Airbus seats arrive----Almost !

[brianwilliamson]

<O:pWell the seats for the Airbus finally arrived from the overseas. Unfortunately they are not as advertised.
I specifically asked the question :
Can you tell me if they are Captain and co-pilot seats or are they both the same side.
The reply was, and I quote :
"hi brian,
it's a left and a right, both beautiful seats. one set of covers is slightly used, the other virtually new. air to nearest large airport is about $500 +/-, but if you name the airport i'll get a firm quote for you.
this is our last airbus set like that, and no more in sight. we sold the 3 A-310 sets in 2 days.
questions?
nick
Here are the plates to prove that they are both Captains.

3647</O:p<O:p</O:p
3648
The result of this is that of course the Co-pilots seat will not fit properly in the cockpit as it is supposed to, because of the rails that move the seat over to the right as you move the seat back for exit.
3649 <O:p</O:p
Not all that impressed with the packing but as far as I can tell no major damage.

<O:p3650 </O:p
He also charged an extra fee of $25 to cover his bank charges after being paid $2500 via bank transfer, or he would not deliver the goods. Would have normally thought that would be added into the original cost if that was needed ! Unfortunately with a bank transfer unlike Paypal, there is no comeback.
Well hope his will encourage others that contemplate buying seats or parts that they are aware of what can happen.
Not sure if I will wire up the seats to use 400 Hz /100 volts for the electrics. I guess the major job now is to see what I can do for a right hand seat.
Will post some pics when we get to installation.
Regards.......................Brian W.

[Westozy]

That must be extremely disappointing Brian but with your skills I'm sure you will work it out!

Perhaps you should name and shame this vendor who has obviously done a sneaky deal???

Regards, Gwyn

[Geremy Britton]

I think we can guess who Nick is can't we Gwyn?

[Matt Olieman]

If it is the Nick that I'm thinking of in the U.S., he's a heck of a nice guy and will go out of his way to accommodate.

All funds go to the museum, he totally volunteers his time and does not receive one cent. If there was an error made, I guarantee you it was not intentional.

He's a straight forward kind of person, no B.S., so just talk to him and explain. He's an extremely honorable and intelligent man. Lot's of you have dealt with him, I'm sure of that.

That's if we're talking about the same Nick.

[Geremy Britton]

I would certainly agree with Matt. Try and resolve it first. Mistakes do happen.

Cheers.

[W9XE/Project777]

<O:pWell the seats for the Airbus finally arrived from the overseas. Unfortunately they are not as advertised.
I specifically asked the question :
Can you tell me if they are Captain and co-pilot seats or are they both the same side.
The reply was, and I quote :
"hi brian,
it's a left and a right, both beautiful seats. one set of covers is slightly used, the other virtually new. air to nearest large airport is about $500 +/-, but if you name the airport i'll get a firm quote for you.
this is our last airbus set like that, and no more in sight. we sold the 3 A-310 sets in 2 days.
questions?
nick
Here are the plates to prove that they are both Captains.
Regards.......................Brian W.

Brian, as I read this I see a discrepancy in the order "Can you tell me if they are Captain and co-pilot seats or are they both the same side." His reply "it's a left and a right, ..." but later he said "Here are the plates to prove that they are both Captains."

If this was a reply prior to the order I would have questioned the discrepancy. Looks like he said he was shipping 2 Captain seats.

Looks like his communication was not clear...

[Shawn]

W9XE/Project777, when I read that I thought the same thing but it was Brian that wrote this "Here are the plates to prove that they are both Captains." Nicks reply ends with his name. Brian just didn't change the font and it looks like it was part of the original message.

[W9XE/Project777]

Shawn

Thanks for pointing that out. Now I can see the difference.

Brian is one heck of a builder so I am sure he will find a way to reverse left and right. I wouldn't think there would be much difference but I can't tell from the pictures if the baseplate can be reversed. Will look forward in seeing how Brian gets this problem resolved. He will do it!!!

[Matt Olieman]

It's really unfortunate the communications got messy :(

Changing a Cpt to a F/O seat is almost impossible unless you can get new armrests. There is a left and right armrest and I'm almost sure they are different from Cpt and F/O (Opposite configuration). On the Cpt side the left armrest is configured to lay the arm down to use the side stick (it's wider then the right side). Vise versa on the F/O side.

Perhaps Roberto (dodiano) can confirm this.

[brianwilliamson]

Sorry for the ambiguous posting ! I did not look closely enough at what I had written.
I have studied the seats very carefully and at this stage there seems no way to rectify the problem.
The seats are mirror images of each other, The control levers for seat adjustment are on the inside of the isle if you have both seats correctly.
The seats are controlled by either the manual levers or by electric switches.As the seats move to the rear they reach the most rearward area and then move across to the fuselage side so that you can get your legs past them. So that is the main issue and the most important difference.
There is more!
I just received an email from a builder in Switzerland who bought 2 seats, I presume at about the same time as I did, from the same supplier, and guess what ??
He was sent 2 RH seats.Now one mistake maybe tolerable, without any apology or fix, but twice is getting beyond the bounds of tolerance.
Regards all.................Brian W.

[brianwilliamson]

Finally got the seats finished with the great help of Thomas from Switzerland.
We pulled the seats apart and just swapped the seat bases by airmail.
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj281/bwillo_photo/Untitled-5.jpg
This was the simplest and easiest fix even though the freight was quite expensive.
So, a long drawn out exercise that need not have occurred, except for the incompetence of the worst supplier that I have dealt with so far.
I am just about to start testing the 120Volt 400hz. power supply to get the electrics working on the seat motors. That should make getting in and out of the seats a lot easier.
Cheers.....................Brian W.