Photos and Commentary

Seat cushion manufacturing to begin

Aug. 28 � Airovation Interior Restyling located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, will contact Rare Aircraft this week to get details needed to make the seat cushions for our Waco UPF-7 biplane. Airovation has a strong interest in helping restore antique airplanes and also serves the higher end piston market such as Piper Malibu/Mirage/Meridian and Lancair aircraft. But Airovation focuses primarily on the business jet market and can place an entire interior for jets as large as Gulfstreams in a trailer and travel to the jet's location for on-site installation. Airovation offers a unique solution to Malibu/Mirage/Meridian owners who find they are too tall for the factory-installed seats. The company custom-designs seats that allow pilots as tall as 6 feet 5 inches to sit comfortably in the airplane. For the AOPA Waco, Airovation will design the cushions to be historically accurate. The company is located at Flying Cloud Airport in the southwest Minneapolis area. For information, call Airovation at 952/944-9690 or visit the Web site.

Airovation owner Todd Owens shows two seats designed for a cabin Waco. When the work is completed, the company will begin work on AOPA's Waco UPF-7. They are part of an interior package that will give the aircraft the comfort of a luxury jet.

Airovation's work on an open-cockpit Taperwing Waco. Photo courtesy of Tim Oberg.