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RV‐12 Wing Spar Woes

Crafting N112DR

Crafting N112DR

Well Known Member
So I guess that we are in delay mode. Im trying to wrap my head around this as I am waiting on my wing kit. This is from VAN's.......


"We recently upgraded our manufacturing process on the RV-12 spars to include routing of the perimeter edges of all of the parts. Prior to this, the edges of the parts were left ‘as punched’ and, while this did not affect the strength of the spars, it was not as ‘cosmetically pleasing’ as we’d like."

I'm unclear as to what updates they are performing on the spar. Anyone care to guess.? I'm unclear why the spar needs to be more cosmetically pleasing as I thought it was very pleasing to look at in its old form. Any takers?

David Rohrlick
PPSEL
RV-12 (Finished Empennage)
Status: waiting on wing kit
N612DR Reserved
http://www.mykitlog.com/rolick22
 
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The spar caps were pretty rough on the edges from the laser cuts. There is a post on that issue. Sounds like they should be better now. I took the vixen file to mine on the stubs as I could not stand to look at the rough edges after all the deburring I had done on the other 1000'pieces. Yes I probably knocked off the primer but I'm not worried about it. Now it doesn't look like a 2 year old assembled my spars. 80 trouble free hours since August this year,it is the nicest flying bird you could imagine.
 
On the RV-12 spars I've seen, the edges looked a bit rough. You could see the punch marks, just like they are visible on the edges of other parts in the kit. As delivered from the factory, the edges of the spars were perfectly smooth on the 9A wings I built. It's easy to see the difference. This should be a nice upgrade from a cosmetic standpoint.
 
When I first uncrated mine, the edges looked as if they had been hacked out of plate with a hatchet. I even posted pictures at the time as I thought I had received some rejects by mistake.
 
Scaring me

I have always wondered if I made major mistake ordering all kits at once, now when you talk about spar being improved makes me scared I have something less than perfect just because I ordered all kits together...not ready to assemble wing, have inventoried parts and don't remember seeing spars as ugly...but will go dig them out and look more closely...maybe I can change them for later ones if need be??
 
Less than perfect? Are you building for static display or to fly? :) Every plane is less than perfect. If you don't like the look of your spars, or like the newer ones better, you dress them up a little like you would any other part.
 
You could not change the spars without totally disassembling the wing! It is one long piece in each wing. They are just talking about the ends of them that stick into the fuselage, cross over, and are linked with the big pins. The edges of those can be rough (not sharp, rough.). Most people do not even paint them.
 
Don't worry about it. If your build turns out to be anything like mine was, there will be a lot more imperfections in your plane that only you know about than anything the factory may have contributed. If the appearance of the factory spars are the worst part of your pride and joy, you will have done exceptionally well. We all try for perfection, but fortunately it doesn't have to be perfect to look good and fly well.
 
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finish70.jpg


Geez, they are not that bad. Purely cosmetic. If you don't like the way they look, you could always cover them up like this. I use this as a toolbox and keep my tie down kit and spare parts hidden underneath a hinged door.
 
Leave them rough option

At first, I was a little turned off by the appearance, but eventually got used to it. It really isn't important from the safety or utility standpoint - strictly cosmetic.
I also considered going to town on them with the vixen, but doing that will remove the anodic coating from the spar edges. Then what? Paint, Alodine, etc? Either way there will be a cosmetic issue. I decided I can live with it.
 
f1rocket said:
If you don't like the way they look, you could always cover them up like this. I use this as a toolbox and keep my tie down kit and spare parts hidden underneath a hinged door.
Click to expand...
Pretty cool! That looks really nice.
 
Wing Spars

I have one of the early kits on a slow build (84). The spars I received were very smooth and I never considered that they needed any further treatment.
 
Can anyone post a photo from their build of your spars? I have only looked at 3-4 spars and never noted these grotesque deformities.
 
responding to Dale on this thread

"Less than perfect" I see you buy your planes ready to fly and you have the nerve to criticize me...leave your less than positive comments to yourself...
 
olderthandirt said:
"Less than perfect" I see you buy your planes ready to fly and you have the nerve to criticize me...leave your less than positive comments to yourself...
Click to expand...

I didn't think what I said was "less than positive" -- quite the opposite. I certainly didn't think it would warrant getting nasty. Good luck to you.
 
As promised, picture of the new spar can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/groups/Aviation.Nation.Projects/ . It is the first picture. As I see the "new" spar, it is obviously a cosmetic improvement. It doesn't appear to be milled our routed, but sanded smooth with something around 180 grit sandpaper. It appears each individual piece was done separately, before they were riveted together. Nice look, and I think a worthwhile improvement.

While you are there, you can check out what we are doing with AviationNation. This build is at Jennings Co. HS, where I started the Eagle's Nest Projects. Feel free to join our group!

Bob
 
Bob

I clicked link but I was unable to see anything on the Facebook page. I joined the group, but I guess I need to get approved.
 
Thanks Bob

Thanks Bob I was able to see the updated spar photo, I wish you had a older photo of the older spar for comparison.
 
Photos of older spar

David,

Below are a couple of photos of my spars received around the late 2012 time frame for you to compare. The first photo shows clearly how unfinished the edges of the spars are ... actually this area was not that bad. Some places on the portion of the spars that slide into the fuselage were quite rough and sharp enough to tear skin. Ignore the countersinks, you will not see those on your spars.

The second photo shows where I did a little light filing to knock off the really sharp edges where the spar will be handled. No attempt was made to make all the metal smooth because did not want to get into the anodization.

DSC03412.JPG


DSC03985.JPG


Hope that is what you are looking for.

Happy Building,
 
update

I called Vans today and for anyone waiting on their 12 wing kit Vans is running two to three weeks behind. My crate date is the 25th and it looks like it might be ready to ship mid February.
 
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More Bad News

Anyone who is waiting or thinking about ordering the wing kit I got more bad news today from Vans. The new batch of spars failed QC so another 2-3 weeks or more if they can't fix there production problems with their vender. I have elected to cancel my wing order and order the fuselage kit with the Garmin servos. I think it's more of a sure thing. They have indicated that it could be just a 4 week wait instead of the usual 8 weeks because I have waited so long.
 
The mother ship update February 10

From the mother ship "Unfortunately, we?re experiencing continued delays in obtaining RV‐12 wing spar components from our supplier. Because we do not have firm component delivery schedules, we?re not able to give our customers accurate delivery dates at this time. We are assembling and delivering spars as the components arrive and are catching up on backorders as quickly as we can. We are working diligently to bring deliveries back on to a normal schedule and sincerely apologize for the continued inconvenience to our customers."

Glade I switched to the fuselage kit. Hope they can get it sorted out by the time I am ready for the wing kit.
 
less than perfect

the guy from Australia...right on...we all strive for perfection and end up some place short of that...if in end we end up with something we are happy with then we have succeeded...diisspite other opinions...Dick
 
At one point someone from Van's posted

"You're building an airplane, not a piece of art." With that in mind I've very happy with kit #212 and could point out (but won't) any number of boo-boos worse than the spars. Wings come off/on easily and airplane flies great. Won't win any awards at Oshkosh even if nobody ever looks at the spars, and I'm ok with that.

Wayne 120241/143WM
 
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