What is this - Seat from WWII Bomber?

[m715mike]

Can anyone provide any information on the seat pictured below? What did it come out of?


This seat has been in my friend's father's garage for 10 years. According to the father, it is a WWII bomber seat. He couldn't bear throw it away, but wanted it out of his garage. So naturally, the seat found its way to my garage.

I'd like to provide my friend and his father with more information about the seat and, ultimately find a good home for it (preferably someone that needs it for their plane).

The seat is extremely light weight and I assume is made out of aluminum. There is a rectangular spot on the back of the seat with no paint. I assume this was the location of a data tag at one time.

 

[Guyfang]

No part number? Nothing writen or stamped anyplace?

 

[Katavic918]

In my limited research I found similar style seats from ww2 bombers. The ones Found for sale go for quite a bit and most didnt have cushions. Looks like a good find. Would look good in my family room. Hope you are able to make a positive id.

 

[m715mike]

No part number? Nothing writen or stamped anyplace?

No, which I find strange. I didn’t see one yesterday and I just went out for a second look. There are no stamps or writing on the seat.

There is a rectangular section on the back of the seat where a data tag may have been. However, there are no holes (for rivets or screws) and no indication of welding on the rectangular section. Here’s a close up picture:

 

[m715mike]

Hopefully someone here has information on the seat. To widen the search, I just sent an email to the Commemorative Air Force. It would be neat to see this seat back in a plane and being used!

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Have you considered a short study of interior photos of various bombers to help find comparable seats installed in those aircraft?

Give it a shot.

 

[m715mike]

Have you considered a short study of interior photos of various bombers to help find comparable seats installed in those aircraft?

Give it a shot.

I did a few google searches before starting this post as did my friend who gave me the seat. Neither one of us found an exact match. That’s when I turned to the collective wisdom of the SS group.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Hope someone recognized it for you.

 

[m1010plowboy]

I've seen that seat before. Do you have pictures of the bottom and mounting pattern? It's keeping me awake. The seat cushion looks wrong and the pan is deep enough I could be sitting on my parachute, or in my Rat Rod. I have a cool seat I'll share later but I searched the term "__everyplane__ cockpit" for hours looking for mine and your seat wasn't in the show.

Prior to that I went though all the model photos of "bomber interior", "gunbay" "gunners bay" 'bombardier" and got lost inside hundreds of aircraft

Cockpit360

I sent pics of your seat to a few gurus and got some feedback.....and a few more guys will lay awake tonight. It's not logical because seats are upright in an aircraft to save space and for visibility. We were thinking post war, pre-ejection fighter or the B-45 Tornado gunner position but it's a stinky skunk so far.

 

[m715mike]

plowboy - Thank you for looking into this and for the feedback!

Here are pictures of the bottom.






Here are some pictures that show how deep the pan is.

 

[m715mike]

plowboy - You got me thinking. I made an assumption about the seat’s orientation when I took pictures of it. What if I was wrong. What if the seat went in the cockpit like this >>>






This is the upright position you expected. Also, there would be room for a parachute.

It doesn’t surprise me that you think the cushions are wrong. When I got the seat, my first thought was that the cushions were in good shape. Actually, the condition seemed too good to be original.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

plowboy - You got me thinking. I made an assumption about the seat’s orientation when I took pictures of it. What if I was wrong. What if the seat went in the cockpit like this >>>

View attachment 803275
View attachment 803276
View attachment 803277


This is the upright position you expected. Also, there would be room for a parachute.

It doesn’t surprise me that you think the cushions are wrong. When I got the seat, my first thought was that the cushions were in good shape. Actually, the condition seemed too good to be original.

I favor this as the probable orientation as well.

 

[Guyfang]

I think that you should take a look at the Air and Space Museum web page. They might have someone you could ask. They have the worlds largest collection of aircraft, and the A&S restoration of aircraft is legendary.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

I think that you should take a look at the Air and Space Museum web page. They might have someone you could ask. They have the worlds largest collection of aircraft, and the A&S restoration of aircraft is legendary.

I like the way you think.
EXCELLENT suggestion!

 

[m1010plowboy]

Interesting search. I found a similar "Bomber Seat" made by the General Fireproofing Co. Well,...... I didn't find it but this guy did and put up some cool pictures..... it may not be a bomber seat but it's called a bomber seat. The floor pan is different and obviously the mount but it looks like a sister.

Hot Rods - I bought a bomber seat, who knows what it's out of?

I bought a bomber seat at the Springfield swap meet and don't know what it's out of. Any of you experts know? [ATTACH] [ATTACH] [ATTACH]...

www.jalopyjournal.com

I hunted that down through a "bomber seat" search and found another likely information source here.

Warbird Information Exchange • View forum - Photo Gallery

www.warbirdinformationexchange.org

Your mounting points are odd with no reinforcing or....no mounting points.....so we continue.

 

[M813rc]

If memory serves me, it looks very much like the flight engineer seat from a B-29. Orientation was right the first time.
The lower seat cushion could be used, or removed and it's place taken by a parachute pack.

Edit - I found the attached picture in a cockpit 360 view from the USAF museum's B-29

World War II Gallery Cockpits

Cheers

 

[m715mike]

Sir, I do believe that’s it! Thank you.

Here is a close-up of the seat from Cockpit 360

 

[m715mike]

I’ve been emailing with the Senior Crew Chief at the B29/B24 Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force in Fort Worth, Texas. His comment was:

“Yep that’s definitely an authentic B 29 flight engineers seat! What’s even better is that you have the original cushions in it which actually had horse hair for stuffing in some of them.”


I’m making plans to donate the seat to the B29/B24 Squadron.

 

[m715mike]

Success! @fuzzytoaster and I met-up this morning and took the seat to the B-29/B-24 Squadron.




The Senior Crew Chief is also the Flight Engineer on FiFi (the B-29). He is a very knowledgeable guy and has been with the squadron since 2008. Today was the first time he saw an original Flight Engineer’s seat. FiFi was upgraded with a more comfortable seat:

 

[juanprado]

Outstanding to give the seat to a worthy organization.

Thanks for your courtesy and efforts!

You did your good turn!

Carry on