How They're Made

How Oregon Aero^® Seat Systems are Made:
Solving Multiple Problems Simultaneously

Solving the problem of painful seating provided Oregon Aero with a set of difficult challenges, all of which had to be solved simultaneously to create pain-free seating.

"It sounds simple - to make a comfortable seat - but if it were, it would have been done long ago," says Mike Dennis, CEO, President and founder of Oregon Aero.

Often a seat is regarded only as an object to keep a person from hitting the floor when they bend their knees. But anyone who's ever sat in an uncomfortable seat (and that's all of us) knows it's more than that. It's not just a matter of sitting down--we instinctively shift and move our bodies, trying to find a comfortable position.

Oregon Aero realizes finding that comfortable position involves the following: the proper hip and pelvic alignment,  lumbar curvature, and upper body position; and unrestricted blood flow where the body comes in contact with the seat. If the body is not positioned correctly or blood flow is blocked (which creates ischemia, commonly called "hot spots,") then we are in pain.

Mike Dennis sits in an RAF E-3, Waddington, England, during development of custom seat cushion systems for the Royal Air Force E-3 fleet.

"Each problem that prevents comfortable seating may be a small problem, but they all add up to create a big problem — pain — and they all need to be solved at the same time." says Mike Dennis.

"For example," he continues, "one product may push on the lumbar area of the spine  to try to create a comfortable lumbar curve. But instead, the nerves are compressed and a secondary problem is created. Or another product uses seat material that should prevent the blockage of blood flow but it doesn’t shift the pelvis into the proper position. Or another product relieves pressure on the nerves but doesn’t eliminate hot spots."

"In other words, engineering goals can be mutually exclusive. When one problem is solved, another is created or amplified; this is the way the engineering process works. But add to this the sensitivity of the human body to being in contact with manufactured hardware, and the engineering challenge becomes even greater."

"There’s an extremely delicate balance that must be created and maintained through the seat design and materials," concludes Mike.

Oregon Aero complies with all applicable FAA regulations. The Oregon Aero Engineering Department has an FAA “Seat” DER on staff to support our customers.