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Calm opinions on Van's 14A order form options.

bille

I'm New Here
First post. I am overwhelmed by the amount of information here. Thank you to all who have created/contributed!

I am about to pull the trigger on a 14A quick-build and would like input on the standard options that are part of the Vans order form. This may be concisely described somewhere already so feel free to point me to the right place.

I am not trying to start any wars here. If you want to weigh in, please do so...and maybe with a value 1 to 5 of how strongly you feel about adding it or not adding it (5 being strong feelings). If you want to suggest an alternative to the Vans option that would be OK as well. :)

Thank you!

Bill
RV-14A (Almost ordered)
 
Welcome to VAF!

A good place to start would be by browsing the VAF threads and learning how the choices of options you make relates to how you're going to use your plane. I'm sure that you have a goal there, right? Basically, spend some time browsing the threads and if possible, talking and even visiting with owners and builders.

There are any number of after-market choices as well as the ones shown on Van's order form. Some after-market choices are competitors to Van's options. The only thing these have in common is that by choosing them, you might not make the construction simpler.

Dave
 
There isn't a whole lot in the QB kit that I can think of changing since those comes built and the factory will not make modifications outside of the plan. The only thing that I would recommend (value 3) is to exclude all the wiring/harness that VANS supply with the empennage and wing kit. There are some other smaller parts what is hardly worth any money that I would recommend to change such as static ports but that is not an item to exclude.

Good luck and congrats
 
QB order form

I don't see a whole lot of choices.

Plenty more difficult decisions await. Like primer! :D
 
Why would you exclude the wiring harnesses? I have a SB wing kit on order already as well as the empennage, so curious as to what alternative to the VANS wiring harness you would suggest. Also, I have excluded the wing tips and ordered the leading edge skin without the light cutout as I am planning on using ZipTips.
 
Why would you exclude the wiring harnesses? I have a SB wing kit on order already as well as the empennage, so curious as to what alternative to the VANS wiring harness you would suggest. Also, I have excluded the wing tips and ordered the leading edge skin without the light cutout as I am planning on using ZipTips.
My disclaimer: This is only my opinion and what worked for me building two 14s
VANS harnesses are made to work with multiple EIFS brands and have more wires in them than may be needed for the given setup.* Some of the wires that would be better if they were shielded, such as landing lights, are not.* And at the end, one will need to sort out the pining of the*molex connectors to see what wires should be connected to the wire that you run from your equipment to those connection points depending on if servo brand A* was used or servo brand B.* They are not cheap either, so for me, it was just easier to extend my wires past the connection points (wing or emponogge) since that portion needs to be provided by the builder anyway.
Good*luck
 
My disclaimer: This is only my opinion and what worked for me building two 14s
VANS harnesses are made to work with multiple EIFS brands and have more wires in them than may be needed for the given setup.* Some of the wires that would be better if they were shielded, such as landing lights, are not.* And at the end, one will need to sort out the pining of the*molex connectors to see what wires should be connected to the wire that you run from your equipment to those connection points depending on if servo brand A* was used or servo brand B.* They are not cheap either, so for me, it was just easier to extend my wires past the connection points (wing or emponogge) since that portion needs to be provided by the builder anyway.
Good*luck

+1
The excessive use of Molex connectors, the lack of shielded wire where it makes sense, and Van’s attempt to make it fit for “your” install creates, in my opinion, more problems and hassle than it solves. If nothing else, cut off the tiny molex connectors used at the trim servo and replace. I chased a trim servo problem for over a day on a new RV-14 to find out there where multiple molex connectors for pitch trim in the tail - one of which was bad.

While I understand the market trend of “a kit for everything” this is just wires. If you can build an RV you can run wires.

Carl
 
So eliminate all wiring harnesses?

+1
The excessive use of Molex connectors, the lack of shielded wire where it makes sense, and Van’s attempt to make it fit for “your” install creates, in my opinion, more problems and hassle than it solves. If nothing else, cut off the tiny molex connectors used at the trim servo and replace. I chased a trim servo problem for over a day on a new RV-14 to find out there where multiple molex connectors for pitch trim in the tail - one of which was bad.

While I understand the market trend of “a kit for everything” this is just wires. If you can build an RV you can run wires.

Carl

This is a very interesting conversation. So the prevailing opinion of those who have built is to do your own wiring? So eliminate all the wiring harnesses? There looks to be quite a number of harnesses on the parts list. When installing the various components, is it obvious what type wiring configuration is required?
 
This is a very interesting conversation. So the prevailing opinion of those who have built is to do your own wiring? So eliminate all the wiring harnesses? There looks to be quite a number of harnesses on the parts list. When installing the various components, is it obvious what type wiring configuration is required?

