Or perhaps I should say another orphaned older empennage kit will be finished. For those of you who saw the RV-4 empennage kit in the Aeromart at Oshkosh I was the silly person who picked it up. It was a little worse for wear but at the price I figured that if I could get a legitimate builder number from Van's, then it was well worth the price.
I spoke with the guys at the Van's booth and one of them said "No problem, we'll just issue you a new builder number when you buy your wing kit." Cool. I almost ran back to the Aeromart with my cash in hand. I completed the purchase and hauled it back to my camper.
Now the fun begins. As I was unpacking it I noticed a few minor parts were missing. Nothing major, one of the rod ends for the elevator hinge was gone, etc. Hey, what do expect at that price. Anyway, I went back to the Van's booth and talked to one of the guys and asked if there was a packing list available to show me exactly what I should have in the kit. His response was significantly less enthusiastic about me having this orphaned kit. He said that Van's would help me track down the original owner to get it transfered to my name but it would still have to be done. Not the simple new build number initially suggested.
Once home, I called Van's to start the paperwork process. One of the ladies there was not overly helpful in this regaurd other than after hearing my story she said I would have to speak to Scott Risan. I don't blame her for not being helpful as I know my request was outside of the normal.
Scott on the other hand was incredibly helpful. He issued me a new builder number and explained what I needed to do to get the rest of the paperwork in order. Updated plans and the 27 years of the RVator are on there way.
As I'd suspected, with nearly 7000 examples of their kits having been completed, Van's has got to be doing something right in the customer service department.
I'm looking forward to starting to bang rivets this fall. I've loved the RV-4 for years, now I can have one of my own.
Doug MacDonald
NW Ontario Canada
RV-4 Newbie
Zenith CH-701 C-GBQX
I spoke with the guys at the Van's booth and one of them said "No problem, we'll just issue you a new builder number when you buy your wing kit." Cool. I almost ran back to the Aeromart with my cash in hand. I completed the purchase and hauled it back to my camper.
Now the fun begins. As I was unpacking it I noticed a few minor parts were missing. Nothing major, one of the rod ends for the elevator hinge was gone, etc. Hey, what do expect at that price. Anyway, I went back to the Van's booth and talked to one of the guys and asked if there was a packing list available to show me exactly what I should have in the kit. His response was significantly less enthusiastic about me having this orphaned kit. He said that Van's would help me track down the original owner to get it transfered to my name but it would still have to be done. Not the simple new build number initially suggested.
Once home, I called Van's to start the paperwork process. One of the ladies there was not overly helpful in this regaurd other than after hearing my story she said I would have to speak to Scott Risan. I don't blame her for not being helpful as I know my request was outside of the normal.
Scott on the other hand was incredibly helpful. He issued me a new builder number and explained what I needed to do to get the rest of the paperwork in order. Updated plans and the 27 years of the RVator are on there way.
As I'd suspected, with nearly 7000 examples of their kits having been completed, Van's has got to be doing something right in the customer service department.
I'm looking forward to starting to bang rivets this fall. I've loved the RV-4 for years, now I can have one of my own.
Doug MacDonald
NW Ontario Canada
RV-4 Newbie
Zenith CH-701 C-GBQX
