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Timing the Thunderbolt Purchase

asw20c

Well Known Member
There was a thread here not long ago that said Thunderbolt lead times were creeping up to 11 months and I'd be willing to bet that the pandemic is going to drive that number even higher. I just started the fuselage kit about 3 weeks ago and am making reasonable progress, at least in comparison to my progress on the wings. My practice so far has been to time the purchase of the next kit so that it arrives just as I'm finishing the current one and I've been pretty successful with that so far. Given the current lead times I'm thinking I should order the engine soon, even though I just started on the fuselage. But here's the rub; Van's website says you can't order the engine until you have ordered ALL the kits, so that would mean I would have to buy the finishing kit first even though I'm not going to need it probably for at least 6 months. Given the 11-month lead time for the engine would mean I'd have to sink a huge amount of cash into both just to get the engine ordered. So not only am I not able to spread those last big purchases out over more time, I will likely have the finishing kit just sitting in my shop until I am done with the fuselage. That kinda ticks me off.
How have others dealt with this? When did y'all pull the trigger on the finishing kit/engine purchase?
 
your strategy of ordering items in time is a great one that will help finishing the plane in much more timely fashion.
I don't think you will need to pay for the engine in full when you are ordering it, I can't remember what was the deposit but it is a fraction of the cost.
 
I believe the lead times are significantly less on the standard engines unless you have your heart set on a "Thunderbolt".
 
I spoke to Lycoming 4 weeks ago and the delivery time was 10 months or perhaps a bit less for the Thunderbolt. There was speculation that the delivery times should also come down as time went on. I was advised to order at Oshkosh time for my target date of May 1, 2021 delivery. This was just at the start of things shutting down. I ordered mine yesterday. I suspect longer times.
 
We ordered ours at Oshkosh last summer. Just got the email last Thursday for the remainder of the $$. Of course, just a couple of weeks after the Canadian dollar tanked

Kerry
 
We ordered ours at Oshkosh last summer. Just got the email last Thursday for the remainder of the $$. Of course, just a couple of weeks after the Canadian dollar tanked

Kerry


To late for you now, but maybe for other people........

Setup an US bank account and build up funds in it while you're waiting. Transfer funds when you have favorable exchange rates.............
 
We ordered ours at Oshkosh last summer. Just got the email last Thursday for the remainder of the $$. Of course, just a couple of weeks after the Canadian dollar tanked

Kerry

LOL, Same for me. After an eight month wait, I got the email last week from Titan that mine is ready. Doh! Luckily I kept those funds in the money market account. (Oh, and the building permit for my new shop was approved and the builder is off and running!). My timing is impeccable! :eek:
 
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