Another Delay, another Kit ordered

Well, it looks like I'm back into the waiting game.  I just got a letter from Van's that they are not going to ship my wing kit next week.   One of the key items--the main wing spars--have been problematic for them to obtain.  Today, they got their shipment of spars and found them non-airworthy.   From their letter...

WHAT HAPPENED

A large batch of RV-15 spar webs were returned from the anodizing process with both cosmetic and structural defects that make them unsuitable for use in your airframe. We rejected the entire affected lot.  

The letter went on to say that I have the option of getting my partial kit shipped next week and the spars "later", but it will cost me about an additional $700 in shipping.  On the other hand, they are taking orders for Tail Kits and are pretty optimistic that those will start shipping "in May" at a rate of 2/day.  They explicitly stated that it was possible that Tail Kits might hit the door prior to complete Wing Kits.

I just ordered the Tail Kit (by pulling funds from the recently opened HELOC) and will wait to see when they publish an estimated shipping date, and possibly an updated ship date for the wing kit.  I doubt the latter, as they said that they're not even sure when they're going to get another batch of wing spars (from a different provider.)

While I was typing this entry, I've been debating what do do with my options for the wing kit.  I finally realized that I want to get going on this project since I've been waiting ever since July of last year.  I'll spend the $700 for the spar shipment when it's ready.   There's a reasonable amount of work that can be done w/o the spars (e.g., inventory, demurring, assembly of the ailerons and flaps) while waiting for the spars.  If needed, I'll work on the tail kit if the spars still are delayed excessively (which I doubt.)

Let's go!

Update on N76012

 Now that I'm back in the business of keeping a blog, I might as well bring you all up to speed on the RV-12, N76012, the namesake of this blog.  This is keeping my busy while I wait a phone call from Vans asking me for the final payment for my -15s Wing Kit.  Hopefully sometime early next week.

Probably the biggest change/upgrade I have done was back in 2021 I when I added a second D1000 display for the copilot.   Mostly, it was an exercise in having something significant to accomplish because, quite frankly, a D1000 for the pilot is a marvel of putting everything you need into one package.   I will admit, however, that even at 10", the screen is awfully crowded when all 3 logical pages are enabled.  By putting a (nearly) fully redundant display on the right, I now typically fly with one display showing the Flight Instruments (80 %) and engine (20 %) and the other shows Map (80 %) and Engine (20 %).

Last year, I was shocked to find no compression on #2 during my annual condition inspection.  Turned out that something chewed up the valve/valve seat as we found lots of impact marks when we removed & replaced parts.  The cylinder and piston head were spotless, and even the A&P who repaired the cylinder head was perplexed as to what had caused it.   Getting it repaired took me up a level in terms of maintenance.  A former student of mine, Fred, was so enamored with his new RV-12 that he took the Rotax Heavy Maintenance course.  Armed with his new knowledge, he helped me pull the #2 head & cylinder, the former of which was sent to Lockwood Aviation in FL for their repair of the valve seat and installation of a new valve.  While I was at it, I added EGT's to #1 and #2 so I now have all 4 EGTs displayed on the engine page.  I figure it'll help me notice another valve failure if I suddenly get much hotter readings on one cylinder.   Since I don't have a mixture control, it's purely observation rather than engine management like on the Cirrus.

Getting the #2 cylinder off required dissection of the fiberglass shroud used for cooling and the subsequent re-glassing is incredibly ugly.  As it turns out, Vans has issued a letter stating that the shroud is essentially useless and legacy RV-12s fly just fine without one.   Hmmm...

This is my 10th year flying the RV-12.  It is no longer a brand new plane.  There have been lots of other things (not all of which are minor) that I'll skip for now.   Rotax calls out replacing all rubber components every 5 years.  I don't want to do that again this year.  I also realize that I don't know what I don't know.  Instead of doing my own condition inspection, I've elected to fly her up to Advanced Powerplant Solutions in Wisconsin.  They are one of 3 Rotax shops in the US and they do airframes, too.  I'm going to have them do the condition inspection of the airframe and the engine so I can have them double check my inspection abilities.  Since replacing all of the rubber components requires a fair amount of dissection of accessories off of the engine (including an oil thermostat installed a few years ago) I've asked them to remove the fiberglass baffle that is worthless and really impedes access to the engine.   

I'm hoping to fly her up there in 4 days.  The current Prog Charts are favorable.  If I launch as planned, Ed will come get me in the Cirrus.

OK, that's enough rambling for today.  C'ya!

Financing finally in place

I finally got the home equity line of credit established.   I have decoupled the financing and the building, which was something that had been worrying me.   With the HELOC in my back pocket, I'll write to Van's today and ask them to confirm the 4/21 date or provide me an update.

Quite frankly, I've been a bit confused since I expected them to have called me a few weeks ago to give me the final price (balance due, sales tax & shipping).   We'll see what happens when I send them a "what's up?" email.

-----

Update:  Got a short, but nice reply from Kit Sales at Van's.  They confirmed that the expected shipping date is indeed 4/21.  What's changed in the intervening decade is that they no longer collect the shipping charges.  Instead, I'll be contacted directly by the shipping company and will pay them directly prior to their release of the shipment.   I'm still waiting for Van's to ask for the final payment, but I'm sure they'll get around to it 😁.

Delivery Date un-Delayed ?

