AS 350 2 place front seat
 

Thinking of putting a 2 place bench seat in a AS 350 that is VIP config, anyone out there flown this setup and can tell me
1) how comfortable is it when just one person in seat
2) does it feel cramped with 2 passengers up front (for me the pilot)

Thanks Mel

Flew a 350BA many years ago with the two place front passenger seat configuration and found it ok provided you chose the two lightest passengers for that seat. It is a bit cramped for the passengers but I found there were no problems from my side.
However might be a bit different with a couple of "gorillas" up front!!

By definition it will not be VIP with 2 pax up front !! If you dont have a guard covering the collective you will find collective very heavy at times as you are lifting someones arsecheek off the seat when you pull pitch . It is not a good set up , pilots hate it and is only usefull for small hops .

If flew it on a B3 model for a summer contract. Found it no so bad with light and slim pax, by the way an interesting reason to ask the loader to place babes on the bench :)
More seriously, you will need the curved-bar that prevent the pax located in the middle to have access to your stuff evenmore on a BA model, fitted with engine command in the middle (not that pb with the B3). Also remember that max. load on this type of seat is limited to 140kg. (beware of CG's changes).

Works fine as said with fairly light and slimish pax but be very aware of your CofG as you use up your fuel, in certain cases it can put you out of limits. Getting to the cyclic can be awkward but not that bad.

Flew a B2 in this configuration with the left seat PIC conversion---Found NO problems. You did have to watch CG though---occassionally had to put a 100lb weight in the back to bring the CG aft a little.

Thanks everyone for the reply, my personal feeling is it just does not look right, anyway if that is what the boss wants. Thanks again Mel

Mel.
Contact anyone of the tour companies in Vegas flying the AS350. Its an STC and it works good.
Sundance or Papillon Maintenence folks should give you all the info you need.

A lot of the Alaska tour machines run it as well so you may be able to call on them for pictures. I flew the BA & B2 with it and like someone else said, as long as you have SLIM PAX in it, it's not bad at all. Sometimes embarrassing when there was a hefty fellow in it with 6" of seat remaining and you're telling him to scoot more so someone else can sit next to him. haha I heard "another person sits here??" a couple times. :D