My empenage kit was pre-punched, matched hole. The earlier kit was different in certain areas. I do not know the details since I only worked with the newer version.
The earlier kits [mine] were pre-punched. All the rivet holes [undersized] were punched in the HS, VS, Rudder and Elevator skins. The rear spars on both the HS and VS were also pre-punched, but the front spars were not. The HS and VS ribs did not have rivet holes drilled [hence not "matched hole" drilled]
You had to cut and taper all the rudder & elevator stiffener angles yourself and they obviously were not pre-punched. The rudder spar was pre-punched but the end ribs were not. The end ribs and spars on the elevators were not pre-punched, as I recall.
The later [matched hole] kits require less work from the builder.
The old RV3, 4 and most of the 6 kits had no pre-punching done. You had to lay out and drill all the rivet lines yourself.
Charlie Kuss
