I have a '79 Turbo Arrow IV, and was wondering if anyone has utilized the back cargo area in their plane by attaching a base for a baby/toddler seat. There seems to be enough space for one, and the cargo area can handle up to 200 lbs. Obviously, there may be a weight and balance issue if one tries to carry four adults, full fuel, etc.
I think this is probably something the FAA would rather not know about. That said, a child's car seat can be fastened very securely in the rear compartment using the web-type tiedowns available at your local hardware store. The fastening is to the rear seat hardware and can be made easily removable with some stainless steel snaps available at the hardware store or marine hardware store. Make sure the cargo door seal is doing a good job as if it is not, the noise in the cargo area will be terrible, but hard to hear in the rear seats or front seats. There is also a hook of some sort (probably for hanging clothes) set in the ceiling of some of these planes (Archers - probably others) that a dangling toy can be hung from. Of course, I'm not condoning any of this, just relating the possibilities - subject to approval, of course.
If you have ever removed the inspection plates on the cargo deck you will see that the rear deck is just sheet aluminum with little reinforcement for the tie downs (does anybody really use those straps anyway?) The rear seats are secured to a hefty section of ply wood, and the front seats are mounted on rails. But the thing that should restrain you in a crash are the seat belts, and those are secured to the fuselage with steel bolts though steel plates. I would be hesitant to secure my child to anything that was not as secure as my own seat belt. Check with your A&P and see if he can recommend a field mod for a proper securement. The main thing you want the child seat for is to restrain the baby in the event of a collision, so it needs to be secure.
Could one use a regular car seat along with the seat belts to secure it, or is there to much differance between auto and aviation belts to allow for this?
As always, it depends. If the car seat is the type that can be secured through the bottom with a lap belt, you shouldbe OK if you can get the lap belt tight enough. The rear seats in a car have a retractor that will only reel in after you spool it all the way out. This will help to cinch the seat down in a vehicle. The belts in the aircraft have to be manually tightened. Remember that in a simple crash, you can experience 7 to 10 Gs. If the baby weight 10 lbs and the seat weighs 5 pounds, there will be about 150 pounds of force trying to pull it out of the seat. So after you secure it in, pull on it HARD to determine how far forward it will travel. It should be OK (I mean, they let you take them on airliners, so it must be OK).
