[RVG8tor]

OK I think I have been bit by the poor instructions in the finish kit. I started to work on my skirts, the instructions say trim the skirt to within a 1/4" of the guide marks. I dutifully did this and then started to tape the skirt in place for best fit. It was then that things looked funny in the front. The guide line has a curve at the corners in the front, then I look at the drawings and it looks like the skirt is to be trimmed with no curve. Why in the heck would they do this to a builder. I am not done with the final fitting so I might be able to salvage this, at the very least I have the scrap cut off and I guess I can glass it back together. I just don't understand why the instructions in the later stages of the project have to be so bad, it is not like there have not been years to get them updated. I know Van's has moved onto other projects but heck they could just contract some experienced builders to write up some new instructions.

Anyone else make this mistake, if you can call it that, I just did what the instructions told me to do? Picture shows the trim line, I actually left a 1/2" at the top because I glued the canopy on and want to make sure the top edge of the skirt covers the glue line.

On a good note the skirts seem to fit fairly well, though it seems like I might get a better fit starting fro the front and then doing cuts and glass work to make the aft end fit perfectly. I have never done fiberglass work so I will be learning a lot over the next couple months.

Cheers

 

[chrispratt]

Mike:

When I fit the skirts to my -8 five, maybe six years ago the instructions were about the same. They referred to scrawl lines in the fiberglass that would act as a guide for the first cut. The lines were extremely difficult to find but I could detect what looked like organized scratches in the fiberglass. The cut for the first side was close and fit okay for a rough (I seem to recall it was the right side) so I dutifully cut the second side following the scratches on that piece. The cut on this one was so far off that it didn't even cover all the fuselage metal not to mention leaving any overlap.

My helper and I looked at each other with a what the >*@#$ expression. I called Van's and they were of little help other than to cheerfully fill my order for a replacement piece for the canopy skirt. I can't remember the exact cost (somewhere north of $100 I'm certain), and I think most of that went into building the beautiful wood crate it was shipped in (I'm still using the crate as a work table). Perhaps the crate builder could be trained for fiberglass work.

Needless to say I was not happy and would have thought Van would have fixed this glaring error by now. Based on your post, I guess not. Considering that there are now almost 1,000 RV-8/8A flying, it would be nice if Van would revisit this kit and update a few things -- like the instructions for one, and these ridiculous scratched lines on the skirts for another.

I know this doesn't help you much other than to say, you are not alone.

Chris