McFarlane Aviation Products will soon have stock of two versions of Cessna Cardinal seat rails:

Drilled: This version is currently in stock. Unlike the Cessna drilled version which has all of the full sized rivet holes pre-drilled, the McFarlane drilled version only has approximately eight 0.098 pilot rivet holes pre-drilled and any applicable screw or bolt holes pre-drilled. Depending on the part number, there are anywhere from zero to four of these bolt holes per rail, some of which are countersunk. We pre-drill these holes at the factory because they are difficult to accurately produce in the field due to the slope of the seat rail flange. This is especially true of the countersunk holes. In recognition of the manufacturing inconsistencies of the original aircraft, it is up to the installer to duplicate the majority of the remaining rivet holes.

Undrilled: This version will be available for all Cardinal seat rails. It does not have any holes pre-drilled to attach the seat rail to the aircraft. It is the responsibility of the installer to duplicate all attachment holes. This allows complete flexibility to accommodate all manufacturing variations in the original aircraft; however, as noted above, duplicating the large countersunk bolt holes in the sloped flange is difficult without the access to a rigid high quality milling machine and special tooling.

When ordering, please specify which type you would like.

Photo courtesy of Paul Millner

Installation of Blind Fasteners on Cessna 177 aircraft

Seat Rails for Cessna Aircraft

• Carefully engineered with many improvements
• Added strength and longer life
• Anodized for corrosion and wear resistance
• Easier installation
• Full interchangeability with the original Cessna parts

No Pre-Drilled Rivet Holes for Precise Installation
McFarlane seat rails do not have pre-drilled rivet holes in the rail base allowing the installer to exactly match the aircraft floor rivet pattern. McFarlane discovered while installing and developing our replacement seat rails that the seat rail attachment hole pattern was not consistent from aircraft to aircraft. Even small inconsistencies in the hole locations in the aircraft floor make installation of new seat rails very difficult. For this reason, McFarlane does not pre-drill rivet holes at the factory. (Existing stock may have a few pilot attachment holes drilled at the factory.) This allows the installer to precisely locate the attachment holes to match the holes in the aircraft floor. All special sized or machined attachment holes are machined to finish dimensions. It is necessary to replace all fasteners when the seat rails are installed.

More Material in the Right Places
After studying countless worn and failed seat rails McFarlane's rails were designed with 15% more metal in critical areas. The result is more crack resistance, durability, strength and longer life.

For easier installation of seat rails, we also offer Seat Rail Templates, Rivet Kits, Screw Kits and Spotface kits. For guidance on the replacement of fasteners, see FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-90-03R2.

FAA Airworthiness Directive 2011-10-09 requires regular inspection of Cessna seat rails and related parts. For convenient tools to facilitate inspections per this AD, please see the GAUGE SR1 seat rail wear gauge and TOOL110 seat roller housing gauge.

Articulating Seats - Grandpa's Rocker or The Ins and Outs of Articulating Seats by Dennis Wolter 
*Reprinted with the permission of the Cessna Pilots Association, April 2012 Issue.