After waiting for about 3 months after completing the wing kit I finally received both the fuselage kit and the empennage kit on Friday, December 5. My birthday was December 2, this is some BIRTHDAY present!! I have to compliment Van's because the combined shipment most likely saved me about $300. The shipment was contained in two manageable wooden shipping crates. Lots and lots of parts. Performed the inventory of the empennage kit on Saturday. One item was backordered, the VS-1210 bearing bracket and the parts listing indicated I would receive a separate shipment via FedEx or UPS containing two fairings, the upper and lower tailcone fairings. All parts, with the exception of those mentioned were accounted for. And, there was absolutely no damage to any of the parts. Van's is putting a lot of work into packaging and protecting all of the skins and the multitude of parts in the kits.
On Sunday, I performed the inventory of the fuselage kit. You would not believe how many parts are contained in the hardware kit associated with the fuselage kit. I would say there are about 2X compared to the wing kit or the empennage kit. One part, the F-1203J doubler was missing from the kit and four (4) AN3-7 bolts were backordered. Have to say, Van's has a darn good batting average. Of the 3 kits received to date, this is the first item missing from the thousands and thousands of parts received.
Quickly determined I was out of storage space thus had to negotiate with Renee to use the spare bedroom for storage. You DO have to have a saint of a wife to survive the building process. The picture shows the fuselage parts now residing in the spare bedroom along with the flaperons. I am more than ready to start assembly. Will most likely start the empennage assembly on Tuesday. Monday will be spent Christmas shopping with Renee.
