You are not alone........
+1.
I finished my HS last week, never noticed the relief in the plans.
This should really be in the instructions, or at least a clearer note in the drawings to make sure this gets done.....
So sounds like many of us are in the same boat on this. My HS is done, and I did not notice the relief holes either. However, I made a conscious decision NOT to add them after having an experienced RV builder who had built several RVs over the years basically tell me that if I was concerned about it to add them, but if not, then don't worry about it. He thought that the bend area would be OK, as long as I smoothed out the area as much as possible to prevent any stress risers from forming, which I did. Problem is he never looked over the plans or anything either.
I decided not to add them based in part on his advise, also ebcause they were not mentioned in the book. In fact, until I read this thread I was convinced that they were not on the plans either. So, after looking them over again, and to be a little more specific, here are the issues that I agree Van's should address in their plans:
1. There is no mentioned to create the relief holes for the -8 assembly instructions, but there definitely is in the RV 7 instructions. If needed the instructions should be added to the -8 isntructions.
2. Section A-A view on the HS plans does seem to show a relief hole near the bend, but there is so much other stuff going on in that drawing it is difficult to tell for certain. The other problem I noticed is that the lines are solid instead of dashed, which leads one to think that those lines belong to the angle HS 814 and HS 810 parts in the front, and NOT part of HS 702 flange in the back. The lines should be dashed, and more attention called to the relief holes in that area of the the plans.
3. Best for last, as some of you have indicated, if you look at the isometric view in the HS plans, there they are --discreetly drawn in the center section -- relief holes in the bend line of the HS 702 flange. I think that Vans should add a note to call attention to these.
I guess at this point I would like to hear from any other RV 8 drivers with completed airplanes that also did not apply these relief holes to HS 702 to see if they experienced any cracking in this area over time, and if they had to repair, or worse yet, replace an entire HS as a result.
How frustrating it is to think you managed to address everything correctly in the plans, only to find out about this well after the fact........