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Newby question on plans

I finally decided after going through so many kit planes that an rv 7 is in my future. I really want the build experience. I shied away from rvs for years because of pride and wanting to be different. (There are so many of y?all out there.) I?ve traveled the road less traveled enough times now in my life to know why it?s the road less traveled. The rv is superior to all other kit planes on the market.

Anyways, I?ve been emailing back and forth with the people at vans and I do t quite understand the concept of preview plans. I know what regular plans are, but what are preview plans? I am close to being ready to buy the empennage kit, and am not sure if I need plans, or preview plans or what to go with it. Any clarification would be appreciated. Thanks y?all.
 
Preview plans are an entire set of the plans on 11x17? paper and the builders manual on 8.5?x11?. You can also get this on CD. You need to purchase the preview plans. Then, when you order the kit(s) each kit comes with a full size set of plans (24? x 36? (or so)) and the build manual for that section. The preview plans are nice to have because they are much smaller and allow you to read forward into the build before buying every kit.
 
I think the intent of the preview plans is to give potential builders an opportunity to see what they are getting into. It's a good chance to see what is involved in building a plane.

Once you start building it's sometimes nice to have the full set of plans so you can look ahead to future kits since the plans for a particular kit are provided with the kit as Derek mentioned.

I have a couple copies of the preview plans that I use for reference when I'm not at my hangar where the larger format drawings are located. I like the USB stick version which I reference all the time.
 
Buying the preview plans in paper form was the biggest waste of money! Seriously, it makes me mad every time I see them laying deep within the pile of stuff on my coffee table. :) I have LITERALLY never looked at them since the day I got them. Get the flash drive with the plans instead. The plans in PDF form I find way more useful.
 
Suit yourself

I bought an older second hand kit. The plans that came with the fold out kind in a three ring binder. I don?t use them. I use the preview plans I bought. Just the right size for me. I did also buy the usb drive plans and have looked at them, but I like the size of the preview plans. So, suit yourself.
 
preview, build, USB stick

I bought an older second hand kit. The plans that came with the fold out kind in a three ring binder. I don?t use them. I use the preview plans I bought. Just the right size for me. I did also buy the usb drive plans and have looked at them, but I like the size of the preview plans. So, suit yourself.

To me preview plans = fold out in three-ring binder = B size 11 x 17".
Build plans are D size 22 x 34".
USB stick is great to have for reference when out of the shop.
 
You are required to purchase the preview plans in order to receive a serial number and purchase a kit. Period.

As Derek said above, when you receive a kit you only receive full size plan sheets that go with that kit.

Whether you prefer a big binder with paper or a PDF file that requires an electronic device to read is up to you. Both have their pros and cons. Personally, I use both.

Good luck!
 
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I got the preview plans on USB for the RV-10 prior to getting going, just to see what I was getting into. I've looked ahead countless times, as I'm finishing up the tail kit, to have context and understanding.

Also, in PDF form, I've found several times, that I can zoom way in, and get better clarity if I'm not sure what tab may lay over or under what part a few times.

Was well worth the $10 spent.

-Lance
 
Actually, there are no preview plans for the RV-10 and later models, the plans on USB are the same as the build plans. All are 11x17 pages with directions and drawings integrated.

Earlier models (The RV-9 and earlier) have a completely different concept for how the plans are done. For those, the plans consist of 8.5x11 pages with directions and drawings are on 24x36 sheets. Preview plans for the earlier models are drawings on 11x17 pages.
 
Possibly more valuable back in the day before Internet when people like me were wondering just what these "RV kits" airplanes consisted of and just how well engineered they were.
 
Actually, there are no preview plans for the RV-10 and later models, the plans on USB are the same as the build plans.

Depends on how define the term preview plans I guess.....

The standard process is that with the purchase of an individual kit such as an RV-10 Empanage / Tail Cone, the only plans the builder receives is the ones that pertain to building that kit. That is why purchasing the preview plans is required. It gives the builder the opportunity to look ahead (pre-view) to other manual sections and have an understanding of how the assembly they are building fits into the big picture.
 
One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is that with the order of each kit, you get *the latest* plans in full-size. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally one or a few of the plans get updated to a new version, and your preview plans will be out of date.

That said, I found the printed version to be very useful. I oftentimes prefer paper versions of things so that I can flip between pages, etc. I'm certainly not computer illiterate or a troglodyte :), but there are times when paper can be better for me. Easier to scribble notes on, as well.

If they don't work for you, stick the binder on the shelf and add it to your collection of airplane manuals, binders, installation manuals, maintenance logs, etc., etc.
 
Thanks that really clears things up. I’m a bit tech challenged so the flash drive doesn’t work for me. I only own iPads and I don’t think a thumb drive can plug in. However, I like paper. I still prefer flying with paper charts when I can. Thanks for all the good input though. I didn’t find the info on the vans website very clear. I think I will be ordering the preview plans this weekend!
 
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Thanks that really clears things up. I?m a bit tech challenged so the flash drive doesn?t work for me. I only own iPads and I don?t think a thumb drive can plug in. However, I like paper. I still prefer flying with paper charts when I can. Thanks for all the good input though. I didn?t find the info on the vans website very clear. I think I will be ordering the preview plans this weekend!

A suggestion...I screwed binder clips into the wall of the shop so that I could hang 4 full-size plans sheets up at a time. Made it *much* easier to look at them while building, and took them off of the benches and other horizontal surfaces (plus saved having to sort through the roll to get the ones you need, and kept them in reasonably good shape). As one sheet become unneeded as the build progressed, the next one would go up.

When you're in the middle of a task, it's much easier to turn and look at the plans than either a) find them, unroll them on some random nearby flat surface, and waste time looking, or b) opening up a laptop and scrolling around to find what you need.
 
Some of these posts indicate you must get preview plans but that is not necessarily correct.

If your building a 10 12 or 14 there is no requirement to order preview plans. In fact your only option for these models would be to get the PDFs if you want a preview. Hard copies for these models will ship with the kits and are 11x17.

You can definitely get the PDFs onto an iPad and that is a very popular way of reading drawings these days.

For those who are comfortable on a laptop or tablet, the PDFs are much more useful than paper. I think the only thing you can do with the paper drawings that you can?t do with the PDFs is make a paper airplane.:)
 
You can transfer the plans/drawings etc from the USB to an IPad using Kindle books (probably a lot of different ways, but that’s what I use). Paper copies stay in shop, electronic ones elsewhere.
 
A suggestion...I screwed binder clips into the wall of the shop so that I could hang 4 full-size plans sheets up at a time.

That?s a great idea! Just starting the wings and there is a lot of fumbling between drawings compared to the tail.

Uh-oh - mission creep.... 4 LCD monitors, each displaying a different drawing? One of those new wall size displays, with motivational flying videos as a screen saver?
 
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