I talked with Chris at Lycoming this morning. He knows Lycoming and Vans are in communication, but does not know the details being worked out. So, Chris is working the list of who gets their engines next, but is not in the finance loop at this point.
In an earlier conversation, he confirmed that Lycoming does NOT hold our deposits; those are with Vans.
- It appears Vans is not proposing to cancel engine contracts NOW. But, it seems possible, as a previous poster mentioned, that over the next month or two, Vans may submit a list of people with engines, prop, or avionics deposits to the court to cancel those contracts like they are doing with kits.
- There are some indications Vans is honoring deposits. They are doing this with kits and there is a line in the proposed Ch.11. budget for $180,000 in payments to Lycoming for "honoring engine deposits". This is likely only 10-15 engine deposits, but may be an indication of how they MIGHT deal with subsequent engine deposits.
- I believe Vans has a small mark-up on Lycoming engines. The question to be determined is if and how much they raise the cost of engines (their markup) to those of us who have them on order. Sounds like we may find this out by mid-Jan.