Wing Kit is Here

My RV-7 wing kit has arrived. It was shipped by truck and delivered by a subcontractor with a truck with a hydraulic lift. Apparently this is how they handle residential deliveries, i.e. deliveries to locations that don’t have forklifts.

The kit came in two wooden crates, one long and thin and one wide and flat. This is the only long crate that will be shipped with any of the kits. As such, there are a couple of parts in the kit that would normally be shipped with the fuselage kit, like the 15+ foot long longerons. I’ve carefully stored these away for later when I start on the fuselage.

Another fuselage part that I have now is the wing center section. This is the pass-through structural component that the wings are bolted to and is matched exactly to my main wing spars. Because these are built together at Vans, they ship them together with the wing kit.

My first task is to inventory the entire kit. There is an 8-page parts list and I need to count and inspect everything to ensure it’s present and undamaged. The bulk of the time is spent inventorying the hardware and small parts which come in many small bags.

I’ve organized the parts in compartmentalized storage cases so I can easily find everything when I need it. There are a lot of different rivets, bolts, washers, screws, and nutplates. There are also interesting things like drain fittings, fuel tank caps, pipes, tubes, and pushrod hardware.

There are big parts as well: Front and rear spars; ribs for the main, front, and fuel tank sections of the wing; ribs and stiffeners for the flaps and ailerons; skins for everything; and huge fiberglass wingtips.