Hello all,
A lot has happened since my last post. There has been a flurry of visits and consultations as to the current condition and prognosis for this historically abused kit. This kit has gotten a lot of attention spanning from a spotlighted article in the RVATOR to fierce condemnation on this website. As the fifth owner, yes that’s right the fifth, I decided to put the issue on the Vans Air Force alter (forum) for discussion and help deciding the fate of this project. If you remember, there was quite a heated, but mixed, debate and lots of input and opinions cast down; most notably concerning previous eyes-on testimonials, a grinded down spar inside a fully assembled wing and, the mystery of ‘why’ the spar was grinded down in the first place. This was caveat with countless red flags implying more issues not yet discovered. Needless to say it was a veritable nightmare of poor workmanship and safety violations. Many of you suggested the recycling bin, others didn’t fully agree but were not far from disagreeing. I think we all agreed that it needed to stop being passed on to naive buyers. Even the engineers at Vans were beginning to feel this kit was haunted, because it kept surfacing with a new owner and they were stuck rehashing its history
. So I decided to let everyone know that the buck stops here (with me) on this kit. If it can’t be fixed safely I would bite the bullet and personally scrap the kit. But first, I said I wanted to get this thing physically inspected by proper eyes before I made the final decision. We left the conversation there with my promise to return with what I found.
As a result of the forum and ensuing contacts, a lot of people came and offered their support and advice: Below is a list of the eyes and hands that ‘physically’ inspected this kit. I haven’t used names because I didn’t ask for permission to put them here so you’ll just have to trust me on this.
Inspectors (visual/hands-on)
1 FAA Airframe inspector
1 A Colorado PE in the aerospace field who's career has been spent doing structural analysis
1 Professional RV builder and coach
4 Experienced RV builders (2 on their second kit[RV 10, 7] and 2 nearly completed first kits [RV 10, 9A]
3 Phone consults with supporting pictures with Vans engineer
My own notes:
Spar gap mystery solved....
As I was taking pictures to send to Vans I noticed the farthest five rivet holes for the rivets attaching the bottom skin and the center section aft bulkhead were egged out. This had allowed the lateral left edge of the bulkhead to ‘slip’ approximately a sixteenth of an inch (or more) into the spar gap thus narrowing the bottom portion. Coincidentally the area of the spar that needed to fit into this space was the area that was filed down; I am assuming this is the result of not using a spacer in the gap during assembly. I subsequently removed these five rivets and the bulkhead relaxed and the gap became proper without any effort.
Vans consultation
The engineers at Vans agreed with my findings and were agreeable that this is repairable and would safely accept a ‘new’ spar.
Inspectors notes:
No one in particular appeared to be scared straight after seeing it in person. The consolidated response is; this is an abused kit. Starting with a new kit would be less work however; this kit is not a total loss for someone who is willing to do the work. All issues were deemed fixable. A lot was also deemed cosmetic. Only one out of the 9 inspectors deemed this kit unsalvageable. I understand his opinion was based on the amount of work to be done, cost of replacing parts verses buying a new kit (false economy) and my own lack of current building knowledge and experience. Deconstruction of the critical areas was recommended. Any questionable parts—replace.
The verdict:
Following a great deal of inspecting and guidance from experienced, weathered, licensed FAA builders, designers, and inspectors I have decided this kit is salvageable. The cost to me? Time, lots of time. I have committed myself to deconstructing the critical areas and building this thing correctly. Consequentially, two of the aforementioned inspectors visited a second time and helped me develop a plan that triaged and partitioned the process for addressing, evaluating, and correcting the entire kit.
And there you have it. Thanks for your patience
Time to get busy.
A lot has happened since my last post. There has been a flurry of visits and consultations as to the current condition and prognosis for this historically abused kit. This kit has gotten a lot of attention spanning from a spotlighted article in the RVATOR to fierce condemnation on this website. As the fifth owner, yes that’s right the fifth, I decided to put the issue on the Vans Air Force alter (forum) for discussion and help deciding the fate of this project. If you remember, there was quite a heated, but mixed, debate and lots of input and opinions cast down; most notably concerning previous eyes-on testimonials, a grinded down spar inside a fully assembled wing and, the mystery of ‘why’ the spar was grinded down in the first place. This was caveat with countless red flags implying more issues not yet discovered. Needless to say it was a veritable nightmare of poor workmanship and safety violations. Many of you suggested the recycling bin, others didn’t fully agree but were not far from disagreeing. I think we all agreed that it needed to stop being passed on to naive buyers. Even the engineers at Vans were beginning to feel this kit was haunted, because it kept surfacing with a new owner and they were stuck rehashing its history
. So I decided to let everyone know that the buck stops here (with me) on this kit. If it can’t be fixed safely I would bite the bullet and personally scrap the kit. But first, I said I wanted to get this thing physically inspected by proper eyes before I made the final decision. We left the conversation there with my promise to return with what I found. As a result of the forum and ensuing contacts, a lot of people came and offered their support and advice: Below is a list of the eyes and hands that ‘physically’ inspected this kit. I haven’t used names because I didn’t ask for permission to put them here so you’ll just have to trust me on this.
Inspectors (visual/hands-on)
1 FAA Airframe inspector
1 A Colorado PE in the aerospace field who's career has been spent doing structural analysis
1 Professional RV builder and coach
4 Experienced RV builders (2 on their second kit[RV 10, 7] and 2 nearly completed first kits [RV 10, 9A]
3 Phone consults with supporting pictures with Vans engineer
My own notes:
Spar gap mystery solved....
As I was taking pictures to send to Vans I noticed the farthest five rivet holes for the rivets attaching the bottom skin and the center section aft bulkhead were egged out. This had allowed the lateral left edge of the bulkhead to ‘slip’ approximately a sixteenth of an inch (or more) into the spar gap thus narrowing the bottom portion. Coincidentally the area of the spar that needed to fit into this space was the area that was filed down; I am assuming this is the result of not using a spacer in the gap during assembly. I subsequently removed these five rivets and the bulkhead relaxed and the gap became proper without any effort.
Vans consultation
The engineers at Vans agreed with my findings and were agreeable that this is repairable and would safely accept a ‘new’ spar.
Inspectors notes:
No one in particular appeared to be scared straight after seeing it in person. The consolidated response is; this is an abused kit. Starting with a new kit would be less work however; this kit is not a total loss for someone who is willing to do the work. All issues were deemed fixable. A lot was also deemed cosmetic. Only one out of the 9 inspectors deemed this kit unsalvageable. I understand his opinion was based on the amount of work to be done, cost of replacing parts verses buying a new kit (false economy) and my own lack of current building knowledge and experience. Deconstruction of the critical areas was recommended. Any questionable parts—replace.
The verdict:
Following a great deal of inspecting and guidance from experienced, weathered, licensed FAA builders, designers, and inspectors I have decided this kit is salvageable. The cost to me? Time, lots of time. I have committed myself to deconstructing the critical areas and building this thing correctly. Consequentially, two of the aforementioned inspectors visited a second time and helped me develop a plan that triaged and partitioned the process for addressing, evaluating, and correcting the entire kit.
And there you have it. Thanks for your patience
Time to get busy.
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