Before I dove head first into this endeavor I wanted to make absolutely sure this is what I really wanted to get myself into. As most builders know, this isn't so much a project as it is a journey, sometimes satisfying, more often frustrating and painfully slow at times. Little did my loving wife Kathy know that during our long overdue honeymoon up the Pacific Coast Highway that we would be detouring slightly to tour the Van's factory. Fortunately the finicky Oregon weather turned out beautiful that day and we ended up with a nice tour through the facility on a Friday when the regular employees are off so it was nice and quiet.
The facility as you have probably seen in other pictures isn't that large and contains countless aluminum parts, sheets and production equipment.
The one image shows the dreaded "blueing" vinyl coating equipment that adds the protective vinyl layer to the alclad parts.
Out back of the facility is the hangar where the demo airplanes are kept. On this day the RV-14 and RV-12 demo aircraft were already online getting ready to go for a flight. Unfortunately the poor RV-8A demo bird has been prop-less for a while and hasn't flown demo's for a while.
One of the very important things that I wasn't 100% sure of before my visit that got answered during my visit is the ability to replace a part of any kit. Basically if you screw up a part, just call Van's tech support and tell them you need a new one, even though it may not show up as a part that is available to order, they can ship you any part that they make in their facility. Point being, don't be afraid to screw a part up, you can always get another one.