Kit Aircraft Modifications

I want to spend some time talking about the poor quality of the fiberglass components that come with aluminum airframe kits. This issue has been in the forefront of many conversations in the RV-10 Matronix list that I belong to. I have experience with Van’s kits and that is what I will talk to today.

Many of my fellow builders are looking at replacing major composite components in the kit including the doors and the main canopy structure. Van’s ship one heck of a kit when you are talking about the aluminum structure. They fall way short when you look at the fit and finish of their fiberglass components. There is little doubt that an inordinate amount of time and physical effort is going into bringing the rough components up to a standard that we as builders would accept.

I have noticed that a pretty hefty sum of money is spent by the average builder in purchasing finishing supplies and tools. This all adds up and I am hearing that many a builder wants the option of purchasing these components at a much higher level of quality, fit and finish. They have said that they understand that there would be a premium paid for this but most were only happy to accept the lower level of fiberglass dust in their lungs.

There have been some problems with the doors and the hinges on the RV-10. This is not to say there is any safety issue but rather, issues with the difficulty in getting the doors to fit properly into the canopy structure with proper clearances. Some are asking for a complete canopy structure with the doors already attached and a center upper console installed. Looks like an opportunity if the price could be kept low enough.

This brought out the people worried that the 51% rule would no longer be valid. I think that if the builder still has to do the trimming to fit the fuselage structure then the spirit of the rule would be met. It only takes into effect the task to be learned amongst all tasks to be learned rather than the amount of hours spent on each task.

I don’t think that Van’s has any intention of changing any aspect of their fiberglass component construction. What I do think is that there is a market out there that is showing a demand for higher quality fiberglass parts.

Dave

How many of you have had an issue, a bad experience, lost money, were poorly treated, received a poor quality product, received inadequate installation instructions, couldn’t get repair parts or ended up having to call a lawyer?

Why is it that dealing with supply of accessories tends to be one of the worst parts of building an aircraft? Here we are shelling out huge dollars to buy not only the kit but all of the various accessories that go along with it.

I recently purchased an overhead console for my RV-10 from a supplier in Utah. This is a fiberglass unit that fits into the upper canopy of the RV-10. It comes with eyeball vents, LED lights and a DVD player for the rear passengers.

At the time of the purchase I talked with the owner about payment and shipping as I live in Southwestern Ontario. He indicated to me that this console was very awkward and that packaging it was difficult. It turned up at the UPS depot in a heap of cardboard sheets and boxes that had miles of packing tape cobbling it all together. The smaller box on the inside had busted open allowing all of the contents spill all over the place. The lovely eyeball vents were rolling around and one of the small boxes that had the LED light in it had adhered to a bit of tape right beside a gaping hole in the outer cardboard box.

So here I am. Happy to receive my expensive box. I get it open and start looking for documentation on how to install it. No diagram. No instructions. No more than my own idea on how it needs to be installed. I sat there in my shop thinking, “Why do I have to figure this out myself?”

So I buck it up and flip the canopy over on my work bench and place the console in place. Sort of. This thing doesn’t really fit. The design has a fairly contoured shape that is supposed to fit over the front bow of the canopy. This fits not too bad but as you move aft there is another pronounced flange feature designed to fit the jog where the canopy thins. If you set the front in place the mid step doesn’t fit by about 3/4″ and you can’t easily reposition it because the aft most end of the console has a flange that has to mate with the bulkhead at the rearmost end of the baggage compartment.

This has stopped me in my tracks! Do I cut the thing in half? This seems like the only way to resolve the issue. What gets me is why the thing wasn’t designed as a 2 piece system from the get go. Then it would be able to allow for the variance in quality and dimensions of the non-tool side of the canopy. We have to glass the thing into the canopy anyway.

When are the people who supply accessories and components for our airplanes going to get the fact that we expect high quality?

I am interested in hearing your stories. We need to get the word out to the industry that we expect more. I am not saying that there aren’t great companies out there. There are! It is those who think that quality assurance is a cost who need to wake up and realize what they are losing. Word-of-mouth can make a great year for a company but it can also do the opposite. I had someone contact me the other day regarding a product I am about to market. He wanted to know if I would take them back if they didn’t work out. He indicated that he had been burned a number of times by being an early adopter.

How hard is it to source proper packaging to ensure that your product gets to its destination unscathed? How hard is it to make sure that there are proper instructions and diagrams in the package to support the product? Why don’t you understand that we are your bread and butter?

I’ll say right here that Total Customer Comfort is going to be the mantra that my company lives by. A 100% Satisfaction Guarantee is no longer enough. I am going for 100% customer comfort as well.

I am still in the set-up phase of this blog site so some of the page links have yet to be set. If you want to contact me please feel free to use the following mailbox.

davehertner@kitaircraftmods.com

Dave