Just can't keep up and Fuselage delivery Saga

Despite my best intentions to document various things related to my attempt to build and fly my own airplane, I am coming to the conclusion that I just can't keep up. This year has been an absolute whirlwind of activity for me. I had an awesome time at Airventure this year, but with a new trailer and everything that was going on I just could not keep pace with it all, so there are no more "real time" posts of Airventure, despite my best intentions.

I will mention that while at EAA Airventure 2018 I did get word from Vans that my Quick Build Fuselage kit had arrived at their facility after being shipped to the USA from the Philippines, and that it had passed their inspection. Perhaps I have already mentioned that. Like I said - I can't keep up. After Airventure I then had a window of opportunity for the trucking company (Partain Trucking), to deliver my fuselage during the month of August. As long as it was delivered in August I was ready to receive it on any day at any time. If it could not be done until September then I would need to wait until after my return from Europe - a long awaited bucket list vacation that I had been planning for months.

As it turned out plans were in the works to deliver it to me in August, but then the truck driver injured his back and I was notified that there was no alternate truck or driver that would be available any time soon. So everything once again was put on hold until after my return from Europe. Fast forward to mid September. I suddenly get an email from the trucking company telling me that they were scheduled to load nd that my fuse would finally be on its way. I had received no communication from Vans about anything. When I called then to confirm, and to complain about the lack of communication, it seemed like nobody knew anything.

Anyway, on Saturday September 22, 2018, a big truck pulled up with my fuselage - after 5 months of waiting. I started this order on April 20, 2018. I am glad that it finally happened, but I am extremely unhappy with Vans and Partain trucking for their utter lack of communication with me about the entire shipping from process. Seems like Vans had the attitude that since I was not using their "standard" shipping methods that everything was up to me and Partain Trucking. Pretty pathetic as far as I am concerned, especially considering the amount of money involved in this whole affair. On that note, I have also seen recent evidence from other builders of what their "standard" shipper BDS freight has done to all but demolish various crated kits from Vans. So the bottom line is you are not any better off using one shipping or trucking company over another, and Vans does not seem very interested in communicating with you either, but they will certainly take your money.

So sorry to be sour about this, since this is supposed to be an exciting adventure, but there are always challenges with fulfilling any worthwhile dream, and I have certainly had mine with this latest effort. While the delivery went without any issues, and was actually kind of cool to witness, about 2 days later while conducting a much more thorough damage inspection I did find a couple of issues with the firewall - you know - that part of the plane that is subject to lions share of all the vibrations and shaking that an aircraft is exposed to. So that then required more phone calls and emails to the rucking company as well as Vans. Had to send pictures and wait for engineers to assess the damage, and then I would have to decide if I agree with their assessment or not. There was a blackish stain in the "stainless" steel firewall web, and a small dent and crease in the web on the lower left corner where "something" had obviously pushed in the corner a bit and caused another area to be creased slightly. To me, event though there were no punctures or cracks,  the damage was still such that it might cause that area of the firewall to fatigue more quickly than normal, and so I was concerned.

Vans engineers reviewed my photos and determined that the damage was "cosmetic" in nature and nothing to be concerned about. For the record this is about the second or third time I have had to question some substantially different material issue about something with my kit or parts that others don't seem to have issues with, and it just makes me wonder sometimes. At any rate, I did agree with them that the dent in the bottom corner is probably not a huge concern, because it is just an empty void part of the structure than only provides a mounting surface for the bottom forward skin to attach to as it wraps around the bottom of the fuse. The crease, however, does still concern me a bit. I will have to watch this area closely after I am flying to see what happens. They also told me the stain was not an issue, but they could not tell me what it was from or why I am unable to clean it off. I also received an email from Mitch Lock, the current president of Van's Aircraft, affirming what he told me over the phone regarding their engineer's assessment of the damage to my firewall. That will unfortunately be going in the safe deposit box for safe keeping.....

I'll post pics on all this tomorrow. For now, my advice to others is that if you want to avoid ALL shipping issues, then you need to make arrangements to fly up to Vans, rent a truck or trailer, pack the stuff up yourself and drive it back to your destination yourself. I am completely dissatisfied with all means of commercial delivery methods for this project thus far, but I have to resign myself to accepting that this is just a part of the entire process for completing this massive undertaking. To end on a positive note, the rest of the fuselage appears to be in wonderful shape, and I am glad that I did finally arrive.

The next biggest issue with the fuselage will be trying to figure out how to "easily" flip it upside down and right side up, which looks like I will need to do bout a half dozen times or more to finish up the remaining assembly steps for the landing gear and top skins, etc. Some fellow builders have purchased an engine rotisserie from Harbor Freight and fabricated some steel cross members that attach to the firewall engine mounts and to a plate that fits into the engine stand. The fuse in its present state only weights about 200-300 pounds, but it is awkward to try to find places to lift, hold and rotate the fuse by hand, even if you have several people to help.

Fortunately I don't have to deal with that just yet, because I now have to get back to my wings and get those done before I start the remaining work on the fuse.