Some of you might remember my mentioning another Rans build. Well, after a minor production setback due to apparent dealer/customer/factory miscommunication, the kit shipped a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, we were a bit disappointed when the crate arrived in Juneau, Alaska yesterday:



Now begins the fight with the shipping company.

The moral of this story is: go pick it up at the factory yourself.

gb

Damnit

Ouch!!

Off to a great start, looks like some typical bush Alaska shipping Hopefully the project goes up from here

The damage occurred between Kansas and Seattle with Conway. Both wings wasted. They couldn't have done any more damage if they tried! Fuselage is OK. Thank God the engine isn't ready yet.

a couple months ago while moving our stuff from Nome to Anchorage, NAC palletized a tool cart (200#) and an end table (80#) on top of the box with all our pictures (clearly marked "FRAGLE" all over it) it did not turn out well

slowhawk wrote:a couple months ago while moving our stuff from Nome to Anchorage, NAC palletized a tool cart (200#) and an end table (80#) on top of the box with all our pictures (clearly marked "FRAGLE" all over it) it did not turn out well

Sounds like some of the descendants of ex Reeve Aleutian cargo handlers must be working for NAC now.

At one point, a small part of a government shipment was destroyed by Reeve enroute to Cold Bay. The government bean counters refused to pay for the shipment (much more than the value of the damaged goods). In a call which finally wound up talking to Bob Reeve himself, the bean counter allowed as how the govt wouldn't pay for the shipping until Reeve paid for the damages.

Bob Reeve responded "Fine.....it's the principal of the thing.....you shipped on Reeve Aleutian. We're not going to establish any precedents here."

Reeve lost several thousand on that one.

MTV

So that's what the gorillas at Conway are up to, when they're not busy crushing solar panels enroute to me from my California suppliers! I used to look the exterior of a shipment over, then sign off on it and let the freight outlet guy that Conway auto transfers go on his way. They deliver to my place at the end of the day, on his way home actually. Then I got burned, a few busted panels disguised by that plastic wrap crap they bind the pallets with. I NEVER got reimbursed by those Conway bastards. Now I make the final delivery guy twiddle his thumbs while I totally unpack the shipment, THEN I sign off on it. And don't get me started about the battery screwups.....

It was a long drive from Inkom to Hays, when I picked up my first S-7 20 years ago (almost exactly), but worth it as at least I got everything home safely, (despite packing the 20' 1,000 lb crate on the lumber rack of my little Toyota pickup) saved about 500 bucks, ( a lot of money back then, for me anyway) and got to see the factory of course. When I picked up my current S-7S in '07, I got lucky, a then RANS dealer 50 miles away had a complete kit in the crate (less engine of course), and 2 or 3 days after selling my first one I drove my boom truck up there, picked the 20' crate up and set it in the bed, and a couple hours later I was in my shop and it was unpacked! Good luck on your next shipment!

Man. Major suckage here. I sure hope you get full value along with pain and suffering here. The only shipping damage I've ever experienced was UPS completely totally annihilating a $4500 ham radio. I took it down to the local UPS center and the inspector said "humph, looks like it took quite a hit", and wrote me a check for the total plus shipping right on the spot. Have all your documentation in order.

Ouch! That had to hurt. Well, at least you have something to do while fighting with the shipping company.

I have had several shipping incidents over the years.... Couple of broken windshields, bent Piper wing strut, etc..... Worst was the tail section of a brand new Airframes Inc PA-18 frame... Always check your shipments is my motto.. Especially the expensive ones...

Brian

Wow that would piss you off!!

Hope you opened the crate before you signed for it? That seems to make things easier, legally. Even here they are always shoving the pad in your face "sign here" before you can even open the box.

My first MT prop was sticking out the end of the card board box it was shipped in so it was easy to see I had a problem. Second one came in a plywood box good for shipping to Africa. When the Fed Ex driver rolled the door up I thought "Oh no, not again" one end was on the floor and the other leaned up against the stack of freight in the front. I think it jiggled off the front stack and in a few more miles would have been totally on the floor. Luckily it was bolted to the box and was okay. Bad attitudes must be part of the freight business. I also bought a Super Cyclone kit from Canada and that was bad news also. Took it back to north of Montreal in a livestock trailer in person. Lost a few thousand dollars on that deal.

I bought a set of Bearhawk quick build wings. Ordered the wing crate built with 3/16" wall square tubing, clad with 20 gauge sheet metal. Well over 1800 pounds...wings and steel. Avipro shipped from Mexico to Anchorage...not a scratch. NAC and Ryan Air Anchorage to platinum. The wing crate was bent better than 4". Looked like they picked the crate with a fork lift then tried to drive through a narrow door....bending the crate in the middle...The wings were suspended.....zero damage to them.

m_moyle wrote:I bought a set of Bearhawk quick build wings. Ordered the wing crate built with 3/16" wall square tubing, clad with 20 gauge sheet metal. Well over 1800 pounds...wings and steel. Avipro shipped from Mexico to Anchorage...not a scratch. NAC and Ryan Air Anchorage to platinum. The wing crate was bent better than 4". Looked like they picked the crate with a fork lift then tried to drive through a narrow door....bending the crate in the middle...The wings were suspended.....zero damage to them.

Wow. That would have taken some serious "forcing it", above and beyond ordinary every-day stupidity....
Those crates are strong, properly strong.

Thats a good idea. Just to be clear, it did not occur between Seattle and Alaska. The Seattle company took pictures of the damaged crate when it arrived there.

Anyway, the claim is filed, and the replacements are in process. Plugging away shaking out parts and getting the paint booth set up. Hope to have the fuselage on its gear by the weekend.

Hope it works out for you and the process to get it settled goes smoothly. When I brought the crushed box to the NAC guys attention, they just shrugged and said " what do you expect?"

slowhawk wrote:Hope it works out for you and the process to get it settled goes smoothly. When I brought the crushed box to the NAC guys attention, they just shrugged and said " what do you expect?"

Thanks, looking forward to getting going. Been bogged down with work BS the last few days. Anybody want to buy a mom and pop construction company in AK? I'll make you a helluva deal!

Ahh yes...you got what I call the "Alaskatude" from NAC. Ya gotta love it!

Getting a good start, fuselage on its feet. Got some primer on and worked on the panel and boot cowl a bit over the last couple of days.



So far, the build is more streamlined than the S7S was, and things such as fuel and brake lines are of higher quality. The cockpit is going to be very comfortable.

Looks great, I assume this is a factory quick build? If so I'd be interested to know if their expected build time of 250-350hrs is realistic. Also are you putting this in the LSA category or setting the gross higher? I've heard rumors that its good for 1500lbs GW but not sure if that has been officially endorsed by the factory like the Kitfox.

Yes, QB kit and we opted for a single paint color applied by the factory on this one as well. Huge time-saver worth the money considering the cost of good quality paint.

The average layperson will not build this airplane in 350 hours in my opinion.

We register these things Experimental-Amateur Built (EAB) and set gross to 1320 for sport pilot privileges. If you go E-LSA you have to build it exactly by the manual. We don't like that.