Van’s Aircraft announced today that it is “investigating a few reports of potential surface corrosion appearing on the interior aluminum surfaces of specific Quick Build wing and fuselage kits.” The company believes the root cause “appears to be the incorrect application of primer combined with the introduction of sweat on the parts’ surfaces during assembly at the contractor’s facility.” (Read the statement here.)
Van’s has a longstanding and successful relationship with a subcontractor in the Philippines that performs the labor-intensive aspects of its quickbuild kits. The kits in question were delivered to Van’s between June 2020 and January 2021; Van’s stopped the off-site quickbuild assembly process as soon as it noted the issue.
“As we continue our investigation, we are reaching out directly to customers who received Quick Build kits that could potentially be affected, to assess the delivered kits and ensure they are checked,” the company said in a statement. “We will ask each of these customers to complete a survey, in which they will follow specific instructions to briefly examine and photograph certain parts/areas of their Quick Build kits, and then submit that information to Van’s Aircraft for review. In the event a customer’s kit is affected, our staff will work directly with each kit owner to resolve his or her individual needs based on our analysis of that kit. As always, Van’s Aircraft stands by its customers and products, and we’ll do what it takes.”
