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[BigRig]

I am just wondering if anybody works as an Upholstery technician for an aviation company. I talked to a guy once who runs a shop for twin otters and he was saying the work is in small cramped spaces a lot and lots of variety.

[John]

I'd be interested to meet some aviation trimmers. That's and area of upholstery I don't know much about. I'm curious if there are any special rules or regulations you have to follow. Like from the FAA or some other organization.

[BigRig]

I do know you are going to work hard! The guy I talked to said he is 10 days behind all the time and cant keep up. His guys are working overtime all the time and pretty much made it sound like it was a high pressure job to get a plane done to get back in into service under a timeline.

[TxStang]

I worked as a quality control inspector for a company that made the interior seats for Boeing and Airbus commercial planes . The worst thing about aviation is the FAA guidelines concerning meeting the specs of blueprints of each piece , being able to back trace every component of the seat to it's raw form through the supplier chain and have every record of flame testing of each and every individual component in that seat or item . My job was to visually inspect each seat per blueprint and research all the paperwork to make sure it was up top FAA guidelines for each plane the interior was going into . I was there for 7 years before the stress caused me a major heart attack . 60 to 70 hours of frustrating work to ensure everything was up to par .

[BigRig]

Thank you so very much for this information. The Upholstery guy I talked to who was there for years was so stressed it was very clear he was under pressure. He said he is always 10 planes behind and he had some serious expectations hiring upholstery technicians.

[John]

Hey @TxStang! Welcome to the forum and thanks for the great insight in to the world of Boeing and Airbus. Sorry to hear it drove you to a heart attack. Hopefully you have a more peaceful life now

Can I ask, were all of these inspections for brand new planes or where they being refurbished?
Are you allowed the share the name of the company you worked for?
Do you know if the rules are just as strict for trimmers upholstering private planes and jets?
Does the FAA have any of this information publicly available?

Sorry for all the questions. This is an area I'm not familiar with and would love to learn more.

[TxStang]

most of the interiors we did were for new aircraft but we did do a few dozen or more a year in retrofits to planes already in service , those were no difference in FAA rules and regulations that had to be followed . I'm not 100% sure but since all other FAA rules apply to private aircraft as far as safety and repairs i would think the same would go for interiors as well with use of approved materials and have burn certification paperwork on the materials on file . I haven't done anything with small aircraft so i can't be sure and no longer have access to all the information. It's been 5 years since i retired and now living stress free .

[John]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience working in that area of the industry. Glad to hear your living a stress free life now!

[airplane guy]

I know this is an old thread, but I am new to the forum. I run an interior shop for an aircraft charter company. We have about 40 airplanes and found that it would be cheaper to start a new department versus sending all of the airplanes out. I have worked in aircraft maintenance for 24 years. I have been doing upholstery for about 14 years and doing airplane interiors for about 10 years. There are several regulations that you have to follow, but I honesty don't think there is much added work. If you have any questions, ask away. I may not have all of the answers, but I am pretty sure I can find the answers. Aviation upholsters are slowly going away and that is an industry where you could make good money doing nothing different that doing cars or boats.

[BigRig]

@airplaneguy,

Thank you for the information. I will be paying close attention to any updates.

[John]

Hi @airplane guy Welcome to the forum!! Happy to have you here!

Most of us here are in automotive or marine upholstery. Is there any resources or information on aviation upholstery that you can recommend? I personally have looked at a lot of airplane interiors and dont believe its much different that car upholstery. I just know there are a lot of rules and regulations and have no idea to what those are.

[airplane guy]

I know there are some trade magazines for aircraft interiors, but I can't think of the name. I have one on my desk at work and I will post the name tomorrow. Aircraft upholstery is basically the same as cars and boats. The only real difference is the material has to be fireblocked. You can do this yourself, or buy the material already done. I buy it already done. The paperwork stating it passed the burn test is the important part to have. You can google aviation interior products and find suppliers. I will come up with a list of suppliers that I use or have used and post it. I am glad to see there is interest in this market. I think it is a niche market where you can make good money doing basically the same thing you have been doing. I'll try to post more often and please ask questions. I am willing to help any of guys in any way I can.

[6inarow]

I am primarily into automotive upholstery (street rods and customs). I hope I can earn it well enough to do it successfully. Well a guy asked me if I would tackle a couple seats from his 1947 Luscombe as a trial project. I said yes if I can find the FAA regs etc. So I am following this tread too!!

[John]

Thanks @airplane guy That information would be really useful! Thanks

[Riwaka1]

I worked in the aircraft Overhaul industry for 21years as an aircraft maintenance technician then supervisor then instructor. For commercial aircraft everything is done to a maintenance manual. This will give you step by step instructions and materials. You will then sign this off on the jobcard for traceability.
Here's some manuals that we use.... Seat Overhaul would come under CMM for example Recaro aircraft seats would have their own CMM.

AMM Aircraft Maintenance Manual
CMM Component Maintenance Maintenance
OHMM Overhaul Maintenance Manual

[John]

@Riwaka1 Thanks for the great info!