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RV-14 Kit Reporting Log thread

Builder No. 141046

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Just received the crating email (Finish Kit/FWF)!

I just received the "ready for crating" email on Friday!

Finish Kit/FWF ordered July 2021. Crating and shipping I believe are within the next two months. So two months beyond original quote which is not bad all things considered.

Edit:
I paid in full, and that was acknowledged. The website still says Parts Being Produced (as of 3/7/22). Hoping for some idea of crate date in the near future.
 
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Just another data point.

Ordered at very end of Airventure.

Empennage

SalesOrder #179931
Build # 141091

Parts being produced.

KJ
 
Mine updated this afternoon. Went from no estimate to estimated crating dates across all my kits (the QB wing already had the same crating estimate for at least a month).

I ordered all Aug 21 about a week apart starting with the empennage, wings, then fuse.
 

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Total surprise tonight.
Empennage ordered 2/7/22
Slow Build Wings ordered 2/18/22

I just got an email with a crating date for my wings of 6/27/22-7/25/22.

I was not expecting that. I was planning on the one year lead time. I guess I’ll start on my wings first.
Doug
 
EMP 141040
Ordered 6/7/21(4 month lead time expected)
Shipped 3/9/22

Looks like they got all of those -14 and -10 wing kits out the door with the changes to production processes and they are back to empennages.

(SB)Wings 141040
Ordered 2/8/22(12mo lead time expected)
Showing estimated crating June or July 2022.

EEK! gonna have to come up with the $$ a bit early for the wings!
 
Just got an email with a crating date for my tail/empennage!!! Ordered 10/21. Scheduled for crating 5/22. I am so excited I can hardly breathe. I will be paying everything off tomorrow just to guarantee no delays!
 
Got same email for my EMP, ordered September 27th, 2021, est crating may 6 to may 27th, 2022. So about 8 months, at time of order was 6 months. So not sure if I’m in the first train (showed like 50% of 14 emp orders), but my guess is second train if you watched the latest video.

Details aside, very excited to have dates and continue my build with all the parts!
 
Delivery Schedule

That's interesting! I ordered all kits on the last day before the price increase, and received confirmation of that order on Feb 25th. All kits are being produced, but

This evening I got an email that the wing kit crating date is Jun 27 2022 - Jul 25 2022. No information on Emp, Fuse, or Finish Kits.
 
That's interesting! I ordered all kits on the last day before the price increase, and received confirmation of that order on Feb 25th. All kits are being produced, but

This evening I got an email that the wing kit crating date is Jun 27 2022 - Jul 25 2022. No information on Emp, Fuse, or Finish Kits.

I misread your other post, thought you got all crating dates. My guess is your order made the “train” for a wing slot, but not others. Video explains it, but basically they moved to a batch build, so a fixed number of each type (like 14 wings), then the next type (14 emp), and so on, back to the start. All in a planned 5 month program window.

Hope that helps!
 
Slow Build Wing Kit shipped

previous post: 2/17/22 + 1 for wing kit ordered in August and just notified kit is ready for crating, with request for final payment.

previous post: 2/24/22 Status changed from "Parts being produced" to "Assigned to crating 03/21/22 - 04/01/22.

My wing kit has shipped, some items are backordered, and will be delivered next week.
 
Ordered Tail Kit = 2/7/22
Ordered SB Wing Kit = 2/18/22

I was surprised about a month ago to get notification I would get my wing first with crating in July.

I just got an email update last night that my wing crating has moved up to this month (4/11/22-4/25/22).

I wasn't planning to order tools till later this spring or early summer. (hoping to find some used). I guess I need to get moving on that and organizing my garage.
 
I’m loving the trend. I ordered emp/fuse/wings (all SB) on the 19th. Wings are currently showing June/July, but there can’t be too many SB wings between the 2 orders… right?

Oh well, I’m in the same boat - tool scavenger hunt…
 
"Crating" is meaningless

Going to crating does not mean much. My -14 SB wing kit was ordered in March 2021. I made final payment in September 2021, when it went to crating. Seven months later, it still shows in crating.
 
Got an email from Vans yesterday.
Moved my QB wing kit from Jan-Apr 2023 to Apr-Jul 2023.
Others stayed the same.
Ordered 10/30/21.
 
