Thoughts from a new builder
I started my first ever airplane build (RV-10) in November. I have completed the rudder, elevators, VS, and HS. I was just prepping the ribs for the tailcone when I received the email from Van's. Sure enough, all of the parts for the tailcone that could be lasercut are indeed lasercut. At this point, I have stopped building because I don't want to invest any more time until we know what's happening.
My priority, personally, would be for them to release the procedure for replacing specific parts. I would love to get my tailcone parts replaced so that I could continue building so I don't lose too much momentum. My fuselage kit was supposed to be here Dec-Jan (which I can only assume will be delayed) but I'm not going to make final payment until I know how this situation is resolved.
Now, my bigger concern is not really urgent, but a huge concern. What about all of my finished components? I suspect that there are at least some lasercut parts in there, given my delivery date and the fact that all of my tailcone parts are lasercut. What I'm waiting on, as many of you are as well, is an inspection procedure. How do I find out if my parts are lasercut on my completed components. Probably more importantly, how do I figure out if they are BAD lasercut parts that need to be replaced? Looking at just the rivets I can take picture of with my cellphone, I'm not seeing any cracks in the spar flanges.
So I'd love some guidelines -- like "buy a boroscope with a specific macro ability, and then examine these specific pieces, looking for these certain issues". My parts are primed, so hopefully I can visually tell if there are underlying cracks.
Let's assume the worst case for me -- I need to replace all spars in my R, E, VS, and HS. Depending on how Van's handles that, I may or may not continue with this project. I'm not sure that I can be motivated to start completely over with the entire project, nor am I sure how much that will cost me.
I think some things Van's could do that I would consider reasonable are:
- For built components, replace all of the parts for that component, not jus the lasercut parts.
- For built components, provide instructions on how to salvage specific parts from the build parts, then provide replacements for the lasercut parts and other non-salvageable parts.
I won't be happy if I have to start over from scratch, but I'd be even less happy if I first had to spend a bunch of time drilling out a few thousand rivets, trying not to damage anything. Because I will certainly damage things. I'm already going to be spending the labor, and more primer, etc, so I'd appreciate not having to purchase my own replacement parts.
For example, the skins. I have a few blemishes on the skins already since I'm a newbie. I know that if I have to drill out every rivet on every skin, I will cause some more damage here and there, and will most likely need to use quite a few oops rivets when I re-assemble. Finally, I'm sure I'll cause at least a few more blemishes on a full second round of riveting. In other words, the salvaged skins would suffer the scars of three rounds of work. That's too much for me. Van's should send new skins for free for each component already assembled, at the very least.