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My Left Wing Spar is Defective?

Skybolt Al

Skybolt Al

Well Known Member
Built my right wing - no problem, everything fit perfectly. Tried to cleco ribs to my left wing spar today and no joy! Seems that the top spar flange is bent 94 deg to the web and the bottom flange is 87.5 deg to the web. This is the reverse of what it should be! The ribs will only fit on the spar upside down! Has anyone got a solution before I call Van's on Monday?
 
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About a year ago the 9 wing spars were being built incorrectly by Vans. There were a bunch of builders who reported it and it was discussed on the forums. A search should turn up the thread. I got lucky, but kits delivered just before mine had the problem.

When did you get your wing kit? If it's newer than a year, either they're still flushing bad material, or maybe whoever is assembling the spars is just making mistakes.

It seems like this is something that everyone will need to check when they get their new wing kit, and I'd do it before starting to drill for the nutplates.

At any rate, if this is really the same problem, then it's clear Van's needs to improve quality control for this component.
 
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Yup, you got one of the misbent spars. Call Vans, they'll ship you a replacement spar(s) free of charge and you can send the old spars back in the same crate the new ones came in, no cost to you.

DOUBLE CHECK your other spar - make SURE you only need one before making that call. It might help to take some digital pics with measuring devices to show the orientation and bend, I did that and included them in the original contact, they never questioned that I did indeed have a misbent spar.

Turn around time for me was only 9 days, they were fast. They'll send you some replacement nutplates and rivets too, so no need to try and pull those off the defective spar.
 
What Greg Says

Yes, that's positively what the problem is. I was another of the builders who got the underbent spars. In my case (and all others that I heard of) it was both spars.

There is an article in RVator No 3 of '08 (page 10) in which Terry Elgood fixed his underbent spars with a slot in the end of a hardwood stick. Terry is an experienced builder but he told me afterwards that in retrospect he wished he had asked for new spars, so that is what I did. Without a murmur, Vans sent me the new spars - and I am building all the way over on the other side of the planet, so it wasn't cheap for them.

Things go wrong ocassionally, even in good companies, but you know a great one by how they react to those problems and how they fix them.

Edge-prep some ribs for a few days while you are waiting and your new spar will be with you before you need it
 
My buddy and I had both the left and right spars misbent (only the top flange was misbent on ours). We followed the instructions in the RVator to rebend them. We got good results but I'd never do it again.
 
My wing kit is just 2 months old (August 2009), so I guess they still haven't fixed their production problems. I'll call Van's Monday A.M. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
 
When I talked to Vans about the problem originally, I was told the source of the error was an undertrained machine operator that placed the spars in the bending apparatus backward, resulting in the incorrect bend. Assuming they are still using the same process and machinery, this procedure is still open to human error and it's entirely possible that someone has repeated the error. I would strongly suspect this to be the case if your wing spars are only a couple months old AND you only have one affected spar.

On the plus side - all companies make mistakes, it's nearly impossible to completely dispense with human error in a manufacturing environment, and I was quite impressed with the way Vans handled their little faux pas. Everybody makes mistakes - and all you can ask when mistakes happen is that the offender does their best to make it right.

At least you've still got one good spar to continue building the other wing while waiting for your replacement, and it won't take long to receive it.
 
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The other wing is finished, so I guess I'll continue with the flaps and ailerons until the new spar arrives. Thanks for the insight.
 
Update on defective spar

:mad:After a month I finally got my left spar back from Van's today. The problem was that the top and bottom flanges were bent incorrectly. OK, I understand that things happen- no problem.

So far, through this build, I have been amazed by the quality and accuracy of Van's parts. Boy am I disappointed with the quality of their fix though.

Problem #1: Now my flanges look like a couple of drunken snakes. I can't leave them like that or my skins will have major dips in them when riveted on. So I guess I have to bend the flanges myself after all and try to straighten them out.

Problem #2: Before discovering the flange problem the first time, I had already riveted on all the nutplates. Van's said "No problem, we will take them off if we have to." BIG MISTAKE. Whoever drilled them out, doesn't know how to drill out rivets and so now I have 132 wallered out holes where they drilled right through the entire rivet, most of the time off-center. So now I have to drill and countersink all new rivet holes for the nutplates and make my flanges look like Swiss cheese.
 
I'd return it

Allen,

I love Vans, but sorry, this wouldn't be an acceptable fix here.

Read the previous posts, every builder who tried to "fix" their's regretted it.

I?d call Vans Monday and ask for a new spar and nut plates. Yeah, it sucks you?ll need to re-countersink everything, but it seems better than trying to straighten a wavy spar.
 
Wait - what? They simply tried to fix the spar you already had and sent it back to you?

