!

 

I work part time at an aircraft museum and may soon be starting with a restoration company. To be honest guys, these seats really deserve to go into the aircraft they saw service in. BUT, I would love to see some good copy's of real seats out there. If I get into the restoration we have the facility's to make almost any aircraft component (With the exception of major castings) I may try my hand at popping a few out.
I am also questioning the Bakelite Spit seats, I have worked on a MkV and a MkVIII and both were aluminium........
Doc.

 

Wasn't Bakelite used for the skin for De Havilland Mosquitos? I'm sure the Brits here will chim in more on this one.

 

there are some killer repos out there i know of that are idenical to the trainers for $500 a pair they look like fairfields.might not have the soul but a hell of alot cheaper and nobody will know the diff.

 

If somebody repros them they should be able to do it for not much more than $200 each. They don't need to be highly polished aluminum, I don't think they were originally! I've seen the ones that are $500 ea, and they probably have that much in them, But I don't need $1000 woth of seats that don't even have upholstry! No one part on my car will cost that much, even the engine(maybe).

 

Youll have to keep looking there repo for 500pr. +40 shipping

 

mosquitos were mainly made of wood ,,, a sort of balsa wood sandwich with thin ply on either side very strong and light

 

Who makes those?