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dent in main spar

P

peter houpt

Member
I unpacked the wing spars. There are some bends as shown in the pictures attached. I am waiting on a reply from the engineer of VAN. I am curious about the opinions in this forum.
Buying a new one is a tremendous set back in time and money (living in the Netherlands)
 

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The rib attach angles appear reasonably easily to fix but that bend in the spar flange may be a no go but listen to Vans!

Looks like hidden freight damage.
 
Edge treatment

It looks like the spar edges were not deburred and rounded over per Van's Section 5 before they were anodized. What are builders generally doing - leaving "as-is" or making good?
 
PaulvS said:
It looks like the spar edges were not deburred and rounded over per Van's Section 5 before they were anodized. What are builders generally doing - leaving "as-is" or making good?
Click to expand...

I debated this and ended up rounding and priming them. Probably not necessary but that’s how I did the rest of the plane.
 
PaulvS said:
It looks like the spar edges were not deburred and rounded over per Van's Section 5 before they were anodized. What are builders generally doing - leaving "as-is" or making good?
Click to expand...

Yeah this is a sore spot with me on all of Vans factory assembled parts like the main spar and the center section of the RV-12. They say “do as we say” not “do as we do” in this regard.

When called on it the typical response is: “Our engineers have tested the longevity of these assemblies and proclaim them acceptable. Build on.”

No way am I disassembling a spar or disturbing the anodized coating to do a proper deburring and edge treatment job on mine so they will get used as is. Never was an issue for my RV7.
 
Last edited:
spar replaced

van's engineer didn’t like what he saw and they are sending a new spar. I feel a little bit sorry for them and I hope they can claim it by the transport firm
 
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