I spotted a note in Doug Reeves' Van's Air Force blog http://www.vansairforce.net/ that the factory had some RV-8 QB kits in stock that were built up from pre pre-punched parts.
Placed a call and spoke with Barb and Tom Green, one of the techs, about the kits.
I guess the fuselage is built with the earlier parts, but the wing is built with pre-punched parts.
As the kit is QB anyway, it really makes no difference except that I'll have to match drill one skin that covers the instrument panel area.
I guess the fuselage is somewhat more finished than the current kits because they had to leave a few more parts unfinished due to the pre-punching.
So they discounted the kit by $500. In addition, they may jump my finishing kit delivery date some so that they can get the airplane out of their warehouse faster.