Received RV-14A Wing Kit

Kit Type: RV-14

Serial #: 140805

Sales Order #: 176583

Date- Order Acknowledgement: 7-3-2021

Actual Crating Date: 3-20-2022 (guess)

Delivery Date: 4-6-2022

Comments: Van's shipped it via ABF Freight which, when it arrived in Albuquerque on 3-27-2022 (or so?), was transferred over to RAC. Tracking status was pretty poor with initial expected delivery date of 4-2-2022. Minor damage to edge of bottom ply panel of crate. I think much of the increase in crate damage is due to the multiple transfers among the freight companies. Haven't opened the crates to check for damage yet but did take pictures of both as well as the truck that delivered them. Hoping for the best!
 
SB wings arrived today. Resisting the urge to do a cannonball into the pile of crumpled packing paper left after un boxing
 
Meeper

Keep the packaging paper , itt is part of the kit.

The paper is really useful thru the build to keep the dust off stuff and to mask for paintinh
 
OK, getting back on track here . . .

Got another email from Vans.
Moved my QB wing kit from Apr-Jul 2023 to Jan-Apr 2023.
Back to where it was before the last email a few weeks ago.
And now syncs up with the QB fuse estimate.
Ordered 10/30/21.
 
Ok can I store the pile of paper at ur place ?

if you fold it up it takes a lot less space!

Update on my SB wing order
Serial 141040
Order # 199192
Order Date 1/20/22 - initial lead time estimate 10-12mo
Estimated crating june/july

Email on 3/25 asking for payment for an early crating date in april/may.

New crating date assigned - May 2 - May 6
 
Ordered my SB wings late August 2021. They arrived 4/7/2022. Spent about 6 hours doing inventory over a 3 day weekend. Looks like everything is there too except the items marked “B/O”. One of the B/Os is bag 3007 which has all the hardware for fuel tank attachment which is called for on the 3rd page of the first section of the plans. Fortunately I still have a couple weekends worth of work to finish up the aft fuselage and the sellers accepted the offer on the house my wife and I liked so I gots a whole lot of stuff to do and will be very busy the next couple of months. When all is settled I’ll have a workshop at home to go to get busy on the construction of the wings
 
Vans Facebook post

Vans posted today about the next wave of Emp shipments. They clarified orders to certain dates for the 10 and 14 and all 7, 8, and 9. I got the balance payment email for my 14 emp, gladly paid the balance, ready to continue my build!
 
Ordered my SB wings late August 2021. They arrived 4/7/2022. Spent about 6 hours doing inventory over a 3 day weekend. Looks like everything is there too except the items marked “B/O”. One of the B/Os is bag 3007 which has all the hardware for fuel tank attachment which is called for on the 3rd page of the first section of the plans. Fortunately I still have a couple weekends worth of work to finish up the aft fuselage and the sellers accepted the offer on the house my wife and I liked so I gots a whole lot of stuff to do and will be very busy the next couple of months. When all is settled I’ll have a workshop at home to go to get busy on the construction of the wings

I ordered my QB Fuse and wings in May 2021. Still forecasted Sep22-Jan23. QB not Q.
 
Got the email! Paid the balance. Waiting for the pick up date. (I'm a will call customer). Order status is still showing May 6 - May 27 as crating date.
 
Lots of Back ordered Items

I received my slow build RV-14A wings on 4/13/22 after ordering on 9/20/21. The crate was in perfect shape and everything was in there that they said was in there....just a little taken aback by the number of back ordered items. How is this handled? Do we have any indication as to lead time on these things? I didn't have any back ordered items on my tail kit that i remember so this is new to me.

I should add that I am a totally satisfied customer! This post isn't meant to be a rant about back orders.
 
Got an update email today, looks like EMP kits are delayed about three weeks, so pushed to June timeframe.
 
Yep, got the same email. Emp kit estimated delivery window May, 30 - June, 20. It's been ten months. Ordered 8/25/21.

I don't know guys and gals. It feels like I'm chasing a mirage. Every time it gets close to the delivery window it gets pushed out a month. That's happened five times. Maybe it's time to cut my loses, ask for a refund and move on. Sigh...