I would guess the prevailing opinion is just the opposite. But as with all things RV, build as you want. Just know some roll their own so perhaps engaging these builders might give you ideas about buying the wiring kits, buy none of the kits or some combination of the two.

Carl
 
There are some options that may be less known. I upgraded my RV-9A canopy material to the UV blocking plexiglass. I think it was $300+ additional. Highly recommended if you are someone who gets sunburned easily. Not sure if that is even available on the RV-14, but the supplier Aircraft Plastics should be able to answer (or Van's).
On the older RV models, you could get more options to choose from:
Canopy: slider or tipup
Fuel senders: capacitive or floats

Engine options are where it gets more complicated:
O-360 or O-390?
Fixed pitch or constant speed?
Spinner material/size?
Alternator internal or external regulator?
Fuel injection or carb?
Mags or electronic ignition?

I won't even go into Avionics!

Lots of choices, so it depends entirely on you to define your mission and what you want out of the airplane. My suggestion is to define the mission first, then go from tip to tail and decide well in advance everything you want, AND THEN DO NOT CHANGE IT! Any changes will add build time and expense.
 
There are some options that may be less known. I upgraded my RV-9A canopy material to the UV blocking plexiglass. I think it was $300+ additional. Highly recommended if you are someone who gets sunburned easily. Not sure if that is even available on the RV-14, but the supplier Aircraft Plastics should be able to answer (or Van's).

I'm not sure about the 14, but I also wanted the UV blocking canopy for my 9A and called Van's to order it. Sterling said that it's the standard canopy now (at least for the 9 - I didn't ask about other models).
 
The electric pitch and roll trim is really worthwhile.

I made my own fuselage harness according to the plans from Vans including the large molex connectors. Theirs is expensive. Mine was less money but way more time. I enjoyed it so for me it was good. It made the wing installation plug and play almost. I say almost because I had to adapt pitot heat into the wing wiring that wasn’t present. So even with the Vans harness you are very likely to make a change or two.

Ditto in the micro-molex connectors for pitch trim. I too had a problem with it. So now there are dsub pins for the connections and if I have to remove it I’ll just cut off the heat shrink and disconnect.

I used the micro-molex connectors for stick wiring though and that is working perfectly.

I added the yaw servo mount after the fuse construction and I sure wish I had done it when the tail was not mounted.

The light mount is easier done when the wing is open but not very hard with it closed. But it’s extra.

I got the AeroLed lights all around and they are awesome. In my 8 I’ll be doing the flyboys led lights all in the wingtip with no wing cutout.

Beringer wheels and brakes are awesome. I really like tires with no tubes. But on my 8 I’ll be doing the per plans wheels and brakes.

I too got the darker tint canopy - so worth it. It may be standard now when I asked about it in the 8 I was told it is already what they ship. Didn’t question it too hard just went with it.

I used the panel map box kit to provide a shelf for my remote 45r transponder and gtr20 radio behind the panel. There is a big cutout in the sub panel for this to be fit but nobody wants a map box. It makes an excellent remote site.

You will want a pitot with AOA most likely so read up on those threads.

Reading over this a lot of these choices were not ordered as a kit option. But everything you can think of ships without extra fees if you include it with a kit. And anything you don’t want in a kit can be removed.

I would order 40 feet more of the fuel tubing since I wasted an awful lot learning how to bend tubing! It is also very handy to have a couple of the really long 3/4 angle to make little parts and brackets. So many people trashed the first elevator trim attempt. I also would order an extra length of hinge, trailing edge wedge and both the oops and the small head rivets. You can get an idea of my wall of shame from this paragraph!
 
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Pitot heat and a few more

I would guess the prevailing opinion is just the opposite. But as with all things RV, build as you want. Just know some roll their own so perhaps engaging these builders might give you ideas about buying the wiring kits, buy none of the kits or some combination of the two.

Carl

There are always some minor tweaking but I found that the wiring harness is 95% ok and just added wiring as needed. (Leaving unwanted/unneeded wires there for future use) Pitot heat is an example. I wanted twisted pair shielded and added this to the existing lines fuselage and wing. Pretty straightforward. Also as mentioned adding shielding for strobe lights both wing and tail.

Good luck !!
 
For me the plain unshielded wing wiring has not been an issue with LED strobe lighting. But I paid close attention to the light grounds YMMV.
 
Many thanks!

Thank you to all who responded.

I agree that there are a lot more decisions to make than just the options on Van's order form. For now, the full kit is on order.

Bill
 
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