Hello all. Below is a plane I purchased. I did my research but being a first time buyer and RV owner, there were things I didn't notice initially which an experienced builder/-4 guru would have. Live and learn. A very brief history--this is an older build (first flight in 1983) and the logs show that it was disassembled in 1998, reassembled in 1999 by Ray Williams and sold in 2000. It has accrued ~700/hrs since this point. Whether this is relevant or not is hard to say but is worth mentioning.
To the point--you can see in the first few images below (left inboard/outboard) that the trailing edge of the flap/aileron/tips don't align. I don't see this as being very significant but just making note of it. I attribute it to being a very early build and the attention to detail that I see in these new RVs that look like certified aircraft (ya'll have some beautiful RV's!) just wasn't there with the early builders/kits. However, the right flap/aileron alignment is off considerably and yet, the inboard of both L/R flaps meet the fuse the same.
The kicker? Airplane flies hands off, which I imagine is why I didn't notice it initially. The RV grin obscured my view. What you see in the images is what the plane looks like in S+L flight. The stick is centered as well. I attribute this to the manual trim tab on the left aileron that is compensating for this.
So curiosity is getting the best of me. What's the root cause here? It's ugly and isn't up to the standards I see on the forums here, but should I be concerned? I imagine it's been flying at least 700/hrs like this (since re-assembled) and possibly more, perhaps even built this way? Thoughts?
Left - Outboard
Left - Inboard
Right - Outboard
Right - Intboard
To the point--you can see in the first few images below (left inboard/outboard) that the trailing edge of the flap/aileron/tips don't align. I don't see this as being very significant but just making note of it. I attribute it to being a very early build and the attention to detail that I see in these new RVs that look like certified aircraft (ya'll have some beautiful RV's!) just wasn't there with the early builders/kits. However, the right flap/aileron alignment is off considerably and yet, the inboard of both L/R flaps meet the fuse the same.
The kicker? Airplane flies hands off, which I imagine is why I didn't notice it initially. The RV grin obscured my view. What you see in the images is what the plane looks like in S+L flight. The stick is centered as well. I attribute this to the manual trim tab on the left aileron that is compensating for this.
So curiosity is getting the best of me. What's the root cause here? It's ugly and isn't up to the standards I see on the forums here, but should I be concerned? I imagine it's been flying at least 700/hrs like this (since re-assembled) and possibly more, perhaps even built this way? Thoughts?
Left - Outboard
Left - Inboard
Right - Outboard
Right - Intboard