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Kit Question

dwollen89

Well Known Member
Question for the group. I'm new to building and after a looooong wait, I just received my first kit yesterday from Vans! I am very excited to get going! I'm inventorying my tail kit and I'm finding a lot of parts that are obviously pre-owned. Many parts don't have the blue plastic film, some have already been partially deburred and I've even found some that are partially dimpled. I feel like I bought a used kit :mad: Is this normal?
 
I don’t think you received any pre-owned parts. Some of the thicker and harder to dimple parts are done for you by the factory.
 
depending on the shape of the part a few things have to be formed before they're heat treated i.e. the soft alloy gets the formed then heat treated after. Those parts aren't going to have blue film on them.

Having said that, I don't remember any empennage parts being pre-dimpled on my 7 kit. You didn't say what you're building so maybe it's different?

call Vans tomorrow if you want to confirm one way or the other.
 
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Lack of Blue Film is Normal

I just picked up my first RV-10 kit (wings) last week and took the factory tour while at Van's. One of the first things our tour guide covered was the blue film on many of the parts, and how apparently missing blue film leads to one of the most common types of calls that they get. As previously mentioned, it is due to the shape of the part (usually a compound curve). The blue film is applied to the flat sheet material that is already in a T3 state when received in the factory and will only be on parts that can be formed in this hardened state.
 
Some parts on my 14 Emp were dimpled because they were in locations where you couldn't do it.
 
Some kit parts get heat treated. for those parts. they wont have any plastic in place, and usually they have a dull finish from being in the heat treat bath.

As mentioned, some holes get pre-dimpled if they will be very difficult to dimple after the part is formed.

Sometimes there is even some localized deburring if it is critical to the forming of the part.

Enjoy building
 
Pre-built

Some kit parts get heat treated. for those parts. they wont have any plastic in place, and usually they have a dull finish from being in the heat treat bath.

As mentioned, some holes get pre-dimpled if they will be very difficult to dimple after the part is formed.

Sometimes there is even some localized deburring if it is critical to the forming of the part.

Enjoy building

On the 7? Not mine...
 
I'm building the 7a. I'm guessing the above posts are correct that it was done at the factory. I looked at them again and it seems the deburring/scuffing and dimpling are in the locations that would be a pain in the arse to reach.

Thanks everyone for the replies. One of the many questions I'm sure that I'll have as I continue on this adventure.
 
I'm working on a 10 and the tip ribs for the elevators were not wrapped in blue, had fluting, dimples and some deburring already done. They still needed a fair amount of work to get the webs flat and flanges to 90. Definitely the roughest looking parts in 10 emp kit.
 
Rough parts

I mentioned this to our tour guide when I did the Vans factory tour a few weeks ago. A simple slip of paper in the kit paperwork would likely save Vans having to explain this to every new builder who has the same question and emails or calls tech support. How hard would it be?

Keith
 
Some kit parts get heat treated. for those parts. they wont have any plastic in place, and usually they have a dull finish from being in the heat treat bath.

As mentioned, some holes get pre-dimpled if they will be very difficult to dimple after the part is formed.

Sometimes there is even some localized deburring if it is critical to the forming of the part.

Enjoy building

Exactly the way my empennage turned up and I asked the questions…perfectly normal. Mine is a late model 7 the dimpling is done (specifically the end ribs at the rear)
 
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...<snip >

How many years ago was it that you got your tail kit :rolleyes:

Ouch. That stings. Yes. I've slept since then. To be fair, I bought the empennage from someone else. Untouched but in storage so I'm not quite that far behind. It does have some forming marks done by stones!:D
 
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