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Still waiting on kit...

BravoAlphaRomeo

Active Member
I am now more than 3 months past my original ship date for an RV14 slo build fuselage. I have contacted Vans both email and phone which provides limited info. Any others having this same problem ? I am aware that COVID has caused shipment delays but I didn’t think it would be quite this long....
 
I understand your frustration but most of the lead times shown on the chart on THIS PAGE are 3 to 4 times longer for all models than they were just a year ago, so that is unfortunately the situation we are in at the moment.

Greg will probably chime in shortly and give you a bit more detail.
 
I suppose one of the upsides to a long lead time is that I have time to save $$ before I get the email from Van's saying " Your kit is ready to ship once full payment is received". Wife gets cranky when the kit sits on the Visa :p
 
Lots of supply chain problems going on right now. My engine was originally supposed to ship back in January. First it slipped to March, and now I don't even have an expected date any more. Unfortunately it just seems to be the state of the world right now.
 
The lead times for all the remaining kits have doubled since I ordered my empennage kit back in late November, so the situation is getting worse rather than better at the moment. Remember that it's not just Van's that is behind schedule, it's the entire supply chain. The situation is the same at every other kit company, from what I've heard.

There's going to be a gap between when I finish my empennage and when my wings arrive, so I'm going to use that time to finish my instrument rating, then start getting some tailwheel training.

I'm hoping lead times start to shrink again by the time I'm ready to order my fuselage.
 
Everything is back a** ward right now.

Ordered "new stuff" from spruce and others - months to ship (previously would take days).

Needed a rare aluminum bracket (original was magnesium) for the tail on an early Bonanza - had it shipped in a few days.

Regardless, I'm happy for Vans - just wish I would have started the process before the COVID rush.
 
Quick question for Van's

Just curious,

So if someone ordered a kit at the beginning of the year and was given a 5 month crating date, and now the website says it's a 8 month lead.....

Does that mean that the kit ordered Jan 1 will now be crated in approx 8 months?
 
So if someone ordered a kit at the beginning of the year and was given a 5 month crating date, and now the website says it's a 8 month lead.....

Does that mean that the kit ordered Jan 1 will now be crated in approx 8 months?

Perhaps not. I ordered my tail kit just days before the lead time went from immediate to four months, and it was shipped immediately (well, within a couple of weeks, which is normal). This guarantees nothing for your order, but may be a hopeful sign.
 
Hi, folks. I'll try to provide some answers and a little bit of helpful (I hope) context.

I am now more than 3 months past my original ship date for an RV14 slo build fuselage. I have contacted Vans both email and phone which provides limited info. Any others having this same problem ? I am aware that COVID has caused shipment delays but I didn’t think it would be quite this long....

Fuselage and wing kits, right now, are the most difficult from a delivery timing perspective. Because we have had a significant number of quick build kits that unfortunately are coated with primer that turned out to be bad when it was received from the paint manufacturer (we recently received lab results confirming this), we're having to replace some QB kits. This means that the same batches of manufactured parts - which of course are used to create our standard build kits as well as quick build kits - are being leveraged to fulfill a higher demand than could have been planned for. With our always-existing manufacturing lead times, plus a huge increase in the volume of new kit orders, and the fact that some of our parts rely on third parties to perform certain aspects of the manufacturing process, our projected and actual delivery timelines have been extended. We're doing everything we can to keep things moving and it's been a time-consuming process. We look forward to returning to something more akin to "normal," but we're not there yet.

I know that if you've contacted us recently we may not have had complete information to provide. Please know that we're working on that. If you want to send me a PM or an email with your RV-14 kit serial number and your contact info, I'll be glad to take a look and communicate back with you.

The lead times for all the remaining kits have doubled since I ordered my empennage kit back in late November, so the situation is getting worse rather than better at the moment. Remember that it's not just Van's that is behind schedule, it's the entire supply chain. The situation is the same at every other kit company, from what I've heard.

There's going to be a gap between when I finish my empennage and when my wings arrive, so I'm going to use that time to finish my instrument rating, then start getting some tailwheel training.

I'm hoping lead times start to shrink again by the time I'm ready to order my fuselage.

We hope so, too. :) Doing the additional training sounds like a great idea if the opportunity is there!

