The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

Hello,

I will do a new upholstery for my C140.
I got the headliner material from Airtex interiors. It is a certified material.

I want to make the seat with natural leather, here is relatively cheap and has superb quality.
The question is to make sure that natural leather is legally and technically correct.
Is any paperwork needed for this work ?

Thanks very much,
Kind regards,
Horacio

I'm currently having my seats recovered with leather. This leather was a gift from someone who worked at a major airline here in Canada who used it on their passenger seats. I did find a sticker on it with the companies name so I do know it was used on aircraft, but no what you might call approval number. I'm not worried about using it as you can order leather seat covers from Airtex and I doubt their cows are any more flame retardant that yours

My current airplane has leather interior with all the proper paperwork done by the upholstery shop at my home airport A previous airplane , I purchased leather from an advertisement in trade a plane and had a piece of each leather sent out and burn tested as required. I don’t remember how much the cost was or where it was sent but I would recommend doing what is required so your not throwing your money or leather away

Thanks very much for both answers,

Kind regards,
Horacio

Just FYI, when these planes were certified (CAR-4a) there were no regulations on interior materials, so, strict adherence to the regulations doesn't mean anything in this context. This is not to say that you shouldn't concern yourself with using fire retardant materials, just that there is no standard to which you must comply.

Thanks John I wasn’t aware of that , really appreciate all of your excellent and helpful advice.

An interesting anecdote:

The Ercoupe 415C is certified under CAR 4a. The 415D is certified under CAR 3. CAR 3 does incorporate a flammability standard. Both TCDS's incorporate procedure to convert from the model C to the model D. (There is an increase in gross weight.) Part of the conversion process is to install a "No Smoking" placard. Why? No ash tray...

From CAR 3:
3.388 Fire precautions—(a) Cabin interiors. Only materials which are flash resistant shall be used. In compartments where smoking is to be permitted, the materials of the cabin lining, floors, upholstery, and furnishings shall be flame-resistant. Such compartments shall be equipped with an adequate number of self contained ash trays. All other compartments shall be placarded against smoking.

(Definitions: (d) Flash-resistant. "Flash-resistant" material means material which will not burn violently when ignited.)

There is no equivalent text in CAR 4a. Evidently, the materials used in the interior of the 415C must have been at least "flash resistant".

What about Inspecta-Shield? I've used it on fabric but, never leather.
Just a thought.
JMHO, Steve