Builder # 141116
 
Ordered my SB Fuse August 8, 2021

I picked it up at the ABF depot yesterday morning, got it home and started unpacking everything. The crate was pristine and undamaged, and everything looks great inside, pending unwrapping everything and inspecting.

So 8-1/2 months total.

The finish kit I ordered October 16, and at the time I was told about 10 months lead time. So August/September? I have enough to keep me busy for a while after a one-year hiatus caused by you-know-what. :)
 
Yep, got the same email. Emp kit estimated delivery window May, 30 - June, 20. It's been ten months. Ordered 8/25/21.

I don't know guys and gals. It feels like I'm chasing a mirage. Every time it gets close to the delivery window it gets pushed out a month. That's happened five times. Maybe it's time to cut my loses, ask for a refund and move on. Sigh...

Builder # 141116

If you've only ordered the empennage kit, yea. If you've accepted and built a kit, tools, etc and are sitting around picking your nose for a year waiting on the next kit, you're in deeper. Cancel and sell what you've built or continue to stare out the window.
 
Yep, got the same email. Emp kit estimated delivery window May, 30 - June, 20. It's been ten months. Ordered 8/25/21.

I don't know guys and gals. It feels like I'm chasing a mirage. Every time it gets close to the delivery window it gets pushed out a month. That's happened five times. Maybe it's time to cut my loses, ask for a refund and move on. Sigh...

Builder # 141116

We're truly sorry for the delays. Please know that the root cause of this particular delay was outside of our direct control and that we're working to get your kit completed and to you as soon as we can. I'll explain.

This week we were informed that one of our long-time manufacturing partners is unable to deliver a large order of key parts that they manufacture. Van's was counting on receiving the parts from that partner over the next few months to complete a number of kits. As a result, we had to notify the impacted customers - including you - that the estimated kit lead times would need to be pushed out by a few weeks.

To address this issue, we immediately moved the manufacturing of those parts in-house and we’re currently in the process of adjusting staffing (read: more people working even more hours) and producing the parts in a manner that we can better predict and control, and to get these kits out the door as soon as possible.

RV-10 and RV-14 tail kits were the primarily impacted kits that we communicated about yesterday. We may need to similarly extend lead times on certain other kits by a few weeks. We will determine whether that is necessary over the next few days and will directly inform customers as applicable.

It’s also possible that the lead times we’re currently pushing out could get pulled back in again as time goes on, if we’re able to manufacture the parts more quickly than we anticipate. We have taken a position of communicating anticipated changes as soon as we have information that we know affects kit delivery timelines. This is a difficult time to fully and accurately predict exactly when parts will be delivered, especially when third-party companies are involved and their operations are unexpectedly disrupted. Every change we are forced to make has a certain amount of associated unknowns that we must estimate and navigate.

We know very well that there are customers who have been waiting for some time for information about certain kits - finishing kits, as well as other airframe kits - where dates have not yet all been assigned and communicated. Our production and purchasing planning team is working with our many suppliers and manufacturing partners, as well as our internal manufacturing crew, to forecast completion timeframes. We will continue to communicate updates and information when it is available.

There is no way around the fact that supply chain logistics are still quite challenging across our industry. We've put many controls and measures in place to minimize impact, and things are certainly improving overall, but the overall operating environment remains challenging. If we don’t communicate schedule changes, people will understandably be upset that they were not provided a heads-up about the changes. And when we do communicate schedule changes like this one, others express to us that they’re (understandably) frustrated with the delays. Please know that we are doing everything we can to get these kits out the door and into your hands, and that we are working to provide as much information as we can, as soon as possible. Things are improving, but we do have to operate in the real world where things are currently less predictable than they have ever been.

I hope that helps. We're not going to make excuses, but we will explain the situation when changes happen, and we will do everything we can to adjust and minimize impact. We know it's frustrating, and as builders, many of us here are just as frustrated and understand from personal experience. The finished product is worth the wait, and when you fly it we know you'll understand what we mean by that.

Feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss your individual order.
 
Thanks

Thanks to Greg and all of Van’s. How many companies support their product and customers like Van’s? Not very many, so I’m a proud supporter and of course can’t wait to build on! Appreciate the info and the adjustments you all are making every day to support us.
 
