260 Seat Upgrade & Shoulder Harnesses

1

195flyer

New member
Hi All,

I'm the owner of a new to me Bellanca 260 (N8805R). Flew her up from KSEE to KHWD on Saturday. I got this Cruisemaster because I wanted something different that has great performance. I am not disappointed here!! I'm sold on the flight characteristics. Besides doing a little mending of the fabric and touch up of the paint and of course a new interior I only have 2 issues with the 260.

1) My 5ft 10 inch stature does not allow me to see over the glare shield. Got a great Ab workout on the 3 hour flight while holding myself upright with the windshield cross-bar. Does anyone know a solution to this? I seem to recall that the Viking had articulating seats that might solve this problem and also add some comfort. If this is the case and they fit and if anyone has a pair I would be interested in buying them.

2) Every aircraft I buy I always add shoulder harnesses as quickly as I can. It amazes me that this 260 has gone 60 years without having these added. Has anyone added shoulder harnesses? If so any pictures and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I would even like to add rear shoulder harnesses if I can. Thoughts?

Thanks
James Evans
 
Dan Torrey has told me that you can install the early Viking seats on the 260, but that you do have to make a small modification to the seat rails to get them to fit. I bought a set of Viking seats from Victor Catalanotto (http://bellanca.us) a couple years ago, but the fabric needs replacement and I haven't had time to figure out the seat rail work, plus I want to redo the interior at some point and should just do everything at once. I'm also 5'10", but I don't have trouble seeing over the glare shield. I have shorter legs, though, so I have the seat fairly far forward and that may help. I wanted the Viking seats because those fiberglass rat rod seats are just uncomfortable after a couple hours :).

There's a fuselage frame tube running behind the front seats that works great as a mount point for shoulder harnesses. If there's a bit of give in your headliner, you can find the tube pretty easily. I bought belts from BAS (https://basinc-aeromod.com) and then had a machinist friend build some mounting brackets out of aluminum billet. They're just a block bored out to the tube size, then cut in half, with bolt holes drilled through. Probably a number of other ways to approach the problem, but that's what I went with. I really wanted inertia reel belts because otherwise, my belt is too lose on takeoff and landing so that I can reach the gear and flap handles, and that does me no good. If you call BAS, feel free to use my name and tail number (N8861R) for measurements. Or ping me and I'll see if I can find them in the pile of paperwork. BAS sells some plastic cover plates that I think are part of their Stinson kit, which worked well for me. One strong recommendation is to get the Utility or Rotary buckle, NOT the Standard buckle, if you go with BAS. With the Standard Buckle, the lap belt and shoulder belt are permanently attached, which makes for an interesting ingress and egress for the back seat.

I think some folks have figured out a shoulder harness answer for the back seat, but without welding on tabs, I don't think there's an obviously easy answer and I didn't think the (much smaller than the front seat) safety gains were worth tearing up the interior and possibly exterior of the plane.

Good Luck!

Brian Barrett

 
Thanks for the kind reply. I had the BAS harnesses on my C-195 and also my S35 Bonanza. They are great but expensive although a lot less than cosmetic surgery or worse. Your installation looks very clean. Ill call BAS tomorrow and get these ordered. I'm on the lookout for some early Viking seats in case you hear of any.
 
Hi James,

Congratulations on acquiring that beautiful red Cruisemaster. Bill Monroe certainly took good care of the airplane while he had it and if I'm not mistaken it had some nice upgrades! I shared some parts with him over the years. Presently I own "a few" 260s and have great respect for these machines. The IO-470 is a real bulletproof engine. So do you have previous experience with Bellanca ownership? Do you plan to handle much of the maintenance yourself? You will find the other owners very supportive and there is a wealth of information among our group. As for the forward visibility, just as Brian mentions I have never had a problem with this and I'm about the same height. The seat rails are designed such that as you move the seat forward it elevates you at the same time. Getting the sight picture during landing committed to memory does take a little time, but after you become more familiar with the plane you may find the seats quite comfortable. So are you based in the Bay Area? I'm down south a little way at KSBP and would certainly enjoy meeting up.

Please consider this forum a source for help and information! ...Rob Swanland
 
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