Sorry, that would be a no-go for me. My viewpoint is that I paid for a NEW and DIMENSIONALLY CORRECT spar, and that's what I want. When I had to send mine in, they sent me the new spars first, and I returned my bad spars in the same crate the new ones came in. No charges, it was a zero-dollar transaction for me.

This really surprises me coming from Vans, that's NOT good customer service.
 
Bummer

Skybolt Al said:
:mad:After a month I finally got my left spar back from Van's today. The problem was that the top and bottom flanges were bent incorrectly. OK, I understand that things happen- no problem.

So far, through this build, I have been amazed by the quality and accuracy of Van's parts. Boy am I disappointed with the quality of their fix though.

Problem #1: Now my flanges look like a couple of drunken snakes. I can't leave them like that or my skins will have major dips in them when riveted on. So I guess I have to bend the flanges myself after all and try to straighten them out.

Problem #2: Before discovering the flange problem the first time, I had already riveted on all the nutplates. Van's said "No problem, we will take them off if we have to." BIG MISTAKE. Whoever drilled them out, doesn't know how to drill out rivets and so now I have 132 wallered out holes where they drilled right through the entire rivet, most of the time off-center. So now I have to drill and countersink all new rivet holes for the nutplates and make my flanges look like Swiss cheese.
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You are going to send them back are you not?
 
BACK I say!

I think vans is open for another 30 minutes! I'd get them to agree to replace it quick, so you don't have to dwell on it all weekend!
 
Send it back

I think what you've described is insane. Nutplates and time is cheap. Confidence in your machine is priceless.

My spars were mispunched about midway out by ~.03" . Vans made me new skins to match. A four week delay for sure, but I feel good about it.

Vans does know how to do it right.
RIck 90432
In purgatory
 
Van's won't replace the spar

Unfortunately, Van's said that they would not replace the spar because the center section and opposite spar would have to be replaced as well since they are manufactured as a matching set. And I already built the other wing. According to them, the lousy fix is 'good enough'.

Really disappointed with their attitude, but I don't seem to have any other choice.

Fair warning to others receiving their wing kits. Before you do any work on the spars, make sure that the ribs fit properly and if they don't, ship both spars and the center section back for new ones.
 
This is NOT copacetic - who were you talking to at Vans? It's time to start naming names.
 
Al,

I don't want to make any defense of Van's here, but I do trust that they understand engineering and aircraft structures. I know you must feel a bit depressed about the status of your wing. That's the real bummer.

I worked aircraft structures for both Boeing and United Airlines (and others) for many years. I can tell you that the spar is extremely strong and what you may see as being a problem is likely cosmetic. Van's would not return to you a non-structural spar. I am convinced of that. You could post some photos and get some better feedback. I would be happy to give you my opinion. Send me a pic if you like to tonycfi (at) wi.rr.com

I have to admit, though I love the Van's kit, I think Van's did a poor job designing the spar process (and flight contrls). The spar really should have been more narrow (.25") and there should have been sacrificial straps (.125) on the outer faces to into which you countersink. As it is ALL of us have knife edges where our holes are for the fuel tank screws. Do I think my wing is weak because of that. Absolutely NOT. Just not IDEAL.

Don't lose any sleep brother! Keep up the pace, your wing will be fine.
 
Not what they told me!

Skybolt Al said:
Unfortunately, Van's said that they would not replace the spar because the center section and opposite spar would have to be replaced as well since they are manufactured as a matching set. And I already built the other wing. According to them, the lousy fix is 'good enough'.
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.

I raised this very point when I was negotiating the replacement of my underbent spars and I was told that the machining was now accurate enough to dispense with this 'matched set' idea. They said my new spars would fit the original center section just as perfectly as the old ones.

I had a sense at the time that this answer was a very convenient escape for Vans from the problem of sending a new center section as well as the spars, plus shipping the originals back to OR. Now I am really worried that I was right about this when I hear that they have reverted to the original story, which is obviously the most convenient for them is this circumstance.

Which is right?

Is there any way of checking the fit before riveting my center section into the fuse? I am close to that stage right now.
 
Got it all fixed today.

I have no doubt that the spar still has it's original strength. What I was really concerned about was the waviness of the flanges which of course would cause the skins to be wavy.

Today I spent 5 hours straightening the flanges out and I was very surprised that I got them perfectly straight! I made a pair of bending tools out of scrap 2x4 and by pushing on one and pulling on the other, I was able to straighten both flanges even though the waves & wiggles were as much as 1/4" deep. There wasn't much that I could do with 130+ destroyed rivet holes so I just redrilled new ones for the plate nuts and filled the old ones with 'oops' rivets.
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