 So, the letter I got from Van's the other day said they'd update their database of predicted shipping dates.  As of 30 minutes ago, my ship date now reads 4/21/26.   I've been moved forward by 2 months instead of back a month.

I have a guess as to what's going on.  (This assumes that the above date is not an error and will vanish in the next few days.)   I originally submitted my order and deposit back in July 2026 when Van's officially announced that they were taking orders.  I have to admit, I really didn't think they would hit their promised Dec 31, 2026 initial shipping date and lined up neither finances nor construction space.  I was surprised when they called me in the 2nd week of December and I had to give up my place in line.  This was totally fair as it was outlined in the agreement.  I also gave up $1000, which again, was fair because it was in the agreement.

I lined up finances (I sign the loan documents next Tuesday), the construction space (our garage) and re-placed my order along with a second deposit, on January 19.  I never received my first deposit back, but after several email & phone exchanges, they found the first deposit and added it to the second deposit and did not debit the $1000 in the process😊.

My suspicion is that since my July 2025 deposit is still in their account, I am being sequenced by that deposit date instead of the Jan 2026 deposit. 

Like I said, the site's database was updated only about an hour ago.  I'll be expecting a call from them with (1) a confirmation of expected shipping date, (2) quoted shipping costs and (3) a request for payment of the balance due.

Delivery Date Delayed

I got a letter from Van's yesterday.   Basically, they bit off more than they could chew and have some indigestion with respect to assembling, crating and shipping wing kits.   VAF is full of frustrated posts regarding wing kits that did not have the main spars included, but are backordered without an expected shipping date.  As you can imagine, it's very frustrating to have lots of parts (ribs, skins, etc) but no spar upon which to attach them.

Van's letter explicitly acknowledges this and states that they are holding shipments for approximately 30 days while they get back on track with their suppliers.  They will be expediting delivery of the backordered spars (and other items) to the kits that have already been shipped, and then resume shipments of complete kits.

While I'm not happy that my delivery date is being pushed back, I am very happy that Van's is doing it.  This is just another variation of "do it right or do it over" and I'll have a full kit (and hopefully updated instructions) when my kit ships sometime in July.

New name for the blog

This blog was originally named "The Building of N76012", which is the N-number of the RV-12 that I started in 2013.  Now that I'm preparing to build an RV-15, the name needs to be changed.  I don't have an N-number for the RV-15 yet, so it's not an option to just extend the title to include the new N-number.  That's also not particularly elegant.

Turns out, I already had a name and it fits perfectly.   "Hill's Air Force LLC" is a small holding company for the express purpose of titling all of my aviation assets.  Specifically, N76012 and two hangars at the Delaware Municipal Airport, H-10 and H-11.  With the upcoming addition, HAF will be comprised of two aircraft in two hangars.  Now the blog name is quite fitting.

I won't change the URL and will leave that as homage to the RV-12.

Hey, I'm Back

Hey, I'm Back

I'm back because I did a thing.   

In addition to flying N76012 more than 400 hours since the last time I posted 8 years ago,  I've also continued to expand what I want out of my aviation life.  I sold N7623V (and still have a bit of heartache) and became a partner in N883CD, an early model Cirrus SR-22.  I've renewed my tailwheel endorsement.  I got some multi-engine training.  I've been to Airventure (twice).  I earned my ATP certificate (not that I will ever need it). I joined the Commemorative Air Force and am checked out in an antique PT-26.   And I'm bored.

So, like I said, I did a thing.   I put down a deposit and am waiting for the first kit of a Van's RV-15 to be delivered to my house so I can start all over and build another plane.   My lovely wife, Lada, graciously let me have the 2 car garage at our previous house when I built N76012 and she stepped up and has bequeathed the new 3 car garage for this new project.   Delivery is tentatively set for mid June 2026.  I'm guessing I will need 3 years to build the RV-15.   When it's airworthy, I will sell my share of the Cirrus (again, with much heartache) and fly both of my RV's for a few years (perchance a decade?) before Father Time says it's time for me to make my last flight.

Why the RV-15?

Photo taken from Van's website

It's different.  The RV-12 is a fantastic, low, slow fun training airplane but it really isn't useful for going places because it's slow and has a very small luggage space and grosses out when you add 30 lb of luggage with me & Lada.   I love the Cirrus, but she is expensive.  Not only that, they cost a lot!  In exchange for that money, you can go fast to paved airports.  Paved airports with long runways.  The Cirrus crosses the fence at 77 kt.   3000' is a relatively short runway.  This is great for cities and such.

The RV-15 is very different.  It's the perfect plane to scratch several itches.   It's fast enough to be a good "go somewhere" plane, similar to the Cardinal.   It's got gobs of useful load so we can carry large suitcases (she prefers to be well prepared in her travels) or -- God forbid -- camping equipment.   It's a tail dragger.  It's designed for off-airport operations.   I doubt that I'll do a lot of off-airport ops, but I am surprised that I find myself looking forward to doing some camping.   Lada loves the outdoors, so this will be a nice tool for her to explore the US's wilderness.  Van's is predicting about 400' for both take off and landing.   Fudge that by 50 % and that's 600'.   There are lots and lots of small, grass fields that are 1000'.   If I really get ballsy, there are many more open fields of that length.   Who knows?   Maybe this machine will let the two of us go out to somewhere in Montana, find a field in the middle of nowhere, camp out on a moonless night, let my eyes will adapt to the darkness and I will see the Milky Way with my own eyes.