Got my letter of delay today. Fuselage kit order #194668 placed 12.22.21, crating estimate delayed from 6.13-7.11 to 7.14-8.11.
 
We sent an email this evening to customers with certain RV-8, RV-10, RV-12 and RV-14 kits on order letting them know about the 4-week-or-so delay to the delivery of their kits, as a result of the same supply chain issue that drove us to send a similar notification on Tuesday this week, and about which I wrote in an earlier post in this thread.

To summarize, a key manufacturing partner let us know that they would not be able to deliver a variety of parts they were scheduled to produce. This was an unexpected turn of events on the part of all parties involved, and a significant number of key aircraft parts were affected. As a result, we quickly pivoted at Van's and have now moved production of these parts in-house. We were able to do this thanks primarily to some relatively new in-house capabilities created through the significant vertical-integration efforts that our company president, Rian Johnson, has championed and led over the past few years. The main challenge we face right now is making sure we're staffed to run our factory machines for a sufficient number of hours each week. So, if you're in the Portland area and have always wanted to make airplane parts, let me know!

To execute this manufacturing change, we've shifted and adjusted in a number of places. The net result is a 3-4 week delay to some kit delivery timelines - which is meaningful but very easily could have been significantly worse under the circumstances. We'll continue to work hard to hold the dates, and do our very best to minimize the risk of future delays everywhere we can.

This is not what we wanted right now, to be certain. But, in this case, we got what we got (as they say). We're adjusting and you can count on us for that. And, when things happen that are impactful to delivery, our goal is to communicate those facts transparently to you, as soon as we're able, so you have the information you need to plan.

And if I may... A quick note to all of our employees who are working long hours of overtime and extra shifts: We're proud of you and the work you're doing, and we thank you for the sacrifices you and your families are making to help get parts and kits out the door. You're awesome!

Expect a quick video update from us again soon. We'll share a few facts and figures about the work that's been going on here recently. And, thank you as always for your support. It means a lot!
 
14a Fuselage Kit Delay

Thanks Greg, appreciate the work you all are doing to keep to ball moving and all of us up to speed.
 
Big delivery day

Just after 1 year from the time of order I received my Wing and Fuselage kit today. Going to be busy now these next couple of months.

Lennard
#141004
RV-7A Build (sold)
RV-14 in progress
 
So I had my slow build wing kit “Assigned to Crating” and was requested and I paid the remainder of my wing payment with an expected crating date of April 11 to April 25. I just got an email that now crating will be July 29 - Aug 22.

I understand they have production issues, but these changes are annoying. I first expected a 12 month lead time, then I was happily surprised that it would be 3 months. Then they receive my full payment and then move it back 4 more months. I think they shouldn’t take the payment unless they have a FIRM crating/shipping date.

I was planning on waiting to purchase tools and look for used. With the quick shipment I ended up buying mostly all new and now they will just sit in the garage.

I’m still getting the wing sooner than 12 months so I guess it is okay, but the date changes are brutal.
 
My QB Fues/Wings just changed to "Parts in transit to assembly facility" but sill have a Sep '22-Jan23 crating date

SN: 140892
 
Emp crating que email

got my Emp crating que email yesterday.

Kit Crating Window Assigned
Your order has been added to our crating team's queue.​

Ordered Aug 2021.

Order #182425
Item: RV-14A EMP/CONE KIT
Status: Assigned to Crating
Crating: May 30 2022 - Jun 3 2022 (estimated)
 
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Woo Whoo! Got the email my emp's ready. Going over to pick it up tomorrow!
Don't hate me. I live w/in 70 mi. of the Mother Ship.
 
Great news folks are seeing emp orders assigned to crating or ready for pickup! Hopefully I’ll be soon!
 
got my Emp crating que email yesterday.

Kit Crating Window Assigned
Your order has been added to our crating team's queue.​

Ordered Aug 2021.

Order #182425
Item: RV-14A EMP/CONE KIT
Status: Assigned to Crating
Crating: May 30 2022 - Jun 3 2022 (estimated)

Another start in our area. Congrats. I am pretty much done with my emp. Just waiting on QB Fuse/Wings/Finish/FWF. So just a few things. PM me if you have questions.
 
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