The AN-2 cockpit seats are restored

Suomeksi

For the past few months, the Aviation Museum Society’s Tuesday Club restoration work has focused on the captain’s and co-pilot’s seats of an Antonov AN-2 aircraft cockpit. The difference between the captain’s seat and the co-pilot’s seat is that the captain’s seat has an adjustable armrest on the right-hand side.

The seats, made of aluminium sheet and in poor condition, were cleaned, sanded, and repainted. The jammed seat-height adjustment mechanisms were restored to working order. The rusted metal locks and fastener buckles of the fabric seat belts were cleaned of rust and made functional again.

The restoration began by removing the seat belts, the perforated sliding rods belonging to the seat-height adjustment mechanism, and the captain’s armrest. The height adjustment system consists of two perforated sliding rods attached to the backrest, along which the seat moves vertically. The desired height is locked using a handle on the right side of the seat. We removed the sliding rods from both seats and cleaned off the rust.

Photo: Mårten Juslin

The restoration of the aluminium surfaces of both seats began with washing them with water. This revealed that part of the blue-grey paint surface had remained in good condition, while some areas were worn and flaking. It was also noted that the paint surface had been touched up previously. Samples were taken from the paint layers to determine the correct shade. The samples showed that the seat had at least three layers of paint. The bottom layer was a yellowish-green primer, with blue-grey or slightly blue-green-grey paint layers above it. Pure blue paint was also found as a result of earlier touch-up work. The blue-grey shade of the seats was determined from a colour chart, and Isoguard Pansar paint was purchased accordingly. Even though some areas still had paint in good condition, it was decided to repaint the seats completely.

Photo: Timo Kopranen

Before painting, the seat surfaces were sanded, and all loose and flaking paint was scraped off. Clean aluminium was revealed beneath the flaked paint. Sanding was carried out using a steel brush attached to a drill, sandpaper, and abrasive pads. This prepared the surfaces for painting.

Painting began by first applying paint to the areas of bare aluminium. Once these areas had dried, both seats were painted all over. It was found that Isoguard Pansar paint produced a beautiful finish on the seats. The shade was also successful and did not differ from the original.

Before the seat-height adjustment tubes could be reattached, the inner surfaces of the tubes were brushed clean of rust and painted with Isoguard Pansar paint. The inside painting was done using a bottle brush cut narrow for the purpose. Once the adjustment rods were back in place, the mechanism was lubricated so that it operated smoothly.

The remaining tasks were restoring the captain’s armrest and cleaning rust from the metal parts of the seat belts, namely the buckles and locks. The captain’s armrest was cleaned of rust and painted with a grey-green paint. Its adjustment mechanism was also restored to working order. The fabric covering the armrest was worn, but we did not replace it.

The metal parts of the belts had been left unpainted, which is one reason why they were heavily rusted. The buckles and locks were cleaned of rust using brush attachments fitted to a drill and sandpaper. After cleaning, the metal parts of the belts were protected with clear Isotrol varnish. With this, the restoration of the seat belt metal parts was completed. Finally, the buckles were threaded back onto the seat belts, and the belts were reassembled on the seats. The restoration of the AN-2 cockpit seats was thus completed.

The restoration of the An-2 cockpit seats had been completed.

Photos: Lassi karivalo, unless otherwise mentioned

Translation to English: Erja Reinikainen