And yes, many companies in our industry are experiencing the same issues. Our increased lead times (and backorders) right now stem primarily from a few big things (although it's important to understand that these are not the only causes):

  1. A recent massive increase in the number/volume kit orders being received each week. To illustrate: Year to date, we are currently receiving more than double the number of orders per week compared to a year ago. That's a very significant change.
  2. The fact that we need to build new Quick Build kits that were not part of our original manufacturing projections, due to the primer problems described above, has constrained parts supply and requires us to rework schedules and build capacity.
  3. In general, the availability of third-party parts and manufacturing supply chain issues have had a real impact.
  4. Shipping (freight, postal service, courier and international containers) has been severely impacted with delays across the board in addition to increased costs of service, which slows both incoming product delivery and outbound delivery to our customers.

Just curious,

So if someone ordered a kit at the beginning of the year and was given a 5 month crating date, and now the website says it's a 8 month lead.....

Does that mean that the kit ordered Jan 1 will now be crated in approx 8 months?

Not necessarily. It means that kits ordered now are estimated to be crated in the 8-month timeframe. For your kit ordered at the beginning of the year, we will be (in the context of the issues listed above) working to get it out the door in the timeframe stated. In this real-world situation we all find ourselves in, there are of course a number of variables that can impact actual crating timeframes.

Perhaps not. I ordered my tail kit just days before the lead time went from immediate to four months, and it was shipped immediately (well, within a couple of weeks, which is normal). This guarantees nothing for your order, but may be a hopeful sign.

We're working hard to get things out the door as quickly as possible. One thing that's delayed some tail kits has been some long-backordered parts that require third-party manufacturing. We've started receiving batches of the backordered parts and our shipping team is working super hard to get those out to people as soon as they're ready to ship.

Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding in this crazy situation. We really are working hard to figure out how to shore up some of the uncertainty, but we have to do that while continuing to operate, so it's a bit of a complex set of calculus. Our employees are super smart and dedicated, and changes/improvements are happening!

I hope that helps.
 
Thanks so very much for the response and explanation, Greg! Personally, I think you all have been doing a good job of managing expectations regarding lead times as well as keeping people informed of unexpected delays (such as with the QB primer issue).
 
Thanks so much for the detailed response !!

Low and behold I got a message from Vans today with a bill of lading meaning
my kit is shipping.

Can’t wait to get building again.
 
My fuse ship date was supposed to be in April, got contacted a couple weeks ago that it was ready for crating with an estimated ship date of 6-8 weeks.

I'm just finishing my elevators so I'm not real worried about needing it to show up any time soon.
 
Any QB Fuselages received lately?

Curious if anyone has received a QB fuselage recently and how close was it to the original delivery date?

Submitted my order early Jan, 2021. Lead times at the time of order was 8 months. Not in a huge rush but it’d be nice to have a rough timeframe.
 
RV7 / A parts

RV 7. A. Lead times. Not here!

,,,I have a set of RV7 QB wings for someone that wants to get started Now.
Have competed most of the work, on the wings,,,,,.
Also,, I have a RV7 Empennage Kit .
If you want to receive these,,, now? No lead time…? . Drive to Hicks T67 with your pick up truck. I’ll help you load them.
817-271-059fore,,,,,,
 
Jay!

Hey Jay, I am just about to call you to see about a time slot for assistance on an -8. Once I get status from Vans on the QB Fuselage.
 
Changes

In June, the Van's site said lead times of 6 months for RV8 finish kits. Planning on that, I ordered it hoping for a Christmas present.

Well, the build is taking longer than anticipated and I'm in no way ready for the finish kit to show up. Checked the Van's site again today, it's saying 10 months lead time. Which one should I expect? 10 months or 6 months? The current 10 month lead time and an April 2022 crating date is probably about right for me.

Just don't want to be bothering the busy folks at Van's Aircraft asking questions if things are naturally going to turn out right.
 
Though maybe things are kit-specific, I'd count on it working out naturally for you. Kits ordered in May when there was a 4-month lead time are being crated in January (7.5 months later) now that the website says its a 6-month lead time.
 
Ordered my wings earlier this year and original crating date was 8/31. In august I asked for a delay to 11/1 since I was also behind. The current expected crate completion date is the 2nd or 3rd week of January. Fortunately I wont be blocked by the extra delay.
 
Where is that kit status page again?

I could have sworn I saw a link to a Van's kit status page somewhere in the forums. It allowed you to enter your builder number and it showed the status of each of your kit orders. For the life of me I can't find it. Can some respond with the link?

Thanks!
Paolo
 
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