Feb 06, 2024     Laser-Cut 4 - (1 hour)       Category: Laser-Cut

Today Van's issued another review of the laser cut parts. There 4 new parts potentially with issue on the fuselage kit:

ANGLE, GEAR BASE F-01448A
BRACKET,GEAR BRACE F-01448C
TUNNEL SIDE F-01451-L
TUNNEL SIDE F-01451-R

I was able to find all these parts vinyl wrapped on my videos so they are not LCP and I will not be replacing those.

Additionally, on the new report, the parts below came now marked as “Van's will replace if damaged in the rebuild process”:

INBRD.NOSE RIB A-1015-1L
INBRD.NOSE RIB A-1015-1R

So these are not required to replace anymore.


After February 6th, 2024 updated report and Service Bulletin here is my plan to treat the issue:

RIB, COVER F-01438-L 4
RIB, COVER F-01438-R 4
The replacement of these parts is difficult and may cause damage to other parts.. I will have the new spare parts and analyze the effort to replace versus doing frequent inspections. As this is a “Recommended Replacement”, I will order part and only replace when I see signs of crack.


NOSE RIB A-1004-1L 2
NOSE RIB A-1004-1R 2
I will have these parts ordered and replaced as soon as they become available because these parts are not easily inspectable.


INBD. WING RIB .032 W-1010-L-1 1
INBD. WING RIB .032 W-1010-R-1 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029A-L 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029A-R 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029B-L 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029B-R 1
As this is a “Recommended Replacement”, I will order part and only replace when I see signs of crack.

  Jan 08, 2024     Laser-Cut 3 - (.5 hour)       Category: Laser-Cut

Van's released a new version of Laser Cut parts analysis. According to Vans, this review corrected missing Flap and Aileron components in the RV-14 Wing Section but I could not find any differences from Release 6 of the analysis.

After carefully reviewing the new list, I confirmed that there are no new parts subject to recommended/required replacement.

  Nov 13, 2023     Laser-Cut 2 - (1 hour)       Category: Laser-Cut

On November 10th, 2023 Vans released a reviewed report for the laser-cut parts. After carefully reviewing the new list, I confirmed that there are no new parts subject to recommended/required replacement.

Having said that, my plan is divided into two categories:

1) PARTS TO BE FREQUENTLY INSPECTED
The replacement of these parts is difficult and may cause damage to other parts... I will have the new spare parts and analyze the effort to replace them versus doing frequent inspections. As this is a “Recommended Replacement”, I might only replace it when I see signs of a crack.
F-01438-L
F-01438-R
W-1010-L-1
W-1010-R-1
W-1029A-L
W-1029A-R
W-1029B-L
W-1029B-R

2) PARTS TO BE REPLACED WHEN AVAILABLE
Replacement Recommended. I will have these parts ordered and replaced as soon as they become available because these parts are not easily inspectable.
A-1004-1L
A-1004-1R
A-1015-1L
A-1015-1R

  Sep 26, 2023     Laser-Cut 1 - (2 hours)       Category: Laser-Cut

Laser-cut parts issue:

Van's has reported a potential problem with laser-cut parts. I have performed a throughout investigation on my kit and, luckily, I have had just a few affected items.

Attached is the documentation I created to analyze the issue plus Van's documents describing the issue and recommendations for resolution.

This is my final list:

Fuselage support for control columns:
RIB, COVER F-01438-L 4
RIB, COVER F-01438-R 4

Aileron:
NOSE RIB A-1004-1L 2
NOSE RIB A-1004-1R 2
INBRD.NOSE RIB A-1015-1L 1
INBRD.NOSE RIB A-1015-1R 1

Wing:
INBD. WING RIB .032 W-1010-L-1 1
INBD. WING RIB .032 W-1010-R-1 1

Wing root, torque tube support:
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029A-L 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029A-R 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029B-L 1
TORQUE TUBE BRACKET W-1029B-R 1

The parts listed above are potentially subject to early fatigue failure. I will now make a deeper investigation of each one of them to identify if there is indeed an issue and determine next steps and correction plan.