A

apatti

Well Known Member
All,

I emailed Van's and asked if they have electronic copies of the instructions (i.e. fuselage assembly instructions) they could send out. I often find myself searching through the instructions trying to find where a specific part number is referenced. This task would be much simpler if I could just use a word processor to search for me.

The reply I got was "Sorry. We do not." Does anyone have any idea why they wouldn't be willing to do this? I assume the instructions are not done on an IBM Selectric. And I don't know why they would be concerned about having electronic copies of the instructions floating around. It is not like therein lies their intellectual property.

Has anyone else asked Van's for this?

Thanks,
 
Try Staples

For just a few bucks Staples will scan several pages and turn them into an .pdf file. It takes a little coaxing, but you can get them to use their software to index the file, so you can use the search feature.

You really have to love optical character recognition. I think the charge is $3 per .pdf file.

I understand Van's concern with easy electronic re-distribution, but I can't help but think the majority of their profits can't come from preview plan sales. I think most builders would jump at the chance to spend a few bucks on a CD with everything on it. But, it's their call.

Paige Hoffart
RV-8A
Finish Kit
 
I asked also..

About 4 years ago I asked the document guy (I can't remember his name now) about getting a search-able version of the documentation. He said that the problem was that they used special document creation software and that converting to something that the general PC user could access would be very difficult.

Kent
 
That sounds plausable. I write a lot of technical material that's formatted in a language called LaTex. This produces technical documents that are publication quality; however, they are not readable in Word, Excel, etc.
 
I don't have much trouble with the instructions, but boy are there some times where searchable plans would be nice! I've stared at some drawings for a long time looking for a particular part # ... they can be hard to find! :eek:

T.
 
I was told by an official at Vans that the material is copyrighted and they don't want unofficial versions drifting around the internet.

That being said, they should put up an instructions/plans search engine on their website that will give page number hits. Then you can refer to your hardcopy. They can control their copyrighted material, yet still help the builders searching for "Widget 602".

I think that this would be minimal cost because they can cross-reference most items & keywords in 'the list' with plan/instruction page numbers pretty quickly. The devil is in the details, but it would be a start.

Vern Little
 
can be done - fairly easy

A lot of new copy machines have the "Scan and E-Mail" function.


Scan it in, email it to yourself, open it in Adobe Acrobat Pro and use the "Recognize Text using OCR".

Hope this helps...
 
kentb said:
He said that the problem was that they used special document creation software and that converting to something that the general PC user could access would be very difficult.
Click to expand...
There's a PDF converter for just about everything these days. The copyright issue sounds more plausible to me. Vans probably just doesn't want us to fix the instructions for them. :)
 
Davepar said:
There's a PDF converter for just about everything these days. The copyright issue sounds more plausible to me. Vans probably just doesn't want us to fix the instructions for them. :)
Click to expand...


You're right, there is software to convert anything to just about anything Dave...however - I remember when we changed text editing software at work, and converted all of the Shuttle checklists and books (we call it Flight Data File, and it fills a couple of 60 pound lockers on every flight) to a different software package. Sure it was automatic - but that was followed by thousands and thousands of man-hours of proof reading to make sure that every comma, decimal point, and letter was the same as the old version. Very time-consuming and costly - and very necessary if you want to make sure you don't introduce errors.

And yes, I really wish that we had the Van's books electronically..... ;)

Paul
 
I scanned the instructions and saved the files under Rich Text Format. When I built my tail, I edited the pages and made notes within the document clarifying things for myself. I then printed these pages and used them during the build.
 
Dreaming Digital instructions

Well,
My bird is finished, and has nearly 800 hours on it, but the following thought might make a difference in the future: Imagine an instruction set on a web site (hint, hint) that was annotated with click-on comments from all you guys (sorry Roberta) who are building and have built. Looking for a part that is hard to find on the plans? Just click on its mention in the instructions and get the real dope from the guys who have already done it. Common problem with trailing edge? Click on it and find out the ten or twenty fixes that other guys (sorry Roberta) have come up with. Need to look at a picture of the spar join? And so forth. Now, Van might not like the idea, because it kinda gets out of control from the company's perspective. I bet that the number of completions would go up substantially, both because people would know up front what they're getting into, and the resource would be right in front of them all the time. But starting from the current instruction set, I bet that there are enough links to builder sites right now to fill out the whole deal in short order. Just dreamin.

Miller McPherson
RV-6 780+ hours
Cascabel AZ
 
Electronic copy of builders manual

The manual, searchable, not including the drawings are 150mb total.

Going to try and scan in the drawings later today.
 
My wife's company has a scanner that converts the files to .PDF. I had her scan the fuselage instructions for my slowbuild, pre matched hole RV8. The OCR function worked perfectly. I can now search the fuse instructions. BTW, I emailed Van's today to ask if they would mind me posting such files on the web. Here was Ken's response:

"I guess not...but we continously revise the manuals (and published
a completely new RV-8 fuse manual in August), so how many
people will one frozen version help? I think it would be better if
each individual who wanted to do this copied his own...then we
could be sure he's working from a manual that matches his kit."

The version issue is a point well taken. However, not everyone has acess to a .PDF scanner. So my suggestion is for those of us that can scan in our version and (with Doug's blessings) post them here. We should agree on a file naming convention that includes the model (RV7, RV8, etc), the section of the instructions (wings, fuselage, etc.), and the revision date that is in the footer of the instructions (i.e. 5-28-04). For example, I have a copy of the fuse section for the RV8 with the above revision date. The filename would be "RV8 - Fuselage - 05-28-04.pdf".

So, Doug, if you are listening, would this be OK with you. If you would prefer to verify that this is OK with Van's personally, I won't be offended. I do NOT take Ken's message to include permission to post any drawings from the manual. I did not mention drawings in my email to him and think they would be a completely separate issue.
 
I'll make mine available if it's ok.

apatti said:
footer of the instructions (i.e. 5-28-04). For example, I have a copy of the fuse section for the RV8 with the above revision date. The filename would be "RV8 - Fuselage - 05-28-04.pdf".
Click to expand...

I'll make mine available if there are no issues with Doug or Van's.

RV77A Construction Manual 12-05-06.pdf

It's the entire manual, minus the drawings.
 
Good Evening,

I am delurking here for a second as this is part of my area of expertise (document/info storage).

My suggestion to name files is to use one or more of the following:

model_yyyymmdd.extension
model_yyyymmdd_section.extension
model_yyyymmdd_section_page.extension



IE...

RV10_20061218.pdf
RV10_20061218_1.pdf
RV10_20061218_1_2.pdf


This way all the models will be grouped in date order when looking at the file name. (Date in yyyymmdd order will prevent the january files from being lumped with the december files, etc).

I would also pad the section and page fields to be filled with zeros on the left to make the sections and pages go in order as well. If the highest numbered section is for example, 245, all the sections would be padded to three digits (001, 002,003, 010,023,044, etc).

This way you can keep the files in a nice neat order when viewing them.

Anyway, just a humble suggestion from a raving infogeek. I am going back to lurking until I have space to order a RV-10 kit or can be of assistance in other areas!

SP
 
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