Vans practice kit vs actual kits

So I just got my practice kit (the one you make what appears to be a short section of control surface) and I was wondering how close this kit was to the actual plans, etc to and rv 7? Such as not saying what drill but to use and such. I have a lot of reading to do and learning. Just seems there is a ton of vagueness in the practice kit, I assume this is for a reason.

Thanks,
Jeremy

My opinion. The kits really need some instruction to go along with them. I took 2 Sport Air workshops where we built 2 different practice kits. It would have been tough to do, starting from scratch, just based on the instructions.

Kolg said:

My opinion. The kits really need some instruction to go along with them. I took 2 Sport Air workshops where we built 2 different practice kits. It would have been tough to do, starting from scratch, just based on the instructions.

Click to expand...

That makes me feel a bit better. I see you are building a 9. How different is the practice from that kit?

The kits are reasonable examples of actual kit work, the tool box more like the later kits while the airfoil more like the RV-3 and 4 which had more rudimentary instructions and required more work on the part of the builder (eg no pre-punched skins).

Auburntsts said:

The kits are reasonable examples of actual kit work, the tool box more like the later kits while the airfoil more like the RV-3 and 4 which had more rudimentary instructions and required more work on the part of the builder (eg no pre-punched skins).

Click to expand...

Definitely good to know, I guess I’m glad I got the airfoil kit to learn the more rudimentary stuff. Thanks guys.

Jeremy,

The practice kit is maybe a good example of Van's being concise - maybe they were trying to keep it on one page? They are definitely not enough to "teach" you everything to feel comfortable with building, but enough for someone who has really learned Section 5 to know exactly what to do. I see from your other posts that you're working hard to do your homework, and someone who does that will have no trouble getting used to the "shorthand" in the plans. The SportAir workshops mentioned earlier are fantastic, and help a lot, but there are certainly local EAA folks that would be glad to work with you too.

For reference, Van's makes an example set of plans available for each style of kit here: https://www.vansaircraft.com/plans-manuals/

A little googling or checking of -7 builder's logs will often yield some photos/screenshots of those plans, or you can order the preview plans too!

-Tyson

Practice kits

I thought the were representative of empennage instructions on my 7A. I thought the airfoil was closer to actual than the tool box. I've built several tool boxes with new builders and never dimple the hinge. I know 14 instructions and kit are far better than the 7. Many of us bought the 14 USB drive for ideas. When you start a 7, the manual is very specific. As you progress is gets more brief.

If you're starting from scratch knowledge and tool wise I also recommend SportAir
workshops. Never learned so much in a weekend anywhere else.

Gary R. Kohler
RV-7A Flying

Even with the SportAir class, I found doing as many practices kits as needed was helpful. It took several practice kits (6) before I felt ready to start. That last practice kit looked so good... the first one, not so much.

Thanks guys, excellent information. I’m not completely starting from scratch, but definitely not a seasoned builder. The only real issue I had with the airfoil kit after looking over it for about 10-15 minutes was the lack of rivet call out and the rivet bags that come in the kit not being labeled. So I have no clue what rivet is in the bags. The prepunched holes are clearly 40 or 30 looking at them with the eye so the drill bit selection should be an issue. Just hard to identify rivets.

The manual has a lot of general information that I think can fill in some of the holes you are seeing in the documentation. There is definitely a learning curve. In general the plans call out rivet sizes or bolt sizes and you need to be able to figure out the actual drill size. It becomes pretty easy once you know but you do need a way to make